The 2016 Olympic Games officially start in Rio on Friday with the opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium. Athletes from 206 nations and a refugee team are in Brazil to compete in 28 sports and be watched by a global audience of billions. The build-up has been dominated by a Russian doping scandal, the Zika […]

The German Grand Prix was the last race before Formula 1 heads off for its four-week summer break, so it was fitting that it consolidated the two overriding trends that have emerged so far this year. The first is that Lewis Hamilton is in control of this season regardless of the mechanical problems that afflicted […]

British number one Johanna Konta reached the Rogers Cup quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-2 win over American Varvara Lepchenko in Montreal. The world number 14, who claimed her first WTA Tour title in California on Sunday, won in 67 minutes. Konta, 25, will face Kristina Kucova, 26, for a place in the semi-finals, after the […]

England produced a flawless performance to beat Pakistan by 330 runs in the second Test, says former captain Michael Vaughan. The hosts won with a day to spare at Old Trafford to level the series. England made 589-8 declared and 173-1 declared to set up their second biggest win over Pakistan in terms of runs. […]

Sam Allardyce will be named as the new manager of England, with confirmation expected on Thursday. He will leave Sunderland after nine months at the Premier League club. Allardyce replaces Roy Hodgson, who quit in June after the surprise defeat by Iceland in the last 16 of Euro 2016. The 61-year-old, who has also managed […]

Russia should be banned from this summer’s Olympics and Paralympics after evidence was found of a four-year, state-sponsored doping programme, says the World Anti-Doping Agency. A Wada-commissioned report found urine samples of Russian competitors were manipulated across the “vast majority” of summer and winter Olympic sports from late 2011 to August 2015. The International Olympic […]

Open champion Henrik Stenson says it was the fighting quality of beaten opponent Phil Mickelson at Royal Troon that helped him win his first major. Stenson, 40, hit an eight-under-par 63 – the lowest final-day Open-winning round – to record a tournament record 20-under total and win by three shots. “It was a great match,” […]

Jo Pavey will compete in a fifth Olympic Games after being selected to represent Team GB at the Rio Games. The 42-year-old, who will be the oldest British woman to run in a Games, achieved the 10,000m qualifying time at the European Championships in Amsterdam last week. ‘Super Saturday’ gold medallists Jessica Ennis-Hill, 30, Mo […]

MUCH of the interest going into the game had focused on Yorkshire’s overseas batsman Kane Williamson. The New Zealand captain is sitting out the match due to what the club described as “mental fatigue”. Much of the interest on a rain-hit opening day, however, focused on Yorkshire’s ex-overseas batsman Aaron Finch. The former Australia T20 […]

Britain’s Andy Murray will attempt to reach his third Wimbledon final when he plays Tomas Berdych on Friday. Murray, 29, is bidding for a second Wimbledon and third Grand Slam title, while his Czech rival was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2010. In the other semi-final, seven-time champion Roger Federer will take on Canada’s sixth seed […]