Olympics
Tokyo’s doomed Olympics could be the worst yet
The Tokyo 2020/2021 Olympics, which begins on Friday, looks set to be one of the worst in the event’s history. A…
Laurel Hubbard is the beginning of the end of women’s sports
When women’s professional soccer was deemed good enough for our TV screens a couple of years ago, I was watching…
Athletics is running on empty
Whatever became of athletics? It’s fallen nearly as far as show jumping and that is a long way. But the…
Olympics’ organisers could regret banning ‘taking the knee’
Knee-taking and fist-raising protests have been banned at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee warning athletes who flout the rules…
How the West can avoid Beijing’s propaganda trap
This time next year the Winter Olympics will have drawn to a close. Beijing will have become the first city…
Japan Olympic chief resigns over sexism. But did he have to go?
Yoshiro Mori the 83-year-old former Japanese prime minister has resigned from his position as president of the Tokyo Olympic Organising…
Is it all over for the Tokyo Olympics?
Any long-term resident of Japan will know that ‘reading the air’, as the locals put it, is an essential skill…
Face time
The inimitably pukka voice of Jacob Rees-Mogg echoed through Radio 4 on Thursday morning. He was not, though, talking about…
Running the triple crown
The story of the Czechoslovak runner Emil Zátopek is a tale from athletics’ age of innocence. Without the aid of…
Good clean fun
I once forced some pals on a skiing holiday to spend an afternoon off the slopes watching Chalet Girl. Suffice…
Would I break my neck for a bit of TV fame?
Not long ago I was asked if I wanted to participate in a Channel 4 reality show called The Jump.…
Game over
If sport loses the public’s faith – and it’s starting to – then all its power and glory will fade
Thomas Heatherwick
Thomas Heatherwick is the most famous designer in the United Kingdom today and has an unquestionable flair for attention-grabbing creations.…
Barometer
A marathon of cheats Russian athletes may be stripped of the medals they won at the 2012 Olympics, but what…
Our drugs cheat
Do you want to see Paula Radcliffe’s blood? If so, you’re not alone. Radcliffe, three-time winner of the London Marathon…
Champions of absurdity
Jumping the shark isn’t yet an Olympic sport, but if it were the International Olympic Committee would be a shoo-in…
Slowly, slowly, catchy, catchy
Foxcatcher is a crime drama (of sorts) that has already been dubbed ‘Oscarcatcher!’ as it barely puts a foot wrong.…
The bill that keeps on building
Giving London’s Olympic stadium a ‘legacy’ is proving to be a very costly business
Rise of the man-hug
Have we gained from abandoning the handshake?
Riding for Rwanda
This is a book about Rwanda. It’s a book about cycling. But it’s not, in the end, a book about…
