Anthony Joshua’s fight in Saudi Arabia this week once more raises questions about the choice of venue for big eventsTwo scenes. Two British sporting icons. Variations on a theme. Scene one: a supremely jet-lagged Anthony Joshua in a Heathrow hotel in September. After several softballs about his rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr, the question finally comes. Why fight in Saudi Arabia when Amnesty International says the regime is using you to sportswash its “abysmal” human rights record that includes using public beheadings as a weapon to crush dissent?“I appreciate them voicing an opinion,” replies Joshua, before stressing he is not a superhero who can zap away the world’s problems by donning a cape. When pressed, he mumbles something about “reforms”...
The stars of track and field need a powerful and independent union to protect them from abuse from the sportswear giant and the mismanagement of the governing bodyWhat more can one say about Nike except that in a hotly contested field it once again leads the way in being the biggest hypocrite in global sport?It urges women to Dream Crazier, throwing the spotlight on female stars who have shattered barriers and inspired the next generation, while also telling others, such as Allyson Felix and Alysia Montaño, that they will pause or reduce their contracts when they get pregnant. Related: Nike investigates claims of ‘emotional and physical abuse’ at Oregon Project Related: Mary Cain ‘emotionally and physically abused’ by Alberto Salazar’s...
The IAAF president knows the next four years could make or break the sport as interest declines despite the presence of stars such as Mondo Duplantis, Noah Lyles and Dina Asher-SmithHere is a challenge for anyone with 53 seconds to spare – Google “6.05m slow motion pole vault”. Then try to stop your jaw hitting the floor as the Swedish teenage athlete Mondo Duplantis soars skyward, jackknifes his body, dances his hands up the pole, and flips – just! – over a height greater than a double decker bus. The new super slow-motion footage of his feat at the 2018 European championships in Berlin has been seen 4.5 million times on Twitter in the three weeks alone. The twist in...
The South African’s challenge to the IAAF’s testosterone rules could be as profound and far-reaching as the Bosman rulingIt is just one case, brought by just one athlete, against a single organisation. But Caster Semenya’s challenge to the IAAF’s testosterone rules for female athletes, which begins on Monday at the court of arbitration for sport, may yet be as far-reaching and profound as the Bosman ruling.It is not only that the court holds the career of the brilliant Olympic 800m champion in its hands. That, alone, is a weighty enough responsibility. But it also knows that its ruling, which will be announced next month, will be pored over by other organisations trying to wade through the murky waters where gender,...
Exactly 30 years on from the Seoul Olympics 100m, the ineffectiveness of the anti-doping system remains a concernThirty years ago today, Ben Johnson crouched on his starting blocks before the 100m Olympic final in Seoul, waiting. A gun went off. And he went supernova. Even now there is a visceral thrill watching him burn off his rivals from between 30 to 70 metres – those tiny legs whirring at an almost impossible velocity, as if the race replay is being played at double speed, while they strain in vain to catch him – as he lifts one finger in the air in triumph.After his lap of honour, Johnson was asked which he treasured more: his gold medal or a world...