Sport England suspends X social media account and takes aim at Elon Musk

Sport England has revealed that it has suspended its account on X, because the social media platform “­increasingly promotes and monetises an environment that is hostile to women and girls”.In a blog post explaining the ­decision the Sport England chair, Chris Boardman, criticised X’s AI platform tool, Grok, saying it had “contributed to the amplification of and worse, normalisation of, misogynistic content”.“That runs directly counter to what we stand for,” said Boardman, who sits at the heart of a funding agency that invests £250m a year in grassroots sport and community projects. Regarding the decision to withdraw from X, he also pointed to the fact members of the England ­women’s football squad were attacked on the platform last summer. “Sport should always be a place where everyone feels safe and welcome,” he said

Watching James Bond play my great uncle Brendan in Giant was surreal and spooky | Sean Ingle

The first time I watched Prince Naseem Hamed train, my jaw couldn’t have dropped any faster if he had hit me with one of his lassoing uppercuts. I had followed all his fights on TV, of course. But to see him in the flesh in September 1994, a year before he became world champion, was an altogether more visceral and mesmeric experience.Hamed’s punches sounded like firecrackers welcoming in the new year as they smashed into the pads. He was almost impossible to hit

Swiss resort Crans-Montana, scene of fatal bar fire, will be an Olympic venue in 2038

The Swiss ski resort of Crans-Montana, which was the scene of a fatal bar fire on New Year’s Day, is set to host the Alpine ski races at the 2038 Olympics.Less than a fortnight after the blaze at Le Constellation that killed 40 and injured 116 other people, officials for the bid have said that the municipality is a key site in their proposals for the Games in 12 years’ time.Switzerland has been granted privileged status by the International Olympic Committee, which means no other country will be allowed to bid while it finalises its proposal. Barring an unexpected development, therefore, it will host the 2038 Games.On Monday organisers confirmed that Crans-Montana would stage events as part of its plan to host competitions across the country in 12 years’ time in order to avoid taxpayer spending on construction

Stan Wawrinka: ‘I really believe that I squeezed the lemon until the last drop’

The 40-year-old is nearing end of his career and has few regrets after winning three grand slams in Big Three eraIn the first week of the final year of his life as a professional tennis player, Stanislas “Stan” Wawrinka found himself in the familiar position of staring down an opponent nearly half his age. Wawrinka, now 40, had tussled with the talented 23-year-old Flavio Cobolli for nearly three hours before offering himself a shot at a monumental victory.Just a few tense errors deep in a tense final set tie-break saw those chances slip away. In theory, deciding that 2026 will be the final year of his career should provide Wawrinka with an opportunity to swing for the fences and completely empty his tank, playing without inhibitions. Life, however, is far more complicated than that

Why is Stephen A Smith blaming Renee Good for her own death? | Etan Thomas

This past weekend there were hundreds of demonstrations across the United States after Renee Good, an American citizen and mother of three, was shot dead by Jonathan Ross, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, in Minnesota.The anger has permeated throughout the NBA as well. Steve Kerr and Doc Rivers, the head coaches of the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks respectively, described Good’s death as “murder”. Kerr also attacked the Trump administration’s attempts to portray Good as a terrorist.“It’s shameful that the government can come out and lie about what happened when there’s video and witnesses who have all come out and disputed what the government is saying,” Kerr said

The Spin | Nimble or nervous 90s? Cricket maths show best approach to scoring a century

Stats tell us batters have less reason to be anxious in the 90s than common lore suggests, though the pain and fear of falling short is all too realIf you’ve ever been lucky enough to score a century you’ll know how seismic a moment it is when you finally get over the line. Some play the game for a lifetime and never make one, the three-figured kingdom for ever out of reach, a promised land they are destined never to enter. Yet cricket lures you back like a devilish lover. You just can’t quit it. Next time might be your time