ATHLETICS
UK body charged
The governing body for track and field in the UK and a sports official have been charged with manslaughter over the death of a Paralympic athlete who was hit on the head by a metal pole during training in 2017. The 36-year-old thrower Abdullah Hayayei, who represented the United Arab Emirates, was injured at Newham Leisure Center in east London on July 11, 2017, and was pronounced dead at the scene. He was training in preparation to represent his country in the F34 class discus, javelin and shot put at the World Para Athletics Championships in London when part of a throwing cage fell on him. On Wednesday, police and Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service said that Keith Davies, who the police said was “head of sport for the 2017 World Paralympic Athletics Championships,” had been charged with gross negligence manslaughter and a health and safety offense. UK Athletics Limited, the national governing body for athletics, has been charged with corporate manslaughter and a health and safety offense. Police and prosecutors said that UK Athletics and Davies are due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on Jan. 31.
SWIMMING
‘Iron Lady’ retires
Hungary’s “Iron Lady” Katinka Hosszu has retired from swimming at the age of 35, with the three-time Olympic champion saying she is looking forward to helping young athletes follow their dreams in the sport. Hosszu competed at five editions of the Games, winning gold in the 200m and 400m individual medley and 100m backstroke, as well as a silver in the 200m backstroke, at Rio de Janeiro in 2016. “For 30 years, the water has been my home, a sanctuary where I found solace and strength,” she wrote on Instagram on Wednesday. “From the moment I first stepped into the pool as a child, I knew I had discovered something magical. In the coming years, I hope to share this passion with others — teaching young swimmers the magic I’ve found in the water and encouraging them to follow their dreams.” Hosszu, who gave birth to her daughter in 2023, made her Olympic debut as a teenager in Athens in 2004 and went on to compete at the Games in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2021. She won nine world championships golds and her 200m medley world record at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan still stands.
SOCCER
Irons hire Potter
Former Chelsea boss Graham Potter was named West Ham United’s new head coach yesterday on a two-and-a-half-year contract, the club said, a day after sacking Julen Lopetegui. Potter, 49, has been out of management since he was sacked by Chelsea in April 2023, just seven months into a five-year contract. He won 12 of his 31 matches in charge. The Irons are 14th in the English Premier League, seven points above the relegation zone, after six wins in 20 league matches during former Spain and Real Madrid coach Lopetegui’s ill-fated tenure. A 4-1 hammering at champions Manchester City on Saturday was the final straw for the London club. “It was important to me that I waited until a job came along that I felt was right for me, and equally that I was the right fit for the club I am joining,” Potter said. His first match is to be when West Ham face Aston Villa in the English FA Cup third round today.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Marcus Rashford’s first goals for Aston Villa on Sunday inspired a 3-0 win against Preston North End that sent his side into the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in 10 years. Rashford struck twice in the second half at Deepdale to end Preston’s stubborn resistance before Jacob Ramsey wrapped up Villa’s long-awaited return to the last four. Villa are to face Crystal Palace — 3-0 winners at Fulham on Saturday — in the semi-finals at Wembley Stadium in London. Revitalized since joining Villa on loan from Manchester United during the January transfer window, Rashford is beginning to show the form that
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