Category: 6. Sports

Olympic bronze medallist and five-time world medallists Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix will miss the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore due to “mental blocks”.

The British diver shared the news in a post on her Instagram page, adding that she has decided to take a break from the sport to be more prepared for long-term goals and is getting the necessary support from her family, coaching staff and federation as she works to come back to competition.

“I’ve had a tough battle with mental blocks in diving this season, and I’ve tried to fight through them, but I’ve decided it would be best for me to take a break from the pool,” Spendolini-Sirieix wrote in the post.

“As an athlete, the words ‘rest’ and ‘break’ are foreign, but I know that this period will greatly help me in the long run.”

Spendolini-Sirieix has faced mental struggles in the past, including during her Olympic debut at Tokyo 2020 where she finished seventh in the women’s 10m platform while competing as a 16-year-old. Speaking to Olympics.com in 2022, the diver recalled the disconnect between her mind and body in the lead up and during the Games.

“I thought that going into the Olympic Games, these blocks would leave because the adrenaline would take over and the excitement would take over because I am literally fulfilling my dream,” she said. “But that wasn’t the case.”

Returning to the Olympic stage at Paris 2024, Spendolini-Sirieix won the bronze medal in the women’s synchronised 10m platform and sixth in the individual event.

The World Aquatics Championships will be held from 11 July to 3 August with the diving competition to begin on 26 July.

Former Kilkenny hurler DJ Carey has pleaded guilty to 10 charges related to defrauding people out of money while pretending to have cancer.

The 54-year-old, who previously resided at The Drive, Newtown, Maynooth, County Kildare, made the pleas during an appearance at Ireland’s Circuit Court where he was due to stand trial.

A five-time All-Ireland winner and multiple All-Star, Carey is one of the most decorated and acclaimed hurlers to ever play the sport.

Carey stood to enter guilty pleas on 10 counts of dishonestly inducing people to pay him money after he fraudulently claimed to have cancer and needed finances for treatment.

The court heard that one deception charge was being struck out while the remainder of the indictment would be taken into consideration by the sentencing judge.

A defence lawyer told the court that while cancer was referred to in the charges, Carey “does have very genuine health conditions” and required surgery for a heart condition.

He was remanded on bail and is due to be sentenced on 29 October.

Since the creation of this programme in 1999, more than 142 researchers from all over the world have benefited from this programme and received a grant, allowing them to conduct their research and, where relevant to visit the IOC Olympic Studies Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland to consult its collections (including primary sources from the IOC’s historical archives).

Who is eligible to apply?

All current postgraduate students enrolled in a PhD degree programme within the human and/or social sciences encompassing Olympism, the Olympic Movement or the Olympic Games as, at least, one of their research foci.

All academic staff members and postdoctoral fellows who have completed their doctorate or equivalent highest degree (including masters, depending on the field) in or after 2023, are also eligible.

Rules, application form and deadline for submission

Application files and any related correspondence should be sent to the OSC before 22 September 2025. The programme’s rules and guidelines and the application form are available on our website.

Grant Selection Committee

The Grant Programme Selection Committee is composed of academic experts who are internationally renowned for their involvement in Olympic studies and of OSC representatives.

Other grant opportunities

University professors, lecturers and research fellows who have completed their doctorate and who hold an academic/research appointment are eligible to apply to the Advanced Olympic Research Grant Programme. This programme aims to promote advanced research by established researchers with a humanities or social sciences perspective in priority fields of research, which are identified every two years by the IOC. See here for additional information.

Our unique collections of resources to assist your research

We invite you to discover the Olympic World Library (OWL), our library catalogue entirely dedicated to Olympic knowledge, with over 42.000 official and academic publications.You will also find an overview of the IOC historical archives, accessible via the OSC. For more information on the IOC Olympic Studies Centre, its resources, services and programmes, visit our website or contact studies.centre@olympic.org.

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) — India was 98-2 at lunch after being made to bat first by England to start the second test at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

Yashasvi Jaiswal was 62 not out, after Lokesh Rahul chopped on to his stumps on 2 early on, and Karun Nair was out minutes before lunch when he picked out second slip.

Rahul’s wicket was reward for England’s tight bowling on a dry, batter-friendly pitch under sunny skies.

Then Nair’s ambition sparked Jaiswal out of uncharacteristic caution and they accelerated to hit 16 boundaries in a stand of 80 runs off 90 balls.

But Nair’s wicket stopped the session from being dominated by India.

Captain Shubman Gill was with Jaiswal on 1.

The first hour was attritional for India, with England seamer Chris Woakes particularly effective.

He got Rahul out and had big lbw shouts against Jaiswal on 12 and Nair on 5. Both times the ball was tracking to clip the top of off stump but the batters survived on umpire calls.

Nair was promoted from No. 6 in the batting order to No. 3 for the first time in a test and quickly passed Jaiswal’s score by driving at Woakes and Josh Tongue.

Jaiswal was unusually strangled but didn’t give England the mistake it was waiting for. He opened up in the second hour by smashing fuller-length deliveries to the boundary by Tongue and Ben Stokes.

His rising confidence brought out his imagination, including an overhead volley smash of Stokes to the boundary. He brought up his 50 with his 10th boundary — an overhead cut, on his toes, off Tongue. His 16th 50-plus score in his 21st test came off 58 balls.

Nair fell softly after a bowling change and the return of Brydon Carse.

India revealed its lineup after England won the toss and surprised by resting its best bowler, Jasprit Bumrah, and not picking wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who was missed in the series-opening loss in Leeds last week.

Sai Sudharsan, who made his test debut in Leeds, and Shardul Thakur were dropped and Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar picked in an attempt by India to try and balance batting depth with a side that can take 20 wickets. India became the first side to lose a test after hitting five centuries.

Bumrah was replaced by Akash Deep.

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AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Why we love the British Grand Prix

The fans, of course. This weekend’s race in Silverstone is one of the most hotly anticipated, well-attended races of the entire season. No circuit has more grandstands than Silverstone, and this year, there’s even one dedicated solely to Lando fans, aptly named ‘Landostand’. Around 480,000 of you joined us at the home of British racing, last year.

At Silverstone, it’s quality as well as quantity. By now, Britain’s beloved summer of sport, which this year will include the upcoming Women’s Rugby World Cup, The Hundred cricket tournament, and of course the already-underway Wimbledon tennis Championships, is in full swing. At Silverstone, fans never fail to create a racket, generating a party-like atmosphere.

We’re always well-represented at the British Grand Prix, but increasingly so in recent years, with our Castore, Reiss, and Abercrombie & Fitch ranges all well sported by fans throughout the circuit, along with plenty of New Era caps and SunGod shades.