Sports Poets Society

Qian Jun/MB Media/ Getty & Andy Cheung Glitter politics: Eileen Gu (left) added silvers to her 2022 golds, while Alysa Liu claimed her first golds in Cortina. Eileen Gu and Alysa Liu are superstars of the Games but should they face the added burden of being spokeswomen for their nations’ wrongs, asks Jessy Parker Humphreys Jessy Parker Humphreys 22 Feb 2026 - THE OBSERVER / Sport In September 2003, Eileen Gu was born in San Francisco, California. Almost exactly two years later, Alysa Liu was born three and a half hours’ drive south east in Clovis, California. Both girls had parents who emigrated to the United States from China and both would go on to become sporting superstars. Their paths to the top are similar – prodigious success, elite university education, Olympic medals – but differ in one crucial aspect: when Liu steps on to the top of a podium, The Star-Spangled Banner rings out; when Gu does the same, the Chinese anthem plays. At Milano Cortina 2026, Gu became the most ...

Think you have had enough of the rain?  Spare a thought for the nation’s groundstaff, writes Rory Smith Rory Smith 22 feb 2026 - THE OBSERVER / Sport As a guide to just how bleak this winter has been, it is pretty hard to beat. Craig Knight remembers it distinctly: he was sitting in Everton’s Hill Dickinson Stadium, watching England’s rugby league international with Australia, when he looked towards the ground’s North Stand. The corner flag was dappled with sunshine. That was 1 November last year. This week, one of Knight’s colleagues on Everton’s groundstaff messaged him excitedly. “Pop your champagne cork,” the caption read. Attached was a picture of the stadium, a shaft of bright sunshine illuminating a section of the grass. Knight felt a wave of relief. It was the first direct sunlight on the pitch in almost four months. Even by Great Britain’s extremely low standards, the weather in 2026 so far has been – and this is the meteorological term – dreadful. Until this week, it had ...

Paul Magnier a remporté hier après midi le sprint massif à Lagos. Dans un final agité et moins contrôlé par son équipe, Paul Magnier, le coureur de la Soudal-Quick Step, a encore trouvé le timing idéal pour s’imposer sur un vrai sprint massif lors de la quatrième étape. Ses adversaires assistent, impuissants, à son empi “Tout le monde avait l’intention d’attendre, j’ai essayé d’anticiper et au final, ça a payé '' 22 Feb 2026 - L'Équipe LUC HERINCX LAGOS (POR) – L’énergie du phénomène électrise le paddock à l’aube et au crépuscule de chaque étape sur ce Tour de l’Algarve. Avec sa banane et un regard toujours virevoltant à droite à gauche, Paul Magnier renvoie un vis a ge naï f d’ habi t ué a u bon dénouement des choses, qu’importent les péripéties. Même s’il y a « toujours un peu… comment dire… de l’improvisation » , selon son poisson-pilote Dries Van Gestel, le sprinteur de 21 ans trouve toujours une issue. En comparaison du contrôle de son train Soudal-Quick Step à l’arriv...