Sport

Name: Armand Duplantis Sport: Athletics Key achievement: The 25-year-old retained his Olympic pole vault title in Paris – becoming the first back-to-back champion in men’s pole vault since the 1950s. In doing so, he broke both the Olympic and world record – the latter for the ninth time in his career, and second time this year. He went on to …

Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis has been named BBC Sports Personality’s World Sport Star of the Year for 2024. Duplantis – more commonly known as Mondo – is regarded as the greatest pole vaulter of all time and enjoyed another record-breaking year in 2024. The 25-year-old retained his Olympic title in Paris – becoming the first back-to-back champion in men’s …

Kevin Doets survived a scare to defeat Noa-Lynn van Leuven 3-1 in the first round of the PDC World Championship. Doets will face 2023 champion Michael Smith next after the victory against Dutch compatriot Van Leuven, who was the first transgender player to compete in the tournament. “It was very tough, especially at the beginning. She played better than I …

A selection of some of the most striking sports photographs taken around the world over the past seven days.

Chelsea winger Mykhailo Mudryk has failed a drugs test, the Premier League club has confirmed. The Blues say they were contacted by the Football Association after an “adverse finding in a routine urine test”. Ukraine international Mudryk denies knowingly using any banned substance and Chelsea say they will work to establish what caused the test result. “This has come as …

McTominay has four goals and two assists in 15 appearances for Antonio Conte’s side and has become a firm favourite with supporters. His arrival at Napoli coincided with that of international midfield colleague Billy Gilmour. “I love this place,” McTominay added. “I love the fans, I love my team-mates. It has been a pleasure to be with Billy every day …

England captain Ben Stokes says he “ain’t holding back” with his bowling, despite suffering a second hamstring injury in the space of five months. Stokes, 33, limped off the field on the third day of the 423-run defeat by New Zealand in the third Test in Hamilton. He will have a scan on Wednesday. The 23 overs Stokes bowled on …

Grand Slam quarter-finalist Menzies was crestfallen after suffering a surprise defeat to veteran Gates. The 54-year-old never looked back after hitting a 138 checkout in the opening leg against the Scot, who made the last four of the WDF World Championship in 2022. While Gates wiggled his hips after nailing doubles, and was backed by chants of ‘USA, USA’, his …

England will defend their European title at Euro 2025 in Switzerland, and have been drawn in the same group as debutants Wales.

Jane Lewis presents highlights from the weekend’s fixtures in the SWPL.