‘An Olympic miracle’: twist in Conan Doyle’s skimo tale as Russian snares silver

We can partly thank Sir Arthur Conan Doyle for popularising the Winter Olympics’ newest sport, which made its debut amid an unrelenting snowstorm, a touch of mayhem and no little controversy in Bormio.In 1894, the year after he had killed off Sherlock Holmes at the Reichenbach Falls, Conan Doyle wrote about his own perilous 15-mile journey across the 8,000-feet high Maienfelder Furka Pass one that involved skiing and mountaineering.“We carried our ski over our shoulders, and our ski-boots slung round our necks,” he wrote. “The slope grew steeper and steeper until it fell away into what was little short of being sheer precipice.” He lived to tell the tale, even if one of his companions badly sprained his ankle

Townsend calls for Kinghorn and Van der Merwe to show ‘huge determination’ against Wales

Gregor Townsend expects Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe to be fuelled by “huge determination” against Wales after they were restored to Scotland’s starting XV for Saturday’s Six Nations meeting in Cardiff.The British & Irish Lions duo were high-profile omissions from the 23 for the first two championship matches against Italy and England amid question marks about their form. The Toulouse back Kinghorn will start at full-back in place of Tom Jordan, who drops to the bench, while Van der Merwe, Scotland’s record try-scorer, returns at wing to take over from Jamie Dobie, who is out due to injury.“Blair was back playing on Sunday night for Toulouse so it’s good to get an outlet when you’ve not been selected,” said the head coach after naming his squad to face Wales. “He played really well in that game and he’s recovered quickly

Australia beat India by 19 runs in second women’s T20 international – as it happened

After a disappointing loss in Sydney and the frustration of not being able to finish the game due to the rain, Australia came into this match with a lot of determination. Their batting score appeared under par and India’s start made it look like it was certain to be that way, but a strong bowling performance through the middle and late overs of the game secured the win for the home team.Voll was a well-deserved player of the match – her determination set the standard for her teammates and ensured her team had a strong platform to build from. While the batting innings finished in a disappointing manner for Australia, it was a good enough score to give the bowlers something to defend and they gave their all to defending it.For India, Shafali and Smriti put on a great opening stand, but after Shafali was out, the scoring rate stalled

I went back to my alma mater and saw how women’s sports have changed

I’ve been going to Columbia basketball games since I was an undergraduate in the 1960s. As a junior, I did some play-by-play for WKCR, the student-run radio station. There was a time long ago when I went to almost every Lions home game. I’m talking about the men. There wasn’t a women’s basketball team until 1984

Power points: scrum battle could be crucial in England v Ireland clash

Two snapshots will be nagging away in Irish minds before Saturday’s visit to south-west London. The first is the sobering sight of Tadhg Furlong and Dan Sheehan, both distinguished British & Irish Lions, being rocketed skywards by Italy’s power in the set scrums last Saturday. The second dates back 14 years to another Anglo-Irish contest that epitomised the “no scrum, no win” ethos that remains non-negotiable at the highest level.The airborne Furlong footage has certainly caught the eye of England’s front-rowers and a quick dip into the archives will also remind both teams of what can happen when things up front go pear-shaped. In 2012, Ireland were left badly exposed when Mike Ross injured his neck at the first scrum and ended up conceding a penalty try, six scrum penalties and three scrums against the head as they subsided to a humbling 30-9 defeat

Winter Olympics briefing: Shiffrin’s sublime showing delivers release of emotion

High above the jagged peaks of the Italian Alps, Mikaela Shiffrin stood at the top of the podium once again. After eight long years without an Olympic medal, the American produced two sublime runs to win the women’s slalom by a commanding 1.50sec – the third-largest margin of victory in Olympic history for the event. In doing so, she became the first American skier to claim three Olympic alpine gold medals and further cemented her status as the greatest alpine skier of her generation.The setting in the Dolomites was spectacular