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Ilia Malinin, the 21-year-old American figure skater known as the Quad God, has bounced back from his disappointing performance at the Winter Olympics by leading the short program at the world figure skating championships in Prague. Malinin, the defending two-time world champion, delivered a personal-best score of 111.29 in the short program, showcasing a quad flip and a combination of quad lutz and a triple toe loop. This performance has given him a substantial lead of over nine points heading into Saturday's free skate. Despite failing to land his trademark quad axel in competition, opting for a triple version instead, Malinin's routine met expectations. He will look to maintain his lead and reclaim his title. In contrast, French skater Adam Siao Him Fa impressed with a perfect quad toe loop in combination, scoring 101.85 points. Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko was a surprise third with a personal best 96.49 points. Malinin's Olympic struggles saw him fall from first to eighth place after a disastrous free skate, where he fell twice and made critical mistakes. He attributed his performance to overwhelming nerves and negative thoughts. With Olympic champion Mikhail Shaidorov from Kazakhstan skipping the competition, the stage is set for Malinin to regain his form and dominance in the figure skating world.

British athlete Keely Hodgkinson has poked fun at West Ham over their reluctance to give up the London Stadium for the 2029 World Athletics Championships. Hodgkinson, who recently won the World Indoor Championship 800m, took to social media to express her thoughts on the matter.In a lighthearted post, Hodgkinson suggested that the GB team would bring back more medals to the London Stadium than West Ham has seen in its entire history. This comment came in response to reports that West Ham's stance could jeopardize London's bid to host the championships.Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president, has expressed his desire to hold the 2029 championships in September as a finale to the athletics season. However, West Ham is hesitant to give up the London Stadium for approximately three weeks, citing their football season commitments.The dispute has garnered attention from athletics fans, with many supporting Hodgkinson's comments. West Ham fans, on the other hand, have expressed mixed reactions, with some finding Hodgkinson's remarks disrespectful.The London Stadium, which hosted the London Olympics in 2012, has been West Ham's home since 2013. The club has a contractual right to prioritize their games during the football season. Lord Coe has commented on the matter, stating that he believes West Ham's deal is favorable.Other cities, including Rome, Munich, Nairobi, and an Indian city, are also interested in hosting the 2029 World Athletics Championships. The final submissions from bidding cities are due in early August, with a decision expected in September.

Matt Brittin, Google's former top executive in Europe, has been selected as the next director general of the BBC. Brittin, who stepped down as Google's president in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa last year, will replace Tim Davie at a critical juncture for the corporation. The 57-year-old's appointment was confirmed after a BBC board discussion on Thursday. Brittin, a former Olympic rower and Doctor Who fan, is seen as a substantial figure capable of diving straight into crucial government talks over the renewal of the BBC's royal charter. However, his lack of editorial experience has been noted by insiders, who worry about his ability to deal with the periodic crises that occur at the corporation. The BBC is now expected to create the role of deputy director general to support Brittin, with a new head of BBC News also to be appointed. Brittin expressed his excitement about the role, stating: “Now, more than ever, we need a thriving BBC that works for everyone in a complex, uncertain and fast-changing world.” Samir Shah, the BBC's chair, praised Brittin's experience, saying he had “deep experience of leading a high-profile and highly complex organisation through transformation”. The appointment comes after some early favourites for the role dropped out or declined to apply amid concerns that scrutiny and political attacks aimed at the BBC have made leading it one of the hardest jobs in public life. Brittin's lengthy career at Google will also be significant in his new job, particularly as the BBC lays out plans to save considerable costs using a new tech division and forges a new relationship with YouTube, which is owned by Google. The licence fee model is also under pressure, with more people opting not to pay.

Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy has achieved a lifelong dream by breaking the 50m freestyle world record with a time of 20.88 seconds at the China Open. The Queenslander shattered the longstanding record by three hundredths of a second, a mark set during the era of now-banned super-suits.The 31-year-old athlete expressed his surprise and delight at achieving this milestone ahead of schedule. "That was more of a target for the end of this season, so to have hit it at the moment in March is really special," McEvoy stated upon returning to Brisbane.McEvoy's journey to swimming's pinnacle has been unconventional. Having made his Olympic debut in London as a teenager in 2012, he won bronze medals in relays in Rio and Tokyo before securing his first individual Olympic gold in Paris in 2024 at age 30—well past the typical peak age for elite sprinters.His remarkable rise to dominance stems from a radical rethinking of his training methodology. McEvoy abandoned traditional long pool sessions in favor of strength training and short, explosive sets that mimic the specific requirements of the 50m event. This year, he took an even more extreme approach."I had an off-season which was mainly strength development, and I've barely done much swimming since the [August] World Champs last year, up until this comp," McEvoy explained. "And then this comp was meant to be the transition door into going into more of a sprint-focused regime, but because I got the world record and I've made steps, the idea is just to double down on this and not change it, see how far this can actually take me."The previous world record-holder, César Cielo, congratulated the Australian on his "incredible" swim, sharing a profound insight: "You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete."McEvoy's innovative approach has resonated beyond his own achievements. He receives weekly messages from both elite athletes and former swimmers who have returned to the sport inspired by his methods. "The amount of them that are saying that they're doing lifetime best times and they're deep into their 40s, compared to when they were training full-time in their teens, it's pretty incredible," he noted.Looking ahead, the Australian swimmer has set his sights on future Olympic Games. "I've still got my eyes on LA, I definitely have my eyes on the home Games here in Brisbane, and so I'll just keep at it every year and just take it one step at a time," McEvoy stated, emphasizing his commitment to continue pushing boundaries with his unique training philosophy.

London's bid for the 2029 World Athletics Championships is facing a significant challenge due to West Ham's refusal to allow their stadium to be used in September. Sebastian Coe, the head of World Athletics, has expressed concerns that this stance could scupper the bid, despite strong backing from the UK government and the mayor's office.World Athletics has specified that the championships should be held as the grand finale to the athletics season, typically in September. However, West Ham United has a 'contractual right' ensuring their games take priority during the football season and has shown no indication of changing their stance.“It's really difficult for me because I have a view, but I have to be scrupulously neutral, because London is clearly not the only bid out there,” said Lord Coe. “All I would say is that I would hope that there is a recognition that outside the Olympic Games and the World Cup, this is the third-largest sporting gathering in a four-year cycle.”Coe also mentioned that staging the championships earlier in the summer to avoid clashing with the football season is not a viable option, as it would contradict the organization's goal of concluding the athletics season with the championships.The initial deadline for bids for both the 2029 and 2031 world championships is 3 April, with final submissions due on 5 August. The winning cities will be announced in September.

Olympic gold medal-winning boxer Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan has been cleared to return to competition at the Asian Boxing Championships following a review of her sex eligibility.World Boxing, the sport’s Olympic-level governing body, announced its decision before the Asian championships, which begin March 29 in Mongolia.Lin and Imane Khelif of Algeria won gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics amid international scrutiny and misconceptions over both boxers’ sex.While both met the eligibility rules followed at the time by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which ran the Paris tournament, the two fighters’ success led to a politically charged debate over those standards.World Boxing took over as the sport’s governing body last year, and it implemented a sex eligibility policy last August requiring all fighters to take a one-time genetic test designed to identify the presence of a Y chromosome.Lin has been absent from several international competitions since World Boxing introduced the test last summer.“We recognise that this has been a difficult period for the boxer and the CTBA and appreciate the way they have approached the appeal process and their acknowledgement of World Boxing’s requirement to ensure that its eligibility policy, which is designed to deliver safety and sporting integrity, has been correctly implemented and followed,” World Boxing secretary-general Tom Dielen said in a statement.Taiwan’s boxing association described the decision as a “tremendous relief” for Lin.“We are pleased that World Boxing’s independent medical experts thoroughly reviewed all evidence and confirmed that she has been female since birth,” it said in a statement.Lin “will make her highly anticipated return to the ring at the Asian Boxing Championships”, the statement said.