Latest news with #BBCSportsPersonalityoftheYear
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
When could Keely Hodgkinson return to track after latest injury setback?
Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson will not compete at the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday after another injury setback. The 2024 BBC Sports Personality of the Year has been suffering with a hamstring injury since February. The injury forced her to pull out of her own event, the Keely Klassic, where she was due to attempt to break the 800m indoor world record. The middle-distance runner suspected her recovery would take up to six weeks and was due to return to the track for the seventh Diamond League event of 2025, her first competitive outdoor appearance of the year. However, this setback only further delays her return. But what does this mean for the 23-year-old and how will this impact the rest of her season? Although no official time scale has been placed upon her comeback, there is now serious doubt over whether she will be fit enough to race in several major upcoming events. Hodgkinson was next due to race in the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon at the start of July, but she will also want to be the start line at the sold out London Diamond League meet two weeks later. The main target for the British star, though, is to race at the World Championships in Tokyo in September, where she will bid to become victorious at this event for the first time. The Stockholm meet would have seen her face fierce rivals from Paris: silver medalist Tsige Duguma from Ethiopia, who currently sits at the top of the DL standings, and bronze medalist Mary Moraa from Kenya, who currently holds the World Championship title And Hodgkinson could be lacking the same formal race experience heading into her pursuit to clinch the world title she would desperately love to attach her name to.
Irish Daily Mirror
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
Barry McGuigan reflects on an 'incredible night' 40 years on from Pedrosa fight
It is 40 years today since Barry McGuigan beat Panama's Eusebio Pedroza to win a world title at Loftus Road on 8 June 1985. Set against the backdrop of the Troubles, the Clones man was a beacon of hope during perilous times, and his world title victory was a moment that defined a boxing era. McGuigan, 64, told BBC Sport: "Those sort of vivid memories are so burned into your brain that you'll never forget. "Winning the world title against Pedroza, having an audience of almost 19 million people. Winning BBC Sports Personality of the Year, the year that Dennis Taylor won the snooker. It was an amazing year for sport, and yet there were lots of tragedies and people dying here because of the Troubles. "Walking to the ring took us 12 minutes to walk 60 yards because the fans were so fanatical. "Then Pedroza came out to some sort of Spanish music, and he took him all of 25, 30 seconds to go from the away dugout dressing room to the ring as opposed to mine. "But it was the fanatical support that we had. You know, we reckon 14,000 people travelled over from Dublin and Belfast and Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland. "It was an incredible night. It just fizzed and the old man got in and sang Danny Boy and everybody sang it back, and then the bell went, and off we went and it was flat out." After many defences of his European featherweight title, McGuigan finally got a shot at the world belt. But he was taking on a boxer who had held the world title for seven years, defending it against 18 different fighters. "I knew I had to pressurise him because technically he was much better than me," McGuigan said. "I had to beat him with pace and pressure, and I just was on him from the start, putting him back, backing him up, making him fight at a pace that was uncomfortable for him. "And that's how you take away their technique advantage, just being on them non-stop, and that was my style. "Then whacking the body when I could, and then the round that changed it all was round seven, bang, down. "Suddenly everything went bonkers. The noise was deafening. Stanley Christodoulou was the South African referee, and he was looking around for me. I ran to the neutral corner immediately because I knew I'd hurt him, and then he counted him and then waved us on ."I came in and I went, I'm going to throw a right hook at him. And I went left side, right side, left side, and I swung, and he just went, shh. I went whizzing past him, missed him by about that much. "But that told me that he wasn't that badly hurt. So I knew at that stage, you know, he was very alert and he was stunned, but he was still very compos mentis. "I tried a right hook and I chased him back, hit him with a couple of left hands, but I never hit him with that right hand again in that round. "Then I had him in real trouble in the 9th round, and then he was out on his feet in the 13th. Legs went, but again, he was a formidable champion. He just stayed in there to the end of the 15 rounds. "But that night I was on such a high, I could have fought 20 rounds. I was just so up for the fight. I was so emotionally fired up for it."
North Wales Chronicle
05-06-2025
- Sport
- North Wales Chronicle
Carly Telford: Mary Earps is a 'huge loss' to England squad
Earps stunned the footballing world by announcing her decision last week after reportedly being told by Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman that she would not be first choice for the defence of England's European crown. Telford, who boasts 27 caps for England between the sticks, believes the squad's remaining goalkeepers will suffer for the loss of Earps' experience in Switzerland. 'For me, it's a huge loss in terms of the GK union,' she said. 'It's always super important to have some experience in there. 'You'd be shocked when any player that plays well retires and probably think it's too early, or it's an age where they shouldn't, but there's never an age that you should or shouldn't retire. 'From a player perspective, everyone's journey should be in their control, and I have a huge respect for Mary. 'It's not something you just think overnight, and you're like, 'Oh, you know what, I can't really be bothered anymore. I don't fancy this.' 'It would have taken months of conversations with family, with friends, with teammates, with coaches, to work out, 'Is this the right thing for me? How do I feel when I put on that shirt? How do I feel when I go to camp?'' Since the goalkeeper's announcement, Millie Bright and Fran Kirby, who were both also influential in the Euro 2022 triumph, have taken themselves out of contention for England selection this summer, too. Earps, 32, was England's number one when they won the Euros in 2022 in a historic summer for women's football and kept that spot for the Lionesses' run to the final a year later, when she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. She has also been influential off the pitch, notably inspiring with award acceptance speeches and winning a battle with Nike to get women's goalkeeper replica shirts on sale. 'Her journey's been her journey, and it has been an incredible one,' added Telford. 'What she's done for English goalkeeping, and goalkeeping in general, and for women, has been something that's probably unheard of in the women's game in England, as an individual. I can't thank her enough for that. 'A lot of people are disappointed in the way it's been delivered, but I hope that people remember the legacy that she's left. 'That goalkeeper union is in a much better place because of her, and I'd like to think she's given them all the tools to be successful in the next few years.' In April, Wiegman said that Chelsea's Hannah Hampton was 'a little bit ahead' of Earps when it came to securing the number one jersey. It is an experience Telford knows all too well from her time competing with Karen Bardsley for the spot, travelling to France for the 2019 World Cup as second choice. On that occasion, an injury to Bardsley in the World Cup quarterfinals saw Telford called upon for the semi-final encounter with the USA. 'It's really difficult because there's a part of you that knows that you're probably never going to play, but also there's always a what if,' added Telford, who is partnering with Sure to give young girls the authentic role models they deserve in a sport that is growing exponentially. 'What I learned on my journey as a goalkeeper is not to be like, 'Oh, I'm not going to play, I'm not going to be bothered.' 'I would say to all the goalkeepers that are in the mix for that selection pot, including the ones that we think are going to start, is to make sure you're prepared fully because you never know what tournament football's going to throw at you.' Visibility plays a vital role in inspiring young girls in sports, but it alone isn't enough. Increased visibility needs to be paired with real world grassroots investment – like Sure's Breaking Limits Programme – find out more here
South Wales Argus
05-06-2025
- Sport
- South Wales Argus
Carly Telford: Mary Earps is a 'huge loss' to England squad
Earps stunned the footballing world by announcing her decision last week after reportedly being told by Lionesses boss Sarina Wiegman that she would not be first choice for the defence of England's European crown. Telford, who boasts 27 caps for England between the sticks, believes the squad's remaining goalkeepers will suffer for the loss of Earps' experience in Switzerland. 'For me, it's a huge loss in terms of the GK union,' she said. 'It's always super important to have some experience in there. 'You'd be shocked when any player that plays well retires and probably think it's too early, or it's an age where they shouldn't, but there's never an age that you should or shouldn't retire. 'From a player perspective, everyone's journey should be in their control, and I have a huge respect for Mary. 'It's not something you just think overnight, and you're like, 'Oh, you know what, I can't really be bothered anymore. I don't fancy this.' 'It would have taken months of conversations with family, with friends, with teammates, with coaches, to work out, 'Is this the right thing for me? How do I feel when I put on that shirt? How do I feel when I go to camp?'' Since the goalkeeper's announcement, Millie Bright and Fran Kirby, who were both also influential in the Euro 2022 triumph, have taken themselves out of contention for England selection this summer, too. Earps, 32, was England's number one when they won the Euros in 2022 in a historic summer for women's football and kept that spot for the Lionesses' run to the final a year later, when she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. She has also been influential off the pitch, notably inspiring with award acceptance speeches and winning a battle with Nike to get women's goalkeeper replica shirts on sale. 'Her journey's been her journey, and it has been an incredible one,' added Telford. 'What she's done for English goalkeeping, and goalkeeping in general, and for women, has been something that's probably unheard of in the women's game in England, as an individual. I can't thank her enough for that. 'A lot of people are disappointed in the way it's been delivered, but I hope that people remember the legacy that she's left. 'That goalkeeper union is in a much better place because of her, and I'd like to think she's given them all the tools to be successful in the next few years.' In April, Wiegman said that Chelsea's Hannah Hampton was 'a little bit ahead' of Earps when it came to securing the number one jersey. It is an experience Telford knows all too well from her time competing with Karen Bardsley for the spot, travelling to France for the 2019 World Cup as second choice. On that occasion, an injury to Bardsley in the World Cup quarterfinals saw Telford called upon for the semi-final encounter with the USA. 'It's really difficult because there's a part of you that knows that you're probably never going to play, but also there's always a what if,' added Telford, who is partnering with Sure to give young girls the authentic role models they deserve in a sport that is growing exponentially. 'What I learned on my journey as a goalkeeper is not to be like, 'Oh, I'm not going to play, I'm not going to be bothered.' 'I would say to all the goalkeepers that are in the mix for that selection pot, including the ones that we think are going to start, is to make sure you're prepared fully because you never know what tournament football's going to throw at you.' Visibility plays a vital role in inspiring young girls in sports, but it alone isn't enough. Increased visibility needs to be paired with real world grassroots investment – like Sure's Breaking Limits Programme – find out more here
The Herald Scotland
05-06-2025
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Carly Telford: Mary Earps is a 'huge loss' to England squad
Telford, who boasts 27 caps for England between the sticks, believes the squad's remaining goalkeepers will suffer for the loss of Earps' experience in Switzerland. 'For me, it's a huge loss in terms of the GK union,' she said. 'It's always super important to have some experience in there. 'You'd be shocked when any player that plays well retires and probably think it's too early, or it's an age where they shouldn't, but there's never an age that you should or shouldn't retire. 'From a player perspective, everyone's journey should be in their control, and I have a huge respect for Mary. 'It's not something you just think overnight, and you're like, 'Oh, you know what, I can't really be bothered anymore. I don't fancy this.' 'It would have taken months of conversations with family, with friends, with teammates, with coaches, to work out, 'Is this the right thing for me? How do I feel when I put on that shirt? How do I feel when I go to camp?'' Since the goalkeeper's announcement, Millie Bright and Fran Kirby, who were both also influential in the Euro 2022 triumph, have taken themselves out of contention for England selection this summer, too. Earps, 32, was England's number one when they won the Euros in 2022 in a historic summer for women's football and kept that spot for the Lionesses' run to the final a year later, when she was named BBC Sports Personality of the Year. She has also been influential off the pitch, notably inspiring with award acceptance speeches and winning a battle with Nike to get women's goalkeeper replica shirts on sale. 'Her journey's been her journey, and it has been an incredible one,' added Telford. 'What she's done for English goalkeeping, and goalkeeping in general, and for women, has been something that's probably unheard of in the women's game in England, as an individual. I can't thank her enough for that. 'A lot of people are disappointed in the way it's been delivered, but I hope that people remember the legacy that she's left. 'That goalkeeper union is in a much better place because of her, and I'd like to think she's given them all the tools to be successful in the next few years.' In April, Wiegman said that Chelsea's Hannah Hampton was 'a little bit ahead' of Earps when it came to securing the number one jersey. It is an experience Telford knows all too well from her time competing with Karen Bardsley for the spot, travelling to France for the 2019 World Cup as second choice. On that occasion, an injury to Bardsley in the World Cup quarterfinals saw Telford called upon for the semi-final encounter with the USA. 'It's really difficult because there's a part of you that knows that you're probably never going to play, but also there's always a what if,' added Telford, who is partnering with Sure to give young girls the authentic role models they deserve in a sport that is growing exponentially. 'What I learned on my journey as a goalkeeper is not to be like, 'Oh, I'm not going to play, I'm not going to be bothered.' 'I would say to all the goalkeepers that are in the mix for that selection pot, including the ones that we think are going to start, is to make sure you're prepared fully because you never know what tournament football's going to throw at you.' Visibility plays a vital role in inspiring young girls in sports, but it alone isn't enough. Increased visibility needs to be paired with real world grassroots investment – like Sure's Breaking Limits Programme – find out more here
