Lindsey Vonn confident she can compete at Olympics despite ‘completely ruptured’ ACL

• Vonn confident despite ACL rupture before Olympics

• Will decide after testing knee at race speeds soon

• Olympic downhill scheduled for Sunday at Cortina

Lindsey Vonn said she is “confident” she can compete at the Milano Cortina Winter Games despite revealing she has been managing a ruptured ACL, maintaining that her Olympic comeback remains on track after a crash last week raised fresh doubts over her participation.

Speaking on Tuesday, the 41-year-old American said she was approaching the final decision cautiously but remained focused on lining up for the downhill at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the Olympic women’s alpine programme opens Sunday.

Published: February 3, 2026, 3:28 pm

Kai Havertz adds killer touch as Arsenal hold off Chelsea to book final place

When the final whistle blew, a huge wave of relief swept over this stadium. Arsenal may not have been at all convincing against a Chelsea side who caused them the occasional problem but Mikel Arteta will not care one bit. After four successive semi-final defeats, Arsenal are on their way to Wembley. At last.

After the drama of the first leg at Stamford Bridge that saw Liam Rosenior’s side travel to north London needing to overturn a 3-2 deficit, this was a much more cagey affair that was eventually settled in stoppage time by Kai Havertz’s breakaway goal against his former club. Arsenal had seemed content to keep Chelsea at arm’s length for most of the evening and rarely looked like extending their advantage until then.

Published: February 3, 2026, 10:38 pm

Butler did it: 11 years on, was the NFL’s most criticized call actually the right decision?

The last time the Seahawks and Patriots met in a Super Bowl, a dramatic interception by an undrafted rookie changed the history of both franchises

When the New England Patriots faced off against the Denver Broncos in this season’s AFC championship, Malcolm Butler was at home in Houston. He had considered attending the game in Denver or watching on TV in a No 21 Patriots jersey, which he wore in Foxboro for four seasons through the mid-to-late 2010s, but feared he might jinx the outcome. In the end, it was just him and his nerves for company.

Just as Butler was feeling somewhat at peace with that setup, and the Patriots’ prospects, a bad omen intruded: His wifi glitched, delaying the broadcast as the Patriots clung on to a three-point lead in the fourth-quarter. “I was lagging bad,” Butler tells the Guardian. “But I did get the wifi back working. And as soon as I did my phone was ringing like crazy, so I knew something was going right. It’s crazy that we’re back.”

Published: February 3, 2026, 10:00 am

Are the Whitecaps about to die? Vancouver sound alarm bells amid difficult sale process

Scheduling and financial impasses at Vancouver’s World Cup stadium are leading down a road the league hasn’t traveled in over a decade

On the surface, Vancouver Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster’s press conference last week would have felt familiar to almost any North American sports fan. Once again, a team was agitating for more money or a better stadium. Once again, local governments were at least partially to blame.

Some of his comments, though, felt more alien, and raised a question that seemed unfathomable just a couple of months ago: are the Vancouver Whitecaps about to die?

Published: February 3, 2026, 5:52 pm

Hall of Fame reportedly snubs Patriots owner Kraft alongside former coach Belichick

• New England have won six Super Bowl titles

• 2026 class will be announced later this week

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft has reportedly joined his team’s former head coach Bill Belichick in missing out on this year’s Hall of Fame class.

ESPN cited several league sources, who said that Kraft did not receive the necessary number of votes to enter the Hall. The new members of the Hall of Fame will be revealed on Thursday night, in the run-up to this weekend’s Super Bowl.

Published: February 3, 2026, 1:29 pm

‘People are dying, you have to help’: Guardiola decries wars in Sudan, Ukraine and Palestine

• Manchester City manager opens up on global conflicts

• UN reports UAE have backed Sudan paramilitary group

Pep Guardiola has spoken out against killings across the world, including in Sudan, where a paramilitary group backed by the United Arab Emirates, which in effect owns Manchester City, is embroiled in a civil war that has cost more than 150,000 lives.

Guardiola named Sudan when talking about conflicts where innocent people were dying. War crimes are said to have been carried out by both sides in the conflict. The vice‑president of the UAE, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, owns City, where Guardiola is the manager.

Published: February 3, 2026, 10:30 pm

IOC president gives clearest signal so far that Russia could be at 2028 Olympics

• Kirsty Coventry: ‘Keep sport a neutral ground’

• Ukraine sports minister hits out at Fifa president

The International Olympic Committee president, Kirsty Coventry, has given her clearest signal yet that Russia could be back for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

A day after the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, said he wanted Russia reinstated to international football, Coventry used her opening address to the 145th IOC congress in Milan to argue that all athletes should be allowed to compete in sport – regardless of their government’s behaviour.

Published: February 3, 2026, 6:01 pm

Fans attack ‘classless’ NHL for cutting cancer donation by $800,000 after missed shot

• Successful shot would have made $1m for charities

• Social media users say event was ‘dystopian’

The NHL has received backlash after slashing a donation to cancer research by $800,000 after a missed shot during a charity promotion.

The incident came during Sunday’s game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins. Rob Higgins, the athletics CEO of the University of South Florida, was brought on to the ice to attempt a shot through a very small opening in an empty goal. If Higgins, who is a cancer survivor, made the shot the NHL said it would donate $500,000 to cancer charities; if he missed the donation would be $100,000. The event was broadcast live on Sportsnet in Canada and ESPN in the US. Higgins missed what was a very tough shot. He was then given another chance, with a guaranteed donation of $200,000 if he missed, which would increase to $1m if he scored. Higgins missed again.

Published: February 3, 2026, 5:09 pm

Cristiano Ronaldo’s no-show leaves Saudi Pro League facing awkward questions

League’s star said to be unhappy over his club’s transfer dealings and Karim Benzema’s move. Now he could face his first backlash

Jurassic Park sounded great given the spectacular beasts on display, but there was chaos after they started to do their own thing. When Cristiano Ronaldo, surely the T rex, and Karim Benzema, perhaps a velociraptor, are scoring in spectacular fashion there are headlines around the world, but the Saudi Pro League is finding out that when they start to flex their muscles off the pitch, there is even more interest and, it turns out, a real problem for the competition.

What happened on a manic Monday in the SPL should have been about what unfolded on the pitch. Al-Hilal, in first, drew with third-placed Al-Ahli. Al-Nassr won, to stay second, closing to within a point of the leaders. If Brendan Rodgers, having a whale of a time with Al-Qadsiah, wins his game in hand then four points will separate the top four with just over a third of the season remaining. It is the kind of title race most leagues would love.

Published: February 3, 2026, 5:17 pm

Hearts’ title hopes hit by late St Mirren winner after Halkett’s costly red card

Craig Halkett’s first-half red card proved costly for the Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts as they lost 1-0 at St Mirren after a late header from Miguel Freckleton. The centre-back was dismissed in the 29th minute for denying the Saints debutant Jacob Devaney a goalscoring opportunity.

It was the third time in five league games that Hearts had been reduced to 10 men. Unlike the previous two occasions, however, they were unable to grind out a result in Paisley as Freckleton’s 88th-minute header consigned them to a third defeat of the season. The result leaves Hearts six points ahead of Celtic and Rangers, both of whom play their games in hand on Wednesday.

Published: February 3, 2026, 10:58 pm

Transfer window verdict: how every Premier League club fared

Will Arsenal regret Nwaneri move? Have Sunderland traded brilliantly again? We run the rule over every team’s business

The foot injury sustained by Mikel Merino made the last few days of the window a bit more interesting for Arsenal supporters, although in the end there was no big signing. Deadline-day links to Sandro Tonali of Newcastle and Leon Goretzka came to nothing, and Arsenal missed out to their north London rivals Tottenham on the 18-year-old Scotland striker James Wilson. They did sign the England Under-19 defender Jaden Dixon from Stoke but will Mikel Arteta regret allowing Ethan Nwaneri to join Marseille on loan with Merino poised to be out for at least two months? Ed Aarons

Published: February 3, 2026, 10:09 am

WSL deadline day: Arsenal sign keeper Votikova on loan, Kramzar joins Everton

• Barbora Votikova signs to provide necessary cover

• Chelsea offer for Jennifer Echegini rejected by PSG

Arsenal signed the Czech Republic goalkeeper Barbora Votikova on loan from Slavia Prague, while Everton completed a move for the Slovenia midfielder Zara Kramzar from Roma late on the Women’s Super League’s transfer deadline day.

The former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain player will provide valuable cover in goal, with Manuela Zinsberger having suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in October and Anneke Borbe being stretchered off during Sunday’s Champions Cup final victory over Corinthians following a collision. Borbe was discharged from hospital later that day.

Published: February 4, 2026, 12:21 am

Championship roundup: managerless Watford and Blackburn pick up points

• Watford hold Hull, Blackburn sink Sheffield Wednesday

• Sheffield United fight back to beat Oxford 3-1

Charlie Daniels praised Watford’s players for the way they secured a point and pushed for more in the goalless draw at the promotion-chasing Hull just days after Javi Gracia’s abrupt exit.

The Spaniard ended his second spell at Vicarage Road on Sunday, having called for talks with the owner, Gino Pozzo, the previous day after overseeing a 2-0 home defeat against Swansea.

Published: February 3, 2026, 11:40 pm

Lens condemn racist abuse of Saint-Maximin after player’s children targeted in Mexico

• Winger suffers online racism on return to France

• Abuse of Frenchman’s family led him to leave Mexico

Lens have condemned the racist abuse aimed at new signing Allan Saint-Maximin after a previous racist incident involving the former Newcastle winger’s children ended his career in Mexico’s top flight.

Saint-Maximin joined Lens on a six-month deal during the winter transfer window. He left Mexican side Club América, saying his children were the victims of racist abuse there.

Published: February 3, 2026, 4:50 pm

Mikel Arteta savours ‘vitamins’ of victory as Arsenal plan Wembley trip

• Havertz goal seals semi-final success over Chelsea

• Arteta: ‘To have these moments together is magical’

Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal’s victory against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup semi-final can provide the “vitamins” for them to finally win silverware this season.

A stoppage-time strike from Kai Havertz sealed a nervous 4-2 aggregate victory against his former club to book a place in the final next month against Manchester City or Newcastle at Wembley.

Published: February 3, 2026, 11:33 pm

Sandro Tonali ‘happy’ at Newcastle but Howe ‘not in control’ of Italian’s future

• Tonali linked to Arsenal on final day of transfer window

• Guardiola aims ‘net spend’ jibe at Newcastle and others

Eddie Howe has admitted he is “not in control” of Sandro Tonali’s future, but Newcastle’s manager believes the Italy midfielder remains happy on Tyneside. A quiet transfer deadline day at St James’ Park featured swiftly-crushed suggestions that Arsenal were poised to bid for Tonali. There were fears it could be a precursor to a possibly agent-led initiative to move the midfielder this summer.

Howe, perhaps fearing a repeat of the debilitating saga that led to Alexander Isak’s departure for Liverpool in the summer, held talks on Monday with his £55m signing.

Published: February 3, 2026, 10:36 pm

Arsenal 1-0 Chelsea (agg: 4-2): Carabao Cup semi-final, second leg – as it happened

Kai Havertz’s goal, in the seventh minute of added time, gave Arsenal a win on the night, cementing their place in next month’s League Cup final

Chelsea, meanwhile, are looking to bottle up the centre of the pitch – just as Manchester United did when they visited the Emirates. Offensively, they’ll try and get the ball into Delap and play off him, with Joao Pedro probably just off him, likewise Enzo Fernandez, both roaming and daring defenders to follow them. Otherwise, though, I don’t imagine they’d mind 0-0 with 20 to go, so will look to be solid, absorb pressure and take whatever comes their way, rather than push the pace from the outset.

So where is the game? Arsenal will look to get at Chelsea in wide areas with Madueke likely to be important. I’d probably have played White, with Timber on the left, now that you don’t ask, to increase the threat, and I’ve been enjoying Martinelli off the bench this season, but he starts ahead of Troassard. Otherwise, look for Eze to slide passes down the sides of the outside centre-backs for Gyokeres, who might find space behind the wing-backs, while I’d also expect rampaging third-man runs from Rice.

Published: February 3, 2026, 10:10 pm

LIV Golf tour hits out at decision to only award ranking points to top-10 finishers

• Ranking points to be awarded at LIV events for first time

• Saudi-backed tour attacks ‘unprecedented restriction’

The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Tour has hit out at what it regards as victimisation from those presiding over the sport’s world rankings process, despite seeing their wait of nearly four years for recognition by the system finally end.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that those competing in LIV tournaments will receive official world golf ranking points but only when finishing in the top 10. A statement from the OWGR board said this “recognises there are a number of areas where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set out”.

Published: February 3, 2026, 7:30 pm

England beat Sri Lanka by 12 runs in third T20 to seal 3-0 series win – as it happened

England completed a series whitewash as Jacob Bethell took four wickets for 11 runs after Sam Curran smashed 58

3rd over: England 14-2 (Buttler 10, Banton 0) Chameera’s reward for grabbing an early wicket was to be taken off, but it worked. On came Matheesha Pathirana, Sri Lanka’s slingshot, bearing yorkers. He nearly bowled Buttler and could have broken his toe, before switching to a good length and a wide line to dismiss Bethell. Buttler, deciding that attack is the best form of defence, gets aa streaky four from a Harrow drive. SL well on top.

Another one! Pathirana dishes up temptation, well oustide off, and Bethell takes the bait.

Published: February 3, 2026, 5:35 pm

Jacob Bethell dismantles Sri Lanka tail to deliver T20 series clean sweep for England

• 3rd T20i: England, 128-9, bt Sri Lanka, 116, by 12 runs

• Bethell takes 4-11 in 3.3 overs to seal 3-0 series win

It was a thriller on a Pallekele turner, the game going England’s way. Jacob Bethell’s part-timers turned lethal, his three-wicket over dismantling Sri Lanka’s tail to help secure a 12-run win in the third and final Twenty20 international.

The tourists put up just 128, their total built by Sam Curran’s 48‑ball 58, a score to which no one else came close. But it proved enough on a worn surface as England’s raft of spinners went to work. And while Adil Rashid and Liam Dawson are the veteran frontliners, this night belonged to Bethell and Will Jacks. The left-armer finished with four for 11, the offie with three for 14 off the full allotment.

Published: February 3, 2026, 5:24 pm

ITV heads to New York for World Cup coverage while BBC stays in Salford

• ITV Sport opts for studio in Brooklyn

• BBC will stay in UK until at least quarter-finals

ITV has gained an early advantage over the BBC before their ratings battle at this summer’s World Cup by securing a studio in Brooklyn with views of the Manhattan skyline and Brooklyn Bridge. ITV Sport will be basing all of its World Cup coverage, to be presented by Mark Pougatch and Laura Woods, from its New York studio, whereas the BBC team of Mark Chapman, Gabby Logan and Kelly Cates will be in Salford until at least the quarter-finals.

The BBC’s decision to stay in the United Kingdom was based on a combination of financial and environmental factors, with the corporation committed to limiting air travel in an attempt to reduce its carbon footprint.

Published: February 3, 2026, 1:04 pm