Norwegian biathlete wins Winter Olympics bronze and then tells TV interview of affair

The Norwegian Sturla Holm Lægreid broke down in tears after winning bronze in the men’s 20km biathlon, apologising for having an affair and saying: “It has been the worst week of my life.”Johan-Olav Botn won gold, with the Frenchman Éric Perrot in second, but it was Lægreid who stunned television viewers in Norway after opening up to the broadcaster NRK about his private life over the past six months.“There is something I want to share with someone who may not be watching today,” he said. “Half a year ago I met the love of my life. The world’s most beautiful and nicest person

Muirhead vows to rally Team GB as curling defeat means wait goes on for Winter Olympic medal

Another day, another dolour. The Great Britain Olympic team suffered their third heartbreak in the space of 24 hours after the mixed doubles curling team of Bruce Mouat and Jen Dodds lost their bronze medal match to Italy 5-3.After fourth-placed finishes for Mia Brookes in the big air and Kirsty Muir in the slopestyle, this was another bitter disappointment. “We always speak about winter sports and how it comes down to absolutely nothing,” said the team’s chef de mission, Eve Muirhead, “and the last couple of days has been a prime example of that. It’s been millimetres and milliseconds

US figure skater Amber Glenn resolves Winter Olympics music dispute with Canadian artist

The US figure skater Amber Glenn said Tuesday that she has resolved copyright concerns with the Canadian recording artist Seb McKinnon after the musician expressed surprise that one of his songs appeared in her Olympic free skate program, closing a brief dispute that underscored the growing complexity of music rights in figure skating.McKinnon, who releases music under the name CLANN, posted on social media after Glenn performed to his track The Return during the Olympic team event, questioning whether the music had been cleared. He later congratulated Glenn on her team gold medal, and both sides have since described the episode as a misunderstanding rather than a conflict.“The issue of music rights can be complex and confusing, and it seems like there was a hiccup somewhere in that process,” Glenn said in a statement. “I’m glad we were able to clear things up and I’m excited about the possibility of collaborating with Seb moving forward

Winter Olympics officials find fix for broken medals and promise repairs

After days of embarrassing stories about Winter Olympic medals cracking, snapping, and even breaking in two after falling in the snow, organisers say they have finally fixed the problem.Officials have also promised to repair any of the medals that were awarded in the opening three days of competition in Milano Cortina, after identifying on Monday that the issue stemmed from the medal’s cord, which is fitted with a breakaway mechanism required by law.The system is designed to release automatically if pulled with force, preventing the wearer from being choked. However it led to problems that began on Saturday when the American downhill skiing champion Breezy Johnson revealed that her gold medal had fallen off her ribbon as she jumped in celebration.Speaking at the daily Milano Cortina briefing, spokesman Luca Casassa said: “Following reports of issues affecting a small number of medals, the organising committee immediately reviewed the matter, working closely with the State Mint, which produced the medals

Jos Buttler insists ‘dressing room knows the truth’ about McCullum’s qualities

Brendon McCullum’s shades-on, feet-up, perpetually chilled persona as England coach, which has led to him being criticised for creating an unhealthily relaxed team culture, is carefully cultivated but entirely false, according to the former white-ball captain Jos Buttler. Buttler said that McCullum is actually “as sharp a coach as I’ve ever worked with”, and that “everyone in the dressing room knows the truth”.While McCullum has been sceptical about the overuse of data in cricket he has recently adopted the use of walkie-talkies to relay information from the team’s analysts to their support staff and on to the pitch during matches, and Buttler insisted he has always been more involved in the action than it appears.“That’s obviously the energy he wants to have, to allow guys to feel less pressure in a game that has a lot of pressure,” Buttler said. “So that image is important to him

The Breakdown | Test rugby coaches have a shelf life and Townsend must know he’s near the end

The witty Anglo-American author Ashleigh Brilliant passed away last September at the age of 91, but his best lines are timeless. Beleaguered sports coaches worldwide will all recognise one of his characteristically pithy observations: “I try to take one day at a time – but sometimes several days attack me at once.” To be responsible for an under-pressure national side must induce a similar feeling.So what do you do when coaching life starts serving you lemons? After a while there are only two options: try to ride it out, or accept it might be wiser for someone else to have a go. It can be a delicate judgment, often shaped by non-sporting considerations