As the chess furore between Carlsen and Niemann rolls on, we take a look at some enduring disputes in sportNot since Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit enthralled 62 million viewers has chess captured mainstream attention to such an extent.Last month the Norwegian grandmaster Magnus Carlsen, world No 1 and already the “rock star” of chess – see GQ profiles and multimillion‑pound apparel collaborations – accused the American Hans Niemann of cheating after the 19-year-old ended Carlsen’s over-the-board 53-match winning sequence. Continue reading...
This powerful competition has a more important job than the Olympics in opening doors and lifting the oppressed in societyI was taught to ski by a guy called Bill Bowness. He has sadly passed away now, but he was an American Paralympian with this big beard and a proper chilled vibe. He took me up a slope at Lake Tahoe once in one of the early sit skis and I remember it to this day: a fibreglass bucket seat bolted to a frame on top of a ski. Even balancing on one of these things was hard enough. I was horror-struck, but there was Bill teaching me, cool as you like, and he was literally skiing down the mountain backwards...
The full financial impact is yet to be determined but there is loose consensus in Japan over the ‘coercive’ approach of IOCThe public square outside Shimbashi station, the scene of anti-Olympic protests this summer, has resumed its usual role as an after-work rendezvous. Newspapers that juxtaposed athletic feats with a rising coronavirus caseload now wonder how Japan’s new prime minister, Fumio Kishida, will fare when voters go to the polls at the end of this month.The recent lifting of Covid-19 emergency measures has added to the feeling that “normality” is being restored in Tokyo after months of Olympic controversy and virus-induced anxiety. Residents who were banned from attending all but a few events might be tempted to ask if the...
People with disabilities live in a world where so many of us are passengers; sport gives us the opportunity to be the driverI’ve just dropped Sarah Storey off at the airport. On the way, we had a really good chat in the back of the taxi. I’ve known Dame Sarah for 20 years; we competed at the Sydney Paralympics together and what she’s achieved since has been incredible. It was nice to have that time together as the Games heads towards the final stages, to get some nuggets of wisdom from her and see how much she’s absorbed of what has happened in the past two weeks.When we were in the taxi, and everything was all done, Sarah was relaxed....
There was much to feel good about in Manchester on Monday but the questions faced by cycling – the sport that most embodies the great British medal rush – after recent revelations continue to dampen the moodBritain’s triumphant Olympians and Paralympians partied beneath sunny skies as they deservedly took the acclaim of the crowds in Trafalgar Square.But during the first leg of their 48‑hour victory lap on Monday, it was not just the traditional Manchester weather that threatened to rain on Team GB’s parade but the bad vibes emanating from the structure in the east of the city that up to now has been championed as the symbol of all that is good about the great National Lottery-fuelled charge up...