Cardinals ‘heartbroken’ after former defensive end Josh Mauro dies at age of 35

Former Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants defensive end Josh Mauro has died at the age of 35.Mauro’s father, Greg, confirmed the news in a post on Facebook.“With many tears and broken hearts, yet anchored in the unshakable certainty that our precious Josh Mauro is now healed and made new — living in the presence of the Lord — we humbly covet your prayers as our family walks through the devastating loss of our amazing son, brother, uncle, grandson and friend,” Greg Mauro wrote. “On Thursday, April 23rd, Josh breathed his last breath on this earth and his first breath in heaven.”Two of Mauro’s former teams, the Cardinals and Raiders, paid tribute to the player

West Ham urged to show ‘heart and soul’ over London 2029 World Athletics bid

The head of the London Marathon has urged West Ham to show more “heart and soul” amid fears they could scupper Britain’s chances of hosting the 2029 World Athletics Championships.While London’s bid is seen as the favourite, it has hit a major stumbling block with West Ham refusing to give up their stadium for around two weeks in September 2029 because the football season will be under way.Hugh Brasher, who is part of the London 2029 bid team, admitted that the situation was further complicated by the Hammers facing relegation and the departure of the club’s vice-chair, Karren Brady.“Football is an interesting, very tribal, sport,” said Brasher. “Money talks

‘It’s a gamechanger’: Lewis Hamilton’s groundbreaking Mission 44 recruits working in F1

Sports people can be more than the sum of their athletic achievements. Lewis Hamilton stands unquestionably as one of the greatest drivers in the history of Formula One having delivered records and outstanding performances that will be hard to surpass. Yet it is indicative of his character that the seven-time world champion rates them all as sitting only alongside what might ultimately be his most significant and long-lasting legacy. His Mission 44 foundation is making an indelible impact on the makeup of motorsport.“Talent is everywhere, opportunity isn’t and that’s what we’re here to change

‘Like cutting the head off a hydra’: how Mary Cain exposed Nike’s disgraced coaching team

“As someone who has lost touch with reality, I like to hold a firm grasp on it now,” Mary Cain says while we walk through a palm-tree spotted campus in California.She’s telling me why she insisted she write her own memoir, This Is Not About Running, without ceding the narrative to a ghostwriter, as happens with many athletes. “My story is so complicated … there are so many bad actors that I think it forces the reader to embrace nuance, and I don’t think you see that very often.”At 29, Mary Cain is a decade removed from her experience as the United States’ highest hope for a middle-distance track star since Mary Decker smashed women’s world records up and down the stat sheet in the 1970s and 80s.Cain set four different national high school records as a teen, and as a 17-year old made the world championships in the 1500m, finishing 10th in a field of pros

The Breakdown | Celebrating elite speed machines who can send rugby into the stratosphere

As Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe crossed the line to complete his world-record London Marathon sprint on Sunday the BBC’s commentator Steve Cram almost swallowed his microphone. “Absolutely incredible. I’ve never seen anything like that. What a finish.” Running 26

‘My life changes on one shot’: Joe Johnson on snooker glory, Princess Diana and his seven heart attacks

After starting the 1986 world championships as a 150-1 outsider victory against Steve Davis led to watching tennis with royalty and being mobbed in Tesco“It was like a strange dream,” Joe Johnson says as he remembers becoming the world snooker champion 40 years ago as a 150-1 outsider and former gas board and factory worker who was the father of six children. Johnson had never previously won a game at the Crucible and he had struggled for years to make a living as a pro.It was a time when Britain was “snooker loopy” and Johnson played characters such as Bill Werbeniuk who, in 1985, beat him in the first round while drinking a staggering amount of beer.The following year, Johnson outplayed the great Steve Davis in the world championship final. He was suddenly outrageously famous and became the lead singer for an obscure band, Made In Japan, who then had a hit record