All posts tagged: Athlete

She didn’t choose basketball. Now, she’s Singapore’s first professional 3×3 female player

She didn’t choose basketball. Now, she’s Singapore’s first professional 3×3 female player

Published by Sam Flores

Upon graduating from junior college, she was keenly interested in Nanyang Technological University’s sport science programme. Her first application in 2020 failed, but after taking a gap year, her second try the next year was successful. All the while, basketball continued to chart its own course for her. While working part-time at a cafe during her gap year, she had a chance encounter with her former primary school basketball coach, Ms Esther Quek, the chief executive officer of basketball academy Jumpshot Singapore. At the time, Ms Quek, a former Singapore national women’s basketball player, was in the process of restructuring her academy’s women’s team from the traditional 5v5 format to a 3×3 squad.  They arranged to meet for a proper catch-up – and this was where Ms Quek introduced Ms Tan to the new game format and planted the idea in her mind of going professional. A CALLING TO 3X3 BASKETBALL THAT CHANGED HER GAME Compared to regular basketball, the urbanised 3×3 version is faster-paced, with shorter games.  Originally known as streetball or street basketball, …

World Athletics blocks 11 athlete transfer requests to Turkiye | Olympics News

World Athletics blocks 11 athlete transfer requests to Turkiye | Olympics News

Published by Sam Flores

Athletes from Kenya, Nigeria and Jamaica have applications rejected for ‘recruitment drive’ by Turkiye government. Published On 17 Apr 202617 Apr 2026 A World Athletics panel has refused 11 allegiance transfer requests to ‌Turkiye over ⁠what it called a “coordinated ⁠recruitment strategy” by the Turkish government to attract overseas athletes with lucrative contracts, the sport’s governing body has said. The requests came from five Kenyan ⁠athletes, including former women’s marathon world record holder Brigid Kosgei, and four Jamaicans, including Olympic discus gold medallist Roje Stona and Olympic shot put bronze medallist Rajindra Campbell. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Nigerian sprinter ⁠Favour Ofili and Russian heptathlete Sophia Yakushina were the other two requests. The World Athletics Nationality Review Panel said it considered that approval of these applications would compromise eligibility rules and transfer of allegiance regulations. “The panel found that the applications formed part of a coordinated recruitment ‌strategy led by the Turkiye government acting through a wholly-owned and financed government club, to attract overseas athletes through lucrative contracts,” World Athletics said in …

Becky Coleman sets sights on becoming first wheelchair athlete to row Oxford–Cambridge course

Becky Coleman sets sights on becoming first wheelchair athlete to row Oxford–Cambridge course

Published by Jenni Sidey

Four miles of tidal river can feel long even to seasoned rowers. Now consider doing it without using your legs. That is the task Becky Coleman has set for herself. Next month, the 35-year-old plans to row the full Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race course on the River Thames using only her arms. No wheelchair user has completed the 6.8-kilometer stretch in this way before. For Coleman, the challenge carries weight far beyond distance or time. Just two years ago, she was fighting for her life. Sepsis left her unable to speak clearly, read, or manage simple daily tasks after she left the hospital. Recovery was slow and uneven. Crossing a road or writing an email became obstacles. The idea of competing in any sport, let alone attempting a record-setting row, felt distant. Becky Coleman plans to row the full Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race course on the River Thames using only her arms. (CREDIT: Richard Pohle) “It was exhausting, physically and cognitively,” she said. “It took a long time to build myself back up.” A different kind of …

Dallas athlete returns home after witnessing strikes in Tehran

Dallas athlete returns home after witnessing strikes in Tehran

Published by Sam Flores

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Thousands attend funeral for Iranian commanders 00:30 U.S. strikes over a dozen Iranian mine-laying ships 00:32 Now Playing Dallas athlete returns home after witnessing strikes in Tehran 01:16 UP NEXT Approximately 140 U.S. service members wounded in Iran war 00:31 UAE video shows Iranian drones being destroyed 00:23 Fire breaks out in Tehran after reported airstrike 00:24 U.S. to launch ‘most intense day of strikes’ on Iran 00:45 Rescue workers search rubble after airstrike in Tehran 00:31 Netanyahu says there is ‘more to come’ on Iran 00:27 Australia grants asylum to five Iranian soccer players 00:50 Who is Iran’s new supreme leader? 01:40 Trump threatens more strikes if Iran halts world oil supply 00:58 Blasts spotted in Beirut as Israel continues strikes 00:19 Celebrations in Tehran as new Iranian leader selected 00:30 Seventh American dies from war with Iran 01:32 Video shows fires in Tehran amid strikes on oil depot 00:23 Iran says it has reached a ‘consensus’ on a …

Who is Matt Weston? The athlete who has won Team GB’s first gold at 2026 Winter Olympics | UK News

Who is Matt Weston? The athlete who has won Team GB’s first gold at 2026 Winter Olympics | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

Matt Weston won gold in the men’s singles skeleton competition, securing Team GB its first medal at the Winter Olympics in Italy. The 28-year-old had been the favourite for gold after leading at the halfway stage of the event on Thursday, with track records in the first two heats. On Friday, the world and European champion posted another track record on his third run – recording a 0.39-second advantage at the top of the leaderboard before bringing the gold home in his final heat at the Milano Cortina Games. A strong run saw him secure the win by increasing his margin of victory to 0.88 seconds, with his fourth track record. You need javascript enabled to view this content Enable javascript to share Share ‘Going up to 90mph on a very expensive tea tray’ Who is Matt Weston? Born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, Weston started out his sporting career in a completely different discipline. He practised taekwondo up until the age of 17, winning medals at UK-based events and international honours whilst representing England abroad. …

Milano-Cortina: Ukrainian athlete disqualified over war tribute helmet

Milano-Cortina: Ukrainian athlete disqualified over war tribute helmet

Published by Sam Flores

Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified from the Olympic race for wearing a “helmet of remembrance” honouring athletes killed since Russia’s invasion, breaching IOC rules banning political messages in competition. He can remain at the Games after a last-minute intervention by IOC President Kirsty Coventry, while his team plans to appeal the disqualification. Keywords for this article Source link

Pope, an avid athlete, extols physical and spiritual benefits of sport in Olympic message

Pope, an avid athlete, extols physical and spiritual benefits of sport in Olympic message

Published by Sam Flores

ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV, an avid tennis player and sports fan, marked the start of the Winter Games on Friday by extolling the positive values of sport and fair play while warning that the pursuit of profits and performance risked corrupting sport entirely. In a message entitled “Life in Abundance” issued on the same day as the Milan Cortina opening ceremony, Leo traced the history of Christian philosophers and popes who had identified sports and leisure activity as beneficial for both physical and spiritual development. And he repeated his call for world leaders to respect the ancient tradition of an Olympic truce. But drawing on his own experience as an athlete, Leo delved into a nuanced exploration of the value of sports and the risk when the “dictatorship of performance” posed by doping, match-fixing and other forms of corruption win out over fair play. “Such dishonesty not only corrupts sporting activities themselves, but also demoralizes the general public and undermines the positive contribution of sport to society as a whole,” he warned. He …

What Paralympic Athlete Monster Mike Schultz Packs for His Races

What Paralympic Athlete Monster Mike Schultz Packs for His Races

Published by skeptic

When he was 27, snow cross racer Mike Schultz (who got the nickname “Monster Mike” because of his renowned fearlessness) drifted off course in a race, flew off his snowmobile, and obliterated his knee. It required multiple surgeries and multiple days in a coma to save his life. Ultimately, his medical team had to amputate his leg. Rather than give up his love of action sports, Schultz engineered his own prosthetic knee and founded his own high-performance prosthetic company, BioDapt. His prostheses use a patented proprietary linkage system and mountain bike shocks to dial in such precise performance, enabling him to return to compete at the highest levels of the sport. Since 2008, he has won multiple Winter Paralympics and World Championships for adaptive snowboard cross and banked slalom. More importantly, however, extreme athletes, amputees, and veterans all use his prosthetics. That includes many of his competitors, whose gear he sometimes ends up repairing right before an event. “You never get the temptation to, you know, ‘fix’ a competitor’s Moto Knee?” I asked him over …