NBA trade deadline: the Knicks get stronger and everyone loses in the Giannis sweepstakes

After weeks of breakup talk, the Bucks and their superstar stayed together. The Knicks and Timberwolves, meanwhile, made smart additions

It’s hard to match the absolute insanity that was the 2024-25 NBA trade deadline, and to the majority of the league’s credit, teams didn’t really try. But there was still some notable movement ahead of Thursday’s 3pm EST deadline – to varying degrees of success. Let’s do the early assessment of who came out on top, and who left us scratching our heads.

Published: February 6, 2026, 2:31 pm

Intimate and enormous: Milano Cortina opening ceremony tries something different

The showpiece to kick off the Games happened across multiple venues but politics and protests were also present

The most striking thing about the opening ceremony isn’t a single prop, celebrity cameo or piece of choreography: it’s the geography. For the first time, an Olympic opening ceremony in effect happened across multiple live venues all at once, with Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo linked into one narrative structure. It felt less like a show in a stadium and more like watching a country perform itself in real time. The organising concept – “Armonia”, the idea that different elements can move together without losing their identity – isn’t just branding. It shapes how the ceremony actually functioned. Sitting in San Siro, you’re constantly aware that somewhere else, at that exact moment, another piece of the story is unfolding. It created a strange sense of scale: intimate and enormous at once. In an era when global attention is fragmented across screens and platforms, Italy staged the opposite – a ceremony built on simultaneity, connection and shared rhythm.

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:54 pm

USA’s downhill threat Breezy Johnson has learned to live with doubt and fear

While much of the attention has been placed on Lindsey Vonn in the run-up to the Winter Olympics, her teammate has an extraordinary story of her own

In December 2024, Breezy Johnson glided into the starting gate on the Stifel Birds of Prey downhill course atop Colorado’s Beaver Creek, a sight for sore eyes and a bundle of nerves. “The anxiety will always be there until I’m in the downhill gate,” the 30-year-old said at Team USA’s pre-Olympics media summit in October. “Like, at no point can [I tell myself], I’ve got this thing.”

Out of World Cup action for 14 months after whereabouts failures, she dropped on to Birds of Prey as bib No 32 in the 45-racer field – all women for the first time in the history of the legendary venue. With a few bends of her reconstructed knees, she snapped through the timing wand, charged through the Abyss (one of Birds of Prey’s steepest pitches) and kept carving her way through the 1.7-mile (2.7km) drop’s icy chop. Altogether, it was a solid run for Johnson, a 13th-place finish on home snow to restart her World Cup scoring streak. And just like that, America’s would-be standard bearer of the slopes was at it again.

Published: February 6, 2026, 8:00 pm

The factors that will decide the Super Bowl: a brilliant receiver, pass protection and explosive plays

The Seahawks and Patriots are the last teams standing this season. The championship is likely to be decided by the smallest margins

The Seattle Seahawks’ run game came alive during the second half of the season and postseason. But it’s still the passing game that makes the offense sing. Almost all of that flows through Smith-Njigba.

Published: February 6, 2026, 11:00 am

Quad God and the Blade Angels: is the new USA Dream Team a group of figure skaters?

The US enter the team event as hot favorites: powered by world champions, rising stars and a generation determined to push figure skating beyond its traditional audience

On Friday morning inside the Milano Ice Skating Arena, the United States will launch their defense of the Olympic figure skating team title carrying something rare in a sport usually defined by individual brilliance: overwhelming depth. Which raises a question that, until recently, would have sounded almost absurd in figure skating.

Is the new USA Dream Team a group of figure skaters?

Published: February 6, 2026, 8:15 am

‘We are all connected’: Winter Olympics opening ceremony stresses harmony and showcases Italy

A stunning curtain-raiser was a fitting celebration of the host country and the Games – with wider messages never far from the surface

This was an opening ceremony for the ages: effortlessly chic, bewitching and divine. Milan simultaneously delivered a three-hour love letter to Italy, and a plea for hope and harmony in a fractious world.

But not everyone in the 60,000 crowd at San Siro was listening. As the United States team, led by the speedskater Erin Jackson, made its way across the stadium it was loudly applauded. But then the TV cameras panned to the US vice-president, JD Vance, and his wife, Usha, and the cheers turned to loud boos.

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:03 pm

NBC appears to cut crowd’s booing of JD Vance from Winter Olympics broadcast

• Vice-president given hostile reception by some in Milan

• US broadcast cuts out crowd’s show of dissent

The US vice-president, JD Vance, was greeted by a chorus of boos when he appeared at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Milan on Friday, although American viewers watching NBC’s coverage would have been unaware of the reception.

As speedskater Erin Jackson led Team USA into the San Siro stadium she was greeted by cheers. But when the TV cameras cut to Vance and his wife, Usha, there were boos, jeers and a smattering of applause from the crowd. The reaction was shown on Canadian broadcaster CBC’s feed, with one commentator saying: “There is the vice-president JD Vance and his wife Usha – oops, those are not … uh … those are a lot of boos for him. Whistling, jeering, some applause.”

Published: February 7, 2026, 1:22 am

Winter Olympics Team GB skier targets ICE with graphic message written in snow

• Gus Kenworthy says ‘enough is enough’ over ICE in US

• ICE agents are in Milan with US vice-president JD Vance

Team GB skier Gus Kenworthy has launched a blistering attack on US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers by urinating the words “Fuck Ice” on the snow just before the start of the Winter Olympics.

In a post on Instagram the 34-year-old, who will compete for Team GB in the free-ski half-pipe in Milano Cortina, also urged Americans to write to their senators to “rein in” ICE and border patrol.

Published: February 6, 2026, 2:30 pm

Lindsey Vonn, skiing with ruptured ACL, takes crucial step in downhill medal bid

• US star clocks successful practice run a week after injury

• Olympic medal race is set for Sunday at Cortina

Lindsey Vonn moved a step closer to one of the most improbable Olympic starts in Alpine skiing history on Friday, producing an aggressive and largely clean downhill training run on the Olimpia delle Tofane course less than a week after fully rupturing the ACL in her left knee and being airlifted off a mountain in Switzerland.

The 41-year-old American clocked 1min 40.33sec in a fog-delayed session, but the time itself was secondary to what the run represented: proof that she can still attack a course at speed – and survive it – as she targets Sunday’s medal race.

Published: February 6, 2026, 2:50 pm

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Arsenal need energy from home crowd, Florian Wirtz has found his groove and Liam Rosenior deserves respect

Daniel Farke is understood to have wanted a new goalkeeper during the January transfer window but the Leeds board failed to oblige. Might that decision ultimately cost the club their Premier League status? It will be interesting to see whether Farke recalls the recently dropped former Lyon goalkeeper, Lucas Perri, or keeps faith with Karl Darlow against Nottingham Forest at Elland Road on Friday night. Darlow, formerly second choice at Newcastle, struggled with crosses when Arsenal won 4-0 in West Yorkshire last Saturday and may approach a quintessential relegation six-pointer against Forest with dented confidence. What about Illan Meslier? Previously a star under Marcelo Bielsa, a keeper once hyped as France’s future No 1 has been demoted to third choice and has been discussing a potential move to Besiktas before Friday’s transfer deadline in Turkey. Talks only began after Leeds rejected a bid for Perri from Besiktas last week. Time will tell if that was that the right decision. Louise Taylor

Published: February 6, 2026, 12:01 am

Chock and Bates power US team to open Olympic figure skating

• Ice dance duo give US early lead in the team event

• Alysa Liu places second in women’s short program

• Vance and Rubio in attendance for opening session

The United States seized early control of the Olympic figure skating team event after Friday’s opening day on the southern outskirts of Milan, powered by a world’s best score this season from Madison Chock and Evan Bates.

The three-time world champions, together on skates since 2011 and married since 2024, set the marker with 91.06 points for their program to music by The Guess Who and Lenny Kravitz, earning the maximum 10 points for an American team entering the Winter Games on a tailwind of hype.
Chock and Bates, nearly unbeatable since finishing fourth in the individual ice dance event at the Beijing Games four years ago, skated with the precision and polish that have defined their rise to the top of the sport.

Published: February 6, 2026, 3:56 pm

‘Penisgate’ at the Olympics: why inject acid into your penis, and what are the health risks?

The World Anti-Doping Agency is investigating whether ski jumpers were injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further

In the quest for Olympic gold, professional athletes endure hardships that might seem unfathomable to most of us mere mortals. But do those lengths extend to ski jumpers injecting their penises with hyaluronic acid in order to fly further?

That is the question the World Anti-Doping Agency will investigate since such startling allegations emerged first in the German newspaper Bild in what has now been dubbed “Penisgate”.

Published: February 6, 2026, 8:59 am

Brees elected to Hall of Fame as ‘pissed’ Johnson skips ceremony over Belichick snub

• Belichick left out despite building New England dynasty

• Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald among inductees

Six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick was officially left out of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026, likely opening the door to revisions in the selection process later this year.

Still, the New England Patriots dynasty Belichick helped helm well into the 2000s earned partial vindication as former Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri gained induction in his second year on the ballot.

Published: February 6, 2026, 5:51 am

Calvert-Lewin caps fine win for Leeds to leave Nottingham Forest reeling

The job is not done yet, far from it. But on a rainswept evening in West Yorkshire, the collective response from everyone associated with Leeds United for each of their goals left you in no doubt that this had the whiff of a season-defining night.

With Leeds and Nottingham Forest sitting an advantageous but not decisive six points above the relegation zone before kick-off, and 18th-placed West Ham away at Burnley on Saturday, it felt like both these famous old clubs knew victory could dramatically shape the remaining three months of the campaign.

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:05 pm

‘You have to be able to laugh at yourself’: Rosenior shrugs off online mockery

• Chelsea head coach has been a target for ridicule

• Rosenior hails positive change in culture at Chelsea

Liam Rosenior says life is too short to worry about people laughing at him. The 41-year-old has quickly become a figure of fun since his appointment as Chelsea’s head coach and was ridiculed after miscontrolling a dropping ball during his side’s defeat at Arsenal on Tuesday.

It was the latest example of Rosenior facing online mockery because of his quotes and mannerisms. He has been referred to as “LinkedIn Liam” because of some of his comments in press conferences and compared to David Brent. One meme had him mocked up as Will McKenzie, the nerdy lead character from The Inbetweeners.

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:30 pm

Slot hopes to press on with Liverpool’s recovery as Manchester City provide litmus test

Head coach says champions were ‘outplayed for large parts’ in 3-0 reverse last November, but are now more dangerous

The test for Liverpool against Manchester City on Sunday is not of their title credentials. That ship has sailed. Instead it is of how far Arne Slot’s side have truly progressed since their title defence was holed.

Slot feels Liverpool’s displays have warranted defeat only occasionally this season – late lapses, set-piece failures and wasted chances have been more common explanations than the overall performance – and the 3-0 reverse at the Etihad Stadium in November was certainly one of them. The controversy over Virgil van Dijk’s disallowed header at 1-0 still lingers for the Dutchman but does not prevent him holding his hands up.

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:30 pm

Three years on: what is the latest with Premier League charges against Manchester City? | Paul MacInnes

In February 2023 more than 100 charges were laid against the serial champions but we are still waiting for the verdict

Exactly three years ago, 10 paragraphs on the Premier League website set the cat among the pigeons. Under the nondescript heading “Premier League statement”, football’s richest and most popular domestic competition announced unprecedented disciplinary charges against Manchester City, champions of the two previous seasons (and the two to come). We are still waiting for the outcome.

The estimated 134 charges covered years of alleged wrongdoing but broke down into a couple of key chunks: accusations that City had failed to provide “accurate financial information” to the league and to properly “cooperate … and assist” with the subsequent investigation. Precious little new information has followed.

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:28 am

Sonia Bompastor agrees Chelsea contract extension with club off WSL title pace

• The head coach’s new deal will run until 2030

• Bompastor says she is ‘delighted to extend my stay’

Sonia Bompastor has agreed a contract extension as Chelsea’s head coach until 2030 as the club issue a strong signal of trust and confidence in the Frenchwoman.

Bompastor has been in charge at Chelsea since the summer of 2024, when she succeeded Emma Hayes on a deal to 2028. The 45-year-old completed a domestic season unbeaten during her first year and won a treble, as well as reaching the Women’s Champions League semi-finals.

Published: February 6, 2026, 7:47 pm

Premier League news: Guardiola refuses to be silenced; Arteta apologises to Rosenior

News from Friday’s pre-match press conferences, including Arsenal, Newcastle, Aston Villa and Bournemouth

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:30 pm

Settled Xavi Simons finds his groove at Spurs after time spent in the shadows

Dutch midfielder has rubbed shoulders with Messi, Neymar and Mbappé but is now making his own name

For Xavi Simons, it felt like a point of no return. He and his Tottenham teammates had nothing more to lose. The FA Cup tie at home to Aston Villa on 10 January was going badly. Played off the park by Unai Emery’s team, they were booed off by their own fans at half-time. They were losing 2-0.

Simons takes it personally when things are not going well and that had been the case, pretty much, since his £51.8m move from RB Leipzig last August. The 22-year-old knows his levels. These were not them.

Published: February 6, 2026, 12:06 pm

‘I enjoy the Championship’: Burnley fans stay positive as relegation looms

Clarets host must-win game with West Ham on Saturday but face a third demotion in three Premier League seasons

“I still enjoy the day out, I just don’t let the results affect me any more,” says the Burnley season-ticket holder Mark Bentley. Fifteen games without a Premier League win and 11 points adrift of safety, the Clarets are facing relegation the season after promotion for a second time in two years. Sparring with the best should bring glorious enjoyment at Turf Moor but instead they have three victories from 24 games, beating the two other promoted sides and rock-bottom Wolves, with survival chances looking worse than slim.

Relegation rivals West Ham visit on Saturday, and another defeat would remove any faint hope that Burnley could turn it around and leave their record over recent seasons reading: down, up, down, up, down. Beating Sunderland in their first home game brought optimism after a summer where money was spent, notably bringing in the 96-cap Kyle Walker after eight years of success at Manchester City, but that feelgood factor has dwindled.

Published: February 6, 2026, 12:19 pm

Premier League team news: predicted lineups for the weekend action

Manchester United face Tottenham on Saturday while Liverpool host Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday

Saturday 12.30pm TNT Sports 1 Venue Old Trafford

Published: February 6, 2026, 5:30 pm

Cruel blow for Australia skier Daisy Thomas after training crash on eve of Winter Olympics debut

• Teenager ruled out of slopestyle after fall in final practice run in Livigno

• Schedule | Latest results | Medal table | Full coverage

Competing at the Winter Olympics just two months after rupturing her ACL, Australian freeskier Daisy Thomas has been ruled out of her first event after crashing at training.

Set to make her Olympics debut in the qualifying round of the women’s slopestyle at Livigno’s Snow Park on Saturday (8.30pm AEDT), the 18-year-old will miss the event after she re-injured the same knee

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:51 pm

Leeds 3-1 Nottingham Forest: Premier League – as it happened

Daniel Farke’s side proved too strong for Forest as they took a giant step towards safety at a rocking Elland Road

I’m not sure Peter Oh has high hopes for this evening’s footballing fare judging from this email.

He says: “Given the various endearing nicknames that have garlanded these two clubs, could tonight be the Nasty/Dirty/Tricky derby?”

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:10 pm

Emma Raducanu into first final since 2021 US Open at Transylvania Open

• Briton beats Oleksandra Oliynykova in three tough sets

• British No 4 Katie Boulter also makes final in Ostrava

Emma Raducanu has reached her first final since the 2021 US Open. The ­British No 1 beat Oleksandra ­Oliynykova 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in a tough semi-final to take her place in Saturday’s Transylvania Open final in Cluj.

She now has a shot at winning her first title since her incredible success at Flushing Meadows in 2021 when she announced herself as a real force on the WTA Tour.

Published: February 6, 2026, 7:40 pm

Oxlade-Chamberlain set to join Celtic, Slot praises Wirtz, Milner eyes record – as it happened

Our writers had the latest news on a day when Mikel Arteta apologised, Pep Guardiola vowed to keep speaking out and Ian Holloway admitted watching The Terminator gave him a fear of computers

Quiz of the week: I guessed my way to a rather decent 12/16.

Virgil van Dijk has hit out at ex-pro pundits in an interview with, er, Gary Neville, ahead of Sky’s broadcast of Liverpool v Manchester City.

For me personally, I can deal with it, but I’m a bit worried for the next generation. I feel like the ex-top players have a responsibility to the new generation. Criticism is absolutely normal and part of the game, and I think it should stay that way. But sometimes criticism also goes into being clickbait, saying things to provoke things, and without thinking about the repercussions for a mental side of players, and especially the younger generation, who are constantly on social media.

Published: February 6, 2026, 4:58 pm

Snoop Dogg shocks British curling pair with request for photo at Winter Olympics

• ‘I am feeling pretty good about myself,’ says Bruce Mouat

• Figure skaters Gibson and Fear in bronze position

Snoop Dogg and the sport of curling made for a very odd mixture at the Winter Olympics on Friday with British competitors Bruce Mouat and Jennifer Dodds even more shocked than the crowd and the millions tuning in when they got a picture request from the rapper.

Mouat and Dodds had maintained their unbeaten record so far at the Games with a 7-4 win over tough opponents Sweden, but were just as pleased to meet the US superstar.

Published: February 6, 2026, 1:31 pm

England suffer big Six Nations blow with Feyi-Waboso ruled out of Wales clash

• Key player suffered hamstring injury in training

• Tom Roebuck makes surprise return as replacement

England have suffered a major setback on the eve of their Six Nations opener against Wales on Saturday with Immanuel Feyi-Waboso ruled out with a hamstring injury, prompting a surprise recall for Tom Roebuck.

Roebuck is the beneficiary of Feyi-Waboso’s injury, called into the side to make a first appearance since picking up a toe injury in England’s November victory over the All Blacks. England are still investigating the extent of Feyi-Waboso’s knock – sustained in training on Thursday – and it remains to be seen if he will feature at all in the Six Nations.

Published: February 6, 2026, 12:42 pm

Winter Olympics 2026: opening ceremony at Milan’s San Siro and beyond – as it happened

The Olympic Flame is lit as Mariah Carey, Andrea Bocelli and Lang Lang star in beautiful opening ceremony at the San Siro stadium

Lindsey Vonn inspected the Olympic downhill course with other racers early this morning as she prepared to take part in the opening training session despite tearing the ACL in her left knee a week ago.

The 41-year-old Vonn is planning to compete at the Milan Cortina Games with a large brace covering her injured knee.

Published: February 6, 2026, 10:58 pm

Austin Butler to play Lance Armstrong in big-screen biopic

Project, following disgraced cyclist, reportedly sparked bidding war, with Conclave’s Edward Berger set to direct

The Oscar-nominated actor Austin Butler is scheduled to take on the role of the disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong in a buzzy new biopic.

According to Deadline, the package has caused a “frenzied” bidding war in Hollywood with the Conclave director Edward Berger at the helm and King Richard’s Zach Baylin set to write the script.

Published: February 6, 2026, 8:39 pm

‘We stole the Super Bowl audience’: how In Living Color pulled off the greatest heist in US TV history

Turning Point USA is plotting its own half-time show in defiance of Bad Bunny – but one of TV’s Blackest programs already perfected the alt-cast in 1992

When the NFL announced Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny as this year’s Super Bowl half-time show headliner, it walked right into a culture war. Right-wing critics raged over the musician’s gender-nonconforming style, Spanish-language music and anti-Maga politics. Donald Trump, after saying he had never heard of Bad Bunny, called the headlining choice “absolutely ridiculous”.

In response, Erika Kirk and her Turning Point USA conservative advocacy group turned the controversy into its own counter-programming event: the All-American Halftime Show. After its Nashville-heavy lineup, led by Kid Rock, was announced on Monday, vice-president JD Vance was first among conservatives to enthusiastically spread the word.

Published: February 6, 2026, 1:00 pm

Despite assurances, residents and officials prepare for possible ICE operations during Super Bowl

In Santa Clara, California, where nearly half of residents were born outside the US, fear builds as game approaches

This weekend, tens of thousands of people will make their way to the Bay Area city of Santa Clara, ready to celebrate a weekend at the Super Bowl.

Beneath the jubilant mood, some residents and officials have been grappling with the possibility of ICE enforcement operations during the game, and taking steps to prepare.

Published: February 6, 2026, 12:00 pm