KAYAKING
Ice waterfall record set
Aniol Serrasolses has descended a 20m ice waterfall in the arctic — the biggest recorded descent of a glacial waterfall. The 32-year-old Catalan adventurer paddled through the rapids and ice tunnels of the glacial river on the ice cap before descending the ice waterfall in Brasvellbreen, the Svalbard archipelago of Norway. “The first time navigating through those rapids was absolutely incredible,” Serrasolses said. “Like kayaking on another planet. It was actually crazier than I ever thought it would be ... one of the roughest, most wild and virgin places I’ve ever seen.” To access the waterfall, the crew had to climb the ice cap using a ladder and then walk 11km across the ice to access the river. As the first person to run the waterfall Serrasolses named the descent “Philip’s Ladder” as a tribute to a crew member who pulled the ladder for the duration of the 11km trek to allow the team to get from the boat to the waterfall.
SWIMMING
Ledecky wins 800m free
Seven-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky on Wednesday eased to victory in the women’s 800m freestyle in the opening race of the US Open Swimming Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ledecky, the three-time defending Olympic gold medalist and world champion in the 800m free, posted a time of 8 minutes, 15.91 seconds to win by almost 15 seconds. Ledecky’s time was more than 11 seconds shy of her world record, set in 2016, and almost two seconds behind her winning time from last year’s US Open.
WOMEN
Revenue to cross US$1bn
Annual global revenue for women’s elite sports is expected to cross the US$1 billion threshold for the first time next year, Deloitte said on Wednesday. The predicted US$1.28 billion revenue based on matchday earnings, broadcast and commercial revenue is “at least 300 percent higher” than their previous valuation three years ago, Deloitte said. “Women’s sport is increasingly being viewed as a unique product that is becoming ever more distinct from men’s elite sport,” said Jennifer Haskel, insight lead for Deloitte’s Sports Business Group. “This surge in fan and investor engagement is leading to new and improved opportunities for clubs and leagues.” Commercial deals by leagues and teams would bring in the majority of the revenue at 55 percent, while broadcast would account for 27 percent, Deloitte said.
NETBALL
Australia may miss funding
Netball Australia might miss out on A$18 million (US$11.94 million) in public funding amid an ongoing pay dispute with players from the country’s professional Super Netball league. The Australian government said it had not received a satisfactory business case for the funding, part of a A$30 million pledge by the previous government in 2019. “On the matter of remaining uncontracted funds that had been set aside for Netball Australia, those funds had always been subject to the receipt of a sufficiently robust business case,” the government said in a statement. “A satisfactory proposal has not been received that would enable appropriate use of these taxpayer funds.” Netball Australia was unable to provide immediate comment.
The qualifying round of the World Baseball Classic (WBC) is to be held at the Taipei Dome between Feb. 21 and 25, Major League Baseball (MLB) announced today. Taiwan’s group also includes Spain, Nicaragua and South Africa, with two of the four teams advancing onto the 2026 WBC. Taiwan, currently ranked second in the world in the World Baseball Softball Confederation rankings, are favorites to come out of the group, the MLB said in an article announcing the matchups. Last year, Taiwan finished in a five-way tie in their group with two wins and two losses, but finished last on tiebreakers after giving
North Korea’s FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup-winning team on Saturday received a heroes’ welcome back in the capital, Pyongyang, with hundreds of people on the streets to celebrate their success. They had defeated Spain on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the U17 World Cup final in the Dominican Republic on Nov. 3. It was the second global title in two months for secretive North Korea — largely closed off to the outside world; they also lifted the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup in September. Officials and players’ families gathered at Pyongyang International Airport to wave flowers and North Korea flags as the
For King Faisal, a 20-year-old winger from Ghana, the invitation to move to Brazil to play soccer “was a dream.” “I believed when I came here, it would help me change the life of my family and many other people,” he said in Sao Paulo. For the past year and a half, he has been playing on the under-20s squad for Sao Paulo FC, one of South America’s most prominent clubs. He and a small number of other Africans are tearing across pitches in a country known as the biggest producer and exporter of soccer stars in the world, from Pele to Neymar. For
Coco Gauff of the US on Friday defeated top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to set up a showdown with Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the final of the WTA Finals, while in the doubles, Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching was eliminated. Gauff generated six break points to Belarusian Sabalenka’s four and built on early momentum in the opening set’s tiebreak that she carried through to the second set. She is the youngest player at 20 to make the final at the WTA Finals since Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki in 2010. Zheng earlier defeated Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic 6-3, 7-5 to book
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