The alternative 2025 sports awards: quotes, gaffes and animal cameos

The best and worst of 2025 – featuring devotion in DC, late-night tweeting and the fly that sank a birdieThe White House, issuing a communique to reporters covering April’s global market meltdown over tariffs as US losses hit $6.6tn (£4.9tn) in two days. “The President won his second round matchup of the Senior Club Championship today in Jupiter, FL, and advances to the Championship Round tomorrow.”Gianni Infantino, standing in the Oval Office in November while his choice for Fifa’s inaugural peace prize winner floated the idea of bombing World Cup co-hosts Mexico

Anthony Joshua’s camp confirm two of his close friends died in Nigeria car crash

The British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua has issued a statement after he was injured in a car crash in Nigeria on Monday morning which killed two of his close friends.The former world heavyweight boxing champion was taken to an undisclosed hospital after his car hit a stationary vehicle at about 11am on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Ogun state police commissioner, Lanre Ogunlowo, said. The driver of Joshua’s vehicle was also injured, he added.An official spokesman for Joshua said: “It is with the deepest and most profound sadness that we confirm, following a road traffic accident in Lagos, Nigeria earlier today, the death of Sina Ghami and Kevin ‘Lateef’ Ayodele.“Both were close friends and integral members of Anthony’s team

Luke Littler forced to battle the boos in tense win at PDC World Championship

They say you either die a hero, or live long enough to become the villain. At a feverish and hostile Alexandra Palace, the same crowd that cheered Luke Littler on as a 16-year-old boy now jeers him to victory as an 18-year-old man. The character arc has come full circle; the heel turn complete. He is three matches from retaining his world title, and remains the overwhelming favourite to do so. But from this point, he’s going to have to do it on his own

Sarina Wiegman an honorary dame as Lionesses and Red Roses get honours

Sarina Wiegman has been awarded an honorary damehood after guiding England to back-to-back European titles, in a new year honours list dominated by the Lionesses and England’s victorious women’s rugby union team.The Red Roses’ World Cup success on home soil has led to the captain, Zoe Aldcroft, the vice-captain, Marlie Packer, and the head coach, John Mitchell, named OBEs, while Megan Jones, Sadia Kabeya and Ellie Kildunne become MBEs.Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean have been honoured with a damehood and a knighthood for services to skating and to voluntary service, more than 40 years after their gold medal at the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo while July’s triumph for Wiegman’s Lionesses also means the captain, Leah Williamson, has been named an OBE and four of her teammates – Alex Greenwood, Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone and Keira Walsh – MBEs.The culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, said: “It has been an historic year for women’s sport and I could not be more pleased to congratulate our Red Roses and Lionesses on their new year’s honours. To have two England teams – in two of our most loved sports – win major tournaments in the space of a few months was just extraordinary

No Drama This End brings back glory days for Nicholls – and it’s Cheltenham next

Days like these were once almost a weekly experience for Paul Nicholls, as he strung together one title-winning season after another, so the 14-time champion will have taken particular pleasure from his double on Monday as No Drama This End, in the Grade One Challow Hurdle, and Minella Yoga both emerged as contenders for the Cheltenham festival in March.The Challow has often been an early proving ground for future stars over fences, and No Drama This End, Nicholls’s seventh winner of the race, joined former champions from the yard including Denman, the 2008 Gold Cup winner, and Bravemansgame, the 2022 King George VI Chase winner, on the roll of honour. Sent off at 4-9, the five-year-old made all the running under Harry Cobden and needed little encouragement to maintain a one-and-a-quarter length lead to the line.“Someone just said to me, how does he compare with your other Challow winners, like Denman and Bravemansgame and all those,” Nicholls said, “and he compares with all of them. In three runs over hurdles, he’s won two Grade Twos and a Grade One, and none of them achieved that

The Las Vegas Raiders and the thin line between tanking and incompetence

The Las Vegas Raiders made waves this week by putting its two, and only, stars on injured reserve ahead of the final two games that will decide the 2026 NFL draft order. Tight end Brock Bowers and edge rusher Maxx Crosby were shut down from a consequential battle for the top draft pick against the Giants and a Week 18 game against Kansas City due to nagging knee injuries. Bowers had scored four touchdowns over the past five weeks for a team that doesn’t score many points. Crosby is a human wrecking ball who has amassed 28 tackles for loss this season. He’s the player that causes opponents to lose sleep