Stacy Boit,

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe says the organisation will not “strangle innovation”, following the debate around the so-called ‘super shoe’ which helped Sabastian Sawe become the first person to run a competitive marathon in under two hours.

The 31-year-old Kenyan won Sunday’s London Marathon in one hour 59 minutes 30 seconds, writing himself into history and breaking a barrier once thought by many to be impossible.

“I don’t think any society, any civilisation, any sector of the economy has been served well if you try to strangle innovation,” Coe told BBC Sport Africa on a visit to Botswana before the World Relays.

“The role of World Athletics is very clear – we want to enable, but we also have a regulatory responsibility.”

Sawe, Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha – who also ran under two hours as he finished 10 seconds behind Sawe – and Tigst Assefa, who set a new world record time as the winner of the women’s race, all wore the Adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3 shoes in London.

Sawe thanked Adidas for making what he said were the best shoes he had worn, particularly highlighting how “very light” and stable they are.

The first super shoe to weigh under 100 grams, Adidas claim their technology improves running economy by 1.6%.

But any runner wanting to benefit will have to pay about $500 (£450) to road test the product themselves.

“Yes, shoes play a part, but not the biggest part,” Coe said.

“The biggest part is the mentality of the athlete, the physicality of the athlete, the world-class coaching, the world-class programmes that are now being run through federations to support their athletes. That’s all a part of the improved performances.”

Sawe shaved more than two minutes off his personal best in London, attributing his improvement to running about 200km a week at altitude.

His progress was also aided by developments in fuelling. The Kenyan reportedly took on 115g of carbohydrates per hour during the race, following a breakfast consisting only of two slices of bread with honey and tea.

Sabastian Sawe gifted one of his shoes from the London Marathon to Kenya president William Ruto on his homecoming in Nairobi

Still, the rise of super shoes over the past decade, particularly when it comes the marathon, has prompted World Athletics into a more active regulatory role.

At the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, all three medallists in the men’s race wore prototypes of the Nike Vaporfly 4%, which promised a 4% increase in performance.

By 2020, the governing body had introduced limits on sole thickness, the design of carbon-fibre plates designed to propel the body forward as well as commercial availability to prevent excessive technological advantage.

Sportswear brands continue to innovate, pushing the boundaries of the rules, with Coe making it clear regulations could change.

“This is inevitably an evolutionary process,” he said. “It’s only been relatively recently that we’ve had a system of evaluation.

“We work closely with the athletes, the coaches, the shoe companies. We don’t want them to go off and spend hundreds of millions of dollars on shoes that we’re going to find illegal. So there is a balance.”

He also highlighted another benefit of innovation.

“We often overlook that with the design to improve performance goes a lot of biomechanical work around injury prevention,” explained the 69-year-old.

“The athletes are able to train for longer, they’re able to race longer, they’re able to be in our sport for longer, and that has to be a good thing.”

Stacy Boit,

Pace bowler Mark Wood is hoping to bowl later in the summer as he looks to come back from the knee injury that ruined his Ashes.

Wood had surgery on his left knee in March 2025 and returned to play for England in the first Test against Australia in November. He bowled only 11 overs in Perth before being ruled for the rest of the series.

The 36-year-old is among the fastest bowlers to ever play for England, but has regularly been hit by injuries in his 38-Test career. Prior to the Ashes he had not played Test cricket for 15 months, firstly because of an elbow injury, followed by the knee problem.

“I need to take it slow,” Wood told the BBC’s Strategic Timeout programme., external

“Realistically I’ve got maybe one more chance at doing this right. If I rush it back, then it’s not good, that could be it.

“I’m still trying to get back to bowling, hopefully later on in the summer.”

Last month, Wood admitted to having thoughts about what life after his playing career could look like if this latest rehabilitation does not go well.

The Durham right-armer is centrally contracted by England until the autumn. Despite this latest injury, he said he will “laser” on the goal of adding to his 146 caps across all formats.

“You’ve got to keep your eye on the prize, which is ultimately for me trying to get to playing for England,” he said. “That’s my focus.

“It’s mega frustrating. It’s been a long time, over a year since I had the initial surgery.

“To build it back up for seven months to play one game, and then be out again takes its toll.

“With the age I’m at, I don’t want to miss games. You want to be involved. I was bowling quickly and well before this injury started and I haven’t been able to get back to that level.”

Wood’s absence comes at a time of significant upheaval in England’s pace bowling department.

If it turns out he can no longer play Test cricket, Wood would join James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes in exiting the longest format. The four mainstays of England’s fast bowling over a number of years have 1,619 Test wickets between them.

England’s first Test of the home summer is against New Zealand, beginning on 4 June. Brydon Carse could miss out with a broken wrist, while the match at Lord’s may come too soon for Jofra Archer after his stint at the Indian Premier League.

Josh Tongue and Gus Atkinson would be set for places in the squad, with competition for who could join them.

Matthew Potts and Matthew Fisher were in England’s Ashes squad, while Sonny Baker has a central contract.

Surrey’s Tom Lawes has an England development deal, but is missing their game against Sussex this week with an injury. Lancashire’s Mitchell Stanley is highly rated, despite having played only four first-class matches.

Stacy Boit,

Stina Blackstenius picked herself up off the Emirates Stadium turf, gave a gentle high five to Arsenal team-mate Smilla Holmberg and allowed a slight smile to cross her lips.

It was her second goal in an accomplished first-half performance from her side against troubled Leicester City on Wednesday – and she celebrated in typically understated fashion.

Because that is what the tall Sweden striker does – scores goals and gets on with the game.

A vital component of Renee Slegers’ increasingly effective Arsenal machine, Blackstenius does her job without fuss, but usually with maximum impact.

And as the season enters its decisive part, this talented but under-the-radar forward could prove crucial in the Gunners’ quest for silverware.

Stacy Boit,

World number one Jannik Sinner remains on course for a record fifth consecutive Masters 1,000 title after reaching the Madrid Open final with a straight-set win over Arthur Fils.

The Italian won his 22nd successive match to reach his first Madrid final, where he will face second seed Alexander Zverev.

Sinner, 24, has won the opening three ATP 1,000 events of the season – in Indian Wells, Miami and Monte Carlo – and also triumphed in Paris last year.

If he claims a fifth Masters 1,000 title in a row on Sunday, Sinner would surpass Novak Djokovic, who won four consecutive events on three occasions, and Rafael Nadal, who clinched four straight tournaments in 2013.

Sinner has also become the fourth player – and the youngest – to reach all nine Masters 1,000 finals, joining Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer.

The Italian broke twice to take the first set of Friday’s semi-final 6-2 against 21st seed Fils, who won the clay-court Barcelona Open two weeks ago.

Fils, 21, was 3-2 up in the second set having saved two break points, but four-time Grand Slam champion Sinner finally broke to move 5-4 ahead and served out the match to progress 6-2 6-4.

Sinner becomes the third man to reach the final of the first four Masters 1,000 events of the season, after Federer (2006) and Nadal (2011), while his victory means he is the first player born in the 2000s to record 350 tour-level wins.

Later on Friday, world number three Zverev overcame unseeded Belgian Alexander Blockx 6-2 7-5 to reach the Madrid final for a fourth time.

Sinner and Zverev, 29, will now face off at a fifth consecutive Masters 1,000 event, with the German having lost in straight sets in four consecutive semi-final meetings.

Zverev, a winner in Madrid in 2018 and 2021, raced through the first set against 21-year-old Blockx, but had to be patient in the second, breaking in the 11th game before serving out the match.

Despite his defeat Blockx moves up 34 places to 35th in the ATP rankings, having previously beaten three seeds ranked in the top 20 to reach his first Masters 1,000 semi-final.

Stacy Boit,

LeBron James scored 28 points as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Houston Rockets to set up a Western Conference semi-final play-off against reigning NBA champions Oklahoma City Thunder.

James also added seven rebounds and eight assists to help the Lakers to a 98-78 victory, which secured a 4-2 series win against the Rockets.

The Lakers had led the series 3-0 and finally closed out the best-of-seven contest in convincing style away at Houston, whose top scorer was Amen Thompson with 18 points.

“A lot of our guys, quite frankly, have not been in this position, have not been in a close-out situation, especially on the road, so it was important for me to go out and set the tone,” said 41-year-old James.

He told Amazon Prime: “The mission has always stayed the same no matter what my role has been throughout my career, and that is to go out there and try to dominate.

“Obviously, I have the most experience on the team and have the most play-off experience on the team so I know how a series can go. I just try to bleed that into them, bleed the confidence and tell them to go out and play.”

Lakers coach JJ Redick was full of admiration for the performance of James, who is the first player to take part in 23 consecutive NBA seasons and is also the league’s record points scorer.

“To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player,” said Redick. “You can argue all you want; I don’t care to postulate on who’s the greatest of all time.

“He’s one of, if not the greatest of all time, and for him to do it again and answer the bell again, it’s baffling in some ways.”

The Lakers face a tough task against the Thunder, who finished top of the Western Conference and secured a 4-0 series win against the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA play-offs.

The first game of their best-of-seven series is in Oklahoma on Tuesday.

Stacy Boit,

First-choice scrum-half Ben Spencer has recovered from injury to take his place in Bath’s starting line-up as the English champions travel to holders Bordeaux-Begles in Sunday’s highly anticipated Champions Cup semi-final.

Spencer has been suffering with a shoulder injury and hasn’t played since 10 April’s last-eight win over Northampton.

After South African Bernard van der Linde had ankle surgery to leave Tom Carr-Smith as the only senior specialist, Bath called teenager Isaac Mears into the senior squad to plug a potential hole at nine.

Bath do have absentees elsewhere in their backline however.

Centre Max Ojomoh and wing Joe Cokanasiga, rated as “touch and go” by boss Johann van Graan earlier in the week, have failed to recover from knee and leg knocks respectively.

With midfielder Cameron Redpath also out, Louie Hennessey, who impressed on the wing against Northampton at the weekend, starts at 13, while Ollie Lawrence shifts to inside centre.

Will Muir keeps his place on wing in the absence of Cokanasiga, with Henry Arundell switching to his less-accustomed right wing. Santi Carreras completes the back three.

Arundell will be in direct competition with the prolific Louis Bielle-Biarrey, who has scored 28 tries in 26 games for club and country this season, including four against England in the final round of the Six Nations.

Damien Penaud, France’s all-time leading try-scorer continues in an outside centre role that he has reprised in recent weeks for Bordeaux-Begles.

The 29-year-old wing, who was left out of France’s squad for the Six Nations, played in midfield at the start of his career.

Matthieu Jalibert and Finn Russell will face off in a duel of play-making fly-halves.

The battle in the front row is also set to be key. Bordeaux-Begles’ first-choice loose-head prop Jefferson Poirot is banned for the match, giving Bath’s South Africa international Thomas du Toit the chance to target the less-experienced Matis Perchaud.

Stacy Boit,

Dominic Calvert-Lewin had barely finished celebrating before Leeds United supporters underlined their belief that Premier League survival had been secured.

The England forward pounced on a mistake from Martin Dubravka to score his side’s third goal against already‑relegated Burnley, prompting home fans at Elland Road to make their voices heard.

Chants of “we are staying up” echoed around the stadium as Leeds closed in on another season of top‑flight football.

Their 3-1 victory moves the Whites up to 14th in the table and almost certainly guarantees Premier League football in West Yorkshire next season.

After the game, defender Ethan Ampadu said Leeds had put themselves in a “strong position” before the final three games of the season.

“I said before the game that we’ve not managed to beat Burnley, and we wanted a bit of revenge and to get to 43 points,” Ampadu told Sky Sports.

“We like to think we’ve put ourselves in a strong position with three games left.

“We wanted to give [our fans] a bank holiday weekend to enjoy. We had the disappointment last weekend. Hopefully, three more good results.”

It promises to be a joyful long weekend for Leeds supporters – but how long must they wait before safety is mathematically confirmed?

Stacy Boit,

The decision by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund to stop bankrolling LIV Golf at the end of the season has plunged the future of the breakaway series into doubt.

It has also posed questions over the country’s many other sporting investments.

After all, the kingdom has ploughed tens of billions of pounds over the past decade into establishing itself as a global sports hub, hosting an array of major events, from high-profile boxing fights and Formula 1 races, to tennis and horse racing. Most significantly, the kingdom will host the men’s Fifa World Cup in 2034.

“PIF remains committed to deploying capital internationally in line with its investment strategy, including its substantial current and future investments in various sports as a priority sector.”

The final sentence of the statement released by PIF on Thursday when finally announcing it was pulling out of LIV Golf, ending weeks of intense speculation.

The intended message was clear; despite abandoning a tour it had long portrayed as the future of the game, Saudi Arabia was still committed to the world of sport.

Up until recently, no such reassurance would have been required.

Its huge spending has also extended to luring some of the world’s biggest stars – including Cristiano Ronaldo – to its revamped domestic football league, and buying a majority stake in Premier League club Newcastle United.

A sprawling collection of sports sponsorships cemented its burgeoning and disruptive influence over international sport, and a future Olympic bid felt like a formality.

The country claimed that this was designed to help it to modernise and to diversify its economy by boosting tourism as part of the Crown Prince’s Vision 2030 strategy, while inspiring its population to be more active.

Critics of its human rights record accused it of ‘sportswashing’ its reputation. The country’s international standing was severely damaged by the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist who was a prominent critic of the government. It has also faced scrutiny over its use of the death penalty.

But whatever the motive, has Saudi Arabia’s relationship with sport started to cool?