Noah Lyles: ‘America has a winner’s mentality. That’s the good and the bad’

The Olympic 100m champion plays a starring role in the second season of Netflix documentary Sprint. And he is still as outspoken as everShortly after crossing the finish line in the 200m final at this summer’s Olympics, Noah Lyles collapsed to the ground out of breath. He lingered there, gasping and clutching at his chest for what felt like an age before medics arrived and carted him off the Stade de France track in a wheelchair. Later, Lyles made the bombshell revelation that he had been suffering from Covid for three days. The scene, an Olympic cliffhanger that rivaled only the American’s golden photo-finish in the 100m final days earlier, is among the major inflection points in the 2024 track season offered up for closer examination in the second season of Sprint – the hit fly-on-the-wall series that follows some of the biggest names in the sport and released on Netflix this month

Ilona Maher, US rugby Olympian, places second on Dancing with the Stars

The USA rugby union star Ilona Maher came up just short in ABC’s Dancing with the Stars finale on Tuesday night, finishing third in the judge’s scoring but an agonizing second after viewers’ votes were counted too.Before her final dance with her partner, Alan Bursten, Maher summed up the impact of her stint on the show.“I am strong and powerful, but I also can be graceful,” the Olympic sevens bronze medalist said. “So, the Mirrorball [Trophy] won’t be so much for me [if I win it], I think it’ll be for all the girls who’ve been told they’re too big, or they’re too muscly or they’re not pretty.”In the event, the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy – named for the late British judge of the show and its UK equivalent, Strictly Come Dancing – went to Joey Graziadei (star of ABC’s The Bachelor) and dancer Jenna Johnson

Kane Williamson returns for New Zealand’s first Test against England

Perhaps the trick to winning a Test series in India is to switch captains and make it a left-handed opener. It certainly worked for New Zealand, Tom Latham stepping up and leading a 3-0 slice of history three weeks ago – a first since Alastair Cook, a new full-time skipper at the time, led England to a 2-1 win in 2012.Either way, that seismic result now sees Latham and his Black Caps side enter this three-match home series against England in a buoyant mood and still with a chance to make next year’s World Test Championship final. Ben Stokes called the competition “a bit confusing” on Wednesday but was in no doubt about the feat his hosts recently achieved, describing it as “massive for world cricket.”A green surface at Hagley Oval – scene of the first Test that starts on Thursday morning (Wednesday 10pm GMT ) – means New Zealand have dispensed with spinners Ajaz Patel and Mitch Santner

Elvis Smylie: golf gets all shook up over newest star ahead of Australian Open | Jack Snape

He can’t sing and is still trying to put on weight, but Australia’s golfing Elvis has found the spotlight. “Someone actually asked me on the 18th tee at the PGA last week at Royal Queensland, can I sing?,” Elvis Smylie says. “I just smiled, and I said, nowhere near as well as Elvis.”Presley he may not be, but Elvis Smylie’s star is on the rise. The Queenslander held off his mentor Cam Smith in a memorable final round at the Australian PGA on Sunday to secure one of the sport’s most coveted local titles barely a year after his game was stagnating and his promise looked like it may go unfulfilled

Phillip Hughes: the loss of a daring and bright-eyed future is still keenly felt | Geoff Lemon

It’s tempting to say cricket is not important when thinking about Hughes’s death 10 years ago. But the loss of his career is symbolic of a broader lost futureSo here it is. 27 November, the centrepiece of a desperately sad sequence of dates. 25 November, the day 10 years ago when Phillip Hughes was struck by a cricket ball and hospitalised. 27 November, when his life support was ended as futile

World Chess Championship: Ding Liren leads Gukesh Dommaraju after Game 2 draw

Ding Liren was unable to stretch his World Chess Championship lead as Game 2 against Gukesh Dommaraju petered out to a 23-move draw in Singapore.Following victory in Game 1 for Ding, the defending champion, the scores now sit at Ding 1½-½ Gukesh with up to 12 classical games remaining.Gukesh, playing Black, offered stiff defence and declared himself happy getting off the mark with the draw, which was settled after around three hours. “This early, with Black, was nowhere close to a must-win,” the 18-year-old challenger said. “I was never going to do anything stupid