EP: 73 Ascot King George Day July 23, 2021 Ascot hosts a fantastic renewal of the King George on Saturday, with the return of this year’s Derby winner Adayar up against the brilliant Irish raider Love. Stuart Williams runs Desert Dreamer in the Group 3 Keeneland Stakes on the same card and he joins us as our special guest today. City A.M. racing editor [...]
10 Team GB medal hopes for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, including Dina Asher-Smith, Adam Peaty, Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Sky Brown July 23, 2021 Team GB head into the Tokyo 2020 Olympics somewhat in limbo. Having won a record 67 medals, including 27 golds, at Rio 2016, it seems they might be more difficult to come by over the next few weeks. Stars of past Games Mo Farah, Nicola Adams and Alistair Brownlee, who won four golds between them [...]
Ollie Phillips: I’m predicting a British and Irish Lions victory in the first Test – and the series – in South Africa July 23, 2021 I’m really intrigued by the upcoming British and Irish Lions Test series with South Africa, which starts this weekend. The Springboks are the world champions but have barely played together in the last 18 months because of Covid-19’s impact on sport. They are not totally wet behind the ears, of course, but any lack of [...]
Opening match of The Hundred sets UK TV record for women’s cricket July 22, 2021 The opening match of The Hundred, English cricket’s new competition, attracted a record UK television audience for a women’s match. A peak audience of 1.95m watched as the Oval Invincibles beat the Manchester Originals in a closely-fought curtain-raiser to the tournament. The figures marked an encouraging start for a competition that has divided opinion since [...]
Arsenal and Man City scrap overseas trips as Covid-19 hits Premier League pre-season preparations July 22, 2021 Premier League clubs Arsenal and Manchester City have had their preparations for the new season disrupted by issues relating to Covid-19. Arsenal were forced to cancel a pre-season trip to the US to compete in the Florida Cup alongside Everton, Inter Milan and Colombian side Millonarios. The North London outfit returned a number of positive [...]
Football review chair: Game could face “existential crisis” without reform and regulation July 22, 2021 Tracey Crouch, the former sports Minister tasked with a review of football governance in the UK, has written to the Culture Secretary to say “football authorities have lost the trust and confidence of fans.” In her interim findings, Crouch calls for an independent regulator of football clubs to monitor in particular financial regulation, corporate governance [...]
English rugby chiefs to offer mouthgard technology to all clubs and open brain clinic as part of concussion action plan July 22, 2021 English rugby chiefs have today announced a new action planned aimed at reducing concussion risk within men’s and women’s professional rugby. The move comes amid mounting pressure on the The Rugby Football Union (RFU), World Rugby and the Welsh Rugby Union as concerns grow over the impact of contact sports on the brain. Nine former [...]
Tokyo 2020: What Covid-19, no fans and public opposition mean for sponsors and the International Olympic Committee July 22, 2021 The 60,000 seats of Japan’s national stadium, built for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, are coloured in muted shades of green, brown, beige and grey. Architect Kengo Kuma chose those tones to fit his vision of the stadium, which he wanted to look as natural and organic as possible. Timber is the most visible material and [...]
Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony director Kentaro Kobayashi sacked for Holocaust joke July 22, 2021 The director of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics opening ceremony has been sacked on the eve of the Games for making jokes about the Holocaust. Kentaro Kobayashi says “let’s play massacre the Jews” in a 1998 comedy sketch, footage of which has recently appeared online. It is the latest in a series of embarrassing departures of [...]
Rugby League World Cup in doubt after Australia and New Zealand pull out and brand England ‘simply too unsafe’ due to Covid-19 July 22, 2021 The Rugby League World Cup, due to take place in England later this year, has been plunged into serious doubt after Australia and New Zealand pulled out. The two southern hemisphere giants said they would not send their men’s, women’s and wheelchair teams due to the Covid-19 situation in the UK. World Cup organisers noted [...]