Kylian Mbappe fittingly scored a brilliant last-gasp winner as Paris Saint-Germain beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie.

Much of the build-up to the match focused on Mbappe, given the expectation that he will join Madrid at the end of the season, and he ultimately made the difference at the Parc des Princes.

It looked as though PSG were going to be frustrated, as the France striker had previously been thwarted on a few occasions by Thibaut Courtois, who also saved a Lionel Messi penalty that Mbappe won.

But with time almost up, Mbappe finally got his goal to give PSG a slender advantage ahead of the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.

 

Bernardo Silva scored twice as Manchester City made Champions League history with an emphatic 5-0 away win over Sporting CP in the first leg of their last-16 tie.

Riyad Mahrez got them on their way with a simple finish early on before Silva added a second with a thunderous strike before the midway point of the first half.

Phil Foden scored a third shortly after the half-hour mark and Silva got his second before half-time as Pep Guardiola's side became the first team in Champions League history to lead an away knockout match by four goals at the break.

Raheem Sterling added a superb fifth in the second half, with City's progress to the quarter-finals all but secured ahead of the return fixture in Manchester next month. 

City started at a blistering pace and went ahead in the seventh minute, Mahrez slotting in Kevin De Bruyne's pull-back after Antonio Adan had parried Foden's effort.

John Stones headed wide soon after, yet City doubled their advantage after 17 minutes when Silva crashed a sumptuous half-volley in off the crossbar from 10 yards.

City's dominance heralded a third goal in the 32nd minute, Foden stroking in from close range after Mahrez's low cross had squeezed past two Sporting defenders.

They made it 4-0 before the break when Silva’s strike from Sterling's pull-back was diverted past Adan by the unfortunate Goncalo Bernardo Inacio.

Silva saw a header ruled out for offside shortly after the interval, yet they added a fifth in the 58th minute courtesy of Sterling's wonderful curled strike from 20 yards.
 

What does it mean? City blow hosts away

City were utterly electric in the opening 45 minutes, effectively ending the tie with a game and a half remaining thanks to some ruthless finishing.

They cooled off somewhat in the second period, although Sterling's glorious strike meant they became the 14th team to score 200 goals in the Champions League. It took them 97 games to reach that milestone – fewer than any of the other 13 teams to do it in the competition.

Sterling's landmark goal

Sterling brought up his 150th club goal with a wonderful strike after the break, while the England international also left Portugal with an assist after teeing up Silva's second goal.

Poor Porro

Pedro Porro did not enjoy the most fruitful of outings against his parent club, the Spaniard losing possession a joint game-high 19 times, while he failed to have a shot or play a single key pass.

What's next?

Both sides are back in domestic action at the weekend, with City hosting Tottenham on Saturday and Sporting at home to Estoril a day later.

Manchester City became the first team in Champions League history to lead an away knockout game by four goals at half-time after a blistering opening 45 minutes against Sporting CP. 

Riyad Mahrez got City on their way after seven minutes on Tuesday before Bernardo Silva doubled their advantage with a sublime half-volley 10 minutes later. 

Phil Foden added a third shortly after the half-hour mark as City's dominance continued. 

Silva then netted his second shortly before the interval as Pep Guardiola's side wrote their names into the record books once again.

Top seed Aryna Sabalenka and defending champion Garbine Muguruza came through their first-round matches unscathed at the Dubai Tennis Championships on Tuesday.

Belarusian Sabalenka made light work of 19-year-old Marta Kostyuk, sealing a 6-4 6-1 win in one hour and 15 minutes.

Standing in her way of a third consecutive quarter-final in Dubai is Petra Kvitova, who beat Camila Giorgi on Monday.

Last year's champion and fourth seed Muguruza began her title defence with a 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-2 win over Czech qualifier Katerina Siniakova in two hours and 24 minutes.

Spaniard Muguruza will face Veronika Kudermetova in the second round after the Russian beat former world number one Victoria Azarenka in straight sets earlier on Tuesday.

There were also wins for eighth seed Ons Jabeur and 10th seed Elina Svitolina against Vera Zvonareva and Mayar Sherif respectively.

Elsewhere, there was a shock as qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse dumped out third seed Paula Badosa 6-3 5-7 6-4.

Ninth seed Danielle Collins is also out after the American retired due to dizziness in the second set against Marketa Vondrousova.

Sofia Kenin failed to put up a fight as she went down 6-1 6-2 to Jelena Ostapenko.

 

Ben Simmons revealed he had been dealing with "dark times" due to his mental health as he was presented as a Brooklyn Net on Tuesday, although he added his issues while with the Philadelphia 76ers were "a personal thing".

Following a long-running trade saga, Simmons joined the Nets ahead of last week's deadline, with James Harden heading in the opposite direction.

Simmons had been mooted as a piece in a potential Harden trade as long ago as January 2021 – with Harden then forcing his way out of the Houston Rockets – and his future became more uncertain still following the 76ers' playoff defeat to the Atlanta Hawks last season.

The former number one overall pick averaged 6.3 points from 4.7 field goal attempts across the final three games of a seven-game series.

He was the subject of intense criticism after appearing to pass up shooting opportunities, with team-mates and coaches among those to question his performance level.

With Simmons subsequently keen to leave the 76ers, he has not played at all this season.

But the Australian explained as he met the media that the fallout from the Hawks series had not been a prominent factor in a difficult year to date.

"For me, it was just making sure mentally I was right to get out there and play again," Simmons said. "So that's something I've been dealing with.

"And it wasn't about the fans or coaches, or comments made by anybody. It was just a personal thing for me. That was earlier than that series or even that season that I was dealing with, and [the 76ers] knew that.

"So, it is something that I continue to deal with and I'm getting there and getting to the right place to get back on the floor."

He added his mental health issues had "nothing to do with the trade" but rather "a bunch of things that I was dealing with as a person, in my personal life, that I don't really want to go into depth with".

However, getting out of Philly was important for Simmons as he aims to recover.

"A bunch of things that had been going on over the years to where I knew I wasn't myself," he said, explaining his pursuit of a trade. "And I needed to get back to being myself and being happy as a person and taking care of my well-being.

"That was the major thing for me. It wasn't about the basketball, it wasn't about the money, anything like that. I want to be who I am and get back to playing basketball and that level and being myself."

Of his critics, Simmons said: "They should be happy I'm smiling, honestly. I've had some dark times over these last six months and I'm just happy to be in this situation with this team and organisation."

The move also gives Simmons the opportunity to team up with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, with the Nets maintaining title hopes despite their slump to eighth in the East.

"I think it's going to be scary," the new signing said. "Having those guys running alongside me, multiple different weapons on the floor, and I think at the pace we want to play at, it's going to be unreal."

Simmons does not yet know when he will be available for the Nets, but he hopes to play against the 76ers on March 10.

Odell Beckham Jr. will undergo surgery on his left knee this week after again tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, NFL Network has reported.

Beckham left the first half of Sunday's Super Bowl LVI after appearing to land awkwardly on his knee.

The superstar receiver had scored the opening touchdown of the game for the Los Angeles Rams but was downgraded to out in the second half and restricted to the role of spectator as the Cincinnati Bengals were beaten 23-20.

Beckham sustained an ACL tear to the same knee in 2020 – also against the Bengals – and Monday brought widespread reports he had suffered the same injury again.

"Thank you all for the love and support," he wrote on his Twitter page. "God always got me. He's always had a plan. He made me a world champion! I'm so grateful!"

On Tuesday, NFL Network said Beckham would soon have surgery in order to recover as quickly as possible as he enters free agency.

The Rams have limited room for manoeuvre within the salary cap – set to come in at $10million over the 2022 cap as things stand.

But Beckham has suggested he would take a pay cut to return, having been a huge success after joining midseason from the Cleveland Browns.

Assuming a full recovery from his latest serious injury, the Rams could again look to pair Beckham with triple crown wide receiver and Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp.

Across the regular season and playoffs, Beckham caught seven TD passes in 12 games for the Rams – as many as in 29 games in two and a half years with the Browns.

Meanwhile, Kupp followed up his league-leading regular season performance of 145 receptions, 1,947 receiving yards and 16 receiving touchdowns by again leading all three categories in the postseason (33 catches, 478 yards and six TDs).

Beckham joined the Rams less than two weeks before Robert Woods tore his ACL, giving the new signing a more prominent role.

Woods, who comforted Beckham on Sunday, had caught four TDs and rushed for another in nine games in 2021 before his injury.

Neymar was named on the substitutes' bench for Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League last-16 first leg against Real Madrid, who were able to welcome back top scorer Karim Benzema on Tuesday. 

Brazil star Neymar, who turned 30 earlier this month, has not played since suffering an ankle ligament injury in a win over Saint-Etienne in November.

However, he returned to training over the past week and was deemed fit enough by boss Mauricio Pochettino to be named on the bench for the visit of Los Blancos.

Lionel Messi, who scored 26 goals in 45 appearances against Madrid for Barcelona, Kylian Mbappe and Angel Di Maria lead the line for the Ligue 1 leaders. 

Madrid, meanwhile, were able to call upon the services of talisman Benzema, who had not played since suffering a hamstring strain on January 23 against Elche. 

Speaking on Monday, Los Blancos coach Carlo Ancelotti was non-committal on the availability of Benzema, but the France striker has been deemed fit enough to start in a huge boost for Madrid.

Benzema was named in attack alongside Vinicius Junior and Marco Asensio.

The Minnesota Vikings will belatedly confirm Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Kevin O'Connell as their new head coach this week, according to an ESPN report.

An announcement has been delayed to this point due to the O'Connell's involvement in the postseason with his current team.

But after the Rams' playoff run ended with victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI at their SoFi Stadium home on Sunday, the Vikings have been cleared to name their man.

O'Connell will be introduced on Thursday, following the Rams' team meetings and exit interviews on Tuesday and victory parade in LA on Wednesday.

He joined the Rams in 2020 from Washington and helped lead Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr. to the championship this year.

Although Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris was said to be among the interviewees who missed out on the Vikings job, O'Connell's departure means Sean McVay will have to bring in a key member of coaching staff for the second time in two years; Brandon Staley, Morris' predecessor as DC, went to the Los Angeles Chargers last year.

Rams tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Wes Phillips will also have a role on O'Connell's staff, the ESPN report said.

The next Rams OC will not immediately get the opportunity to work with Beckham, regardless of any agreement with the team as he enters free agency.

Beckham, a midseason arrival from the Cleveland Browns, sustained a knee injury in the first half of the Super Bowl, which is now said to be his second ACL tear in the same knee in two seasons.

The wide receiver, who has said he would be willing to accept a pay cut to stay with the Rams, again faces a lengthy rehabilitation process.

The make-up of the rest of the team is far from certain, too, with superstar defensive tackle Aaron Donald delaying any decision on his future after finally winning a ring.

McVay, the youngest ever Super Bowl-winning head coach, has been similarly non-committal.

It was good day for Norway as they claimed three golds to increase their lead in the medal table at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Tuesday.

Five Norwegian athletes won medals as the Scandinavian nation took their total tally for the Games to 26.

Norway have secured 12 Olympic titles in the Chinese capital, three more than second-placed Germany.

Joergen Graabak was crowned Nordic combined champion for Norway and compatriot Jens Luraas took silver at the end of a dramatic 10-kilometre cross-country skiing race.

Jarl Magnus Riiber led the way for Norway after topping the ski jump standings on the large hill at the National Ski Jumping Centre, but took a wrong turn when he had an advantage of 44 seconds in the cross-country skiing.

Riiber turned around after realising he had gone off track and was left to rue a huge lapse, which his countryman Graabak capitalised on.

Norway also won men's biathlon gold in the 4x7.5km relay event and took the men's team pursuit speed skating title.

German bobsleigh legend Francesco Friedrich led the first podium clean sweep of these Games in the two-man competition at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre.

Johannes Lochner won silver and Christoph Hafer took bronze as Germany took their medal tally to 18, half of which have been gold.

There were no gold medals for third-placed USA, but Anna Gasser won Austria's sixth of the Games in the snowboard big air final.

Switzerland rose to eighth after Corinne Suter and Mathilde Gremaud were crowned women's downhill and freeski slopestyle champions respectively.

 

Medal table:

1. Norway (G12 S7 B7, Total: 26)
2. Germany (G9 S6 B3, Total: 18)
3. United States (G7 S6 B4, Total: 17)
4. Austria (G6 S6 B4, Total: 16)
5. Netherlands (G6 S4 B3, Total: 13)
6. China (G6 S4 B2, Total: 12)
7. Sweden (G5 S3 B3, Total: 11)
8. Switzerland (G5 S0 B5, Total: 10)
9. Russian Olympic Committee (G4 S7 B9, Total: 20)
10. France (G3 S7 B2, Total: 12)

It's November 25, 2020. A young German winger stands on the touchline anxiously waiting to step on to the Allianz Arena pitch for his Champions League debut in his hometown.

But as he waits to be allowed on, there are people watching both on television and in the largely empty stands who know this isn't how it should've been.

Rather than wearing the all-red of Bayern Munich, Karim Adeyemi jogs on in the all-black of Salzburg with the Austrian champions 3-0 down.

A technically gifted and rapid forward, Adeyemi has long been considered one of Germany's most promising young players, having cost Salzburg a reported €3million when he was 16.

Adeyemi had left Bayern six years earlier. It's a detail that has dominated much of his early professional career, with questions about why he left never far away.

Now 20, Adeyemi has previously spoken at length about his attitude as a kid, how learning wasn't much to his liking and distraction was a regular nuisance to him. These factors certainly didn't help at Bayern.

Neither, Adeyemi alleged in the past, did the club, who he said showed little support to players who strayed from "the plan". The collective, rather than individualistic talents, was prioritised.

He and Bayern were simply not a good match at the time. He left Die Roten and, while such a disappointment might've been enough to derail other ordinary kids, Adeyemi has since proven he is rather extraordinary.

A move to a smaller local club, Unterhaching, soon followed. It was there that, according to youth coach Marc Unterberger, Adeyemi was able to develop with a greater degree of individual emphasis and that eventually translated into him becoming a better asset for the team as a whole.

"He had his own thoughts on how to deal with things," Unterberger told Stats Perform in 2021. "We never wanted to change him completely, and I think we succeeded quite well. Karim is a really great guy and a great person.

"Until the time Karim came to us, we had never had such an exceptional player in our youth division.

"Of course, as a young person, you benefit from being accepted for who you are, but I would like to make it very clear that there was no situation within the team in which Karim behaved in such a way that we as a club were forced to act.

"On the contrary, over time he developed more and more towards putting himself at the service of the team. He was easily distracted, that's right, but let's be honest, something like this is normal when young people develop."

Unterberger arguably knows Adeyemi better than any other coach, given he was there for the youngster's entire six-year stay at Unterhaching.

"I can still remember it very well, the first time I saw him play in an Under-11 tournament," he recalled.

"Back then he was still playing for TSV Forstenried. My first thought was: 'We absolutely need this player'. Fortunately, it worked out later!"

That might be something of an understatement in reality. The €3m fee that Unterhaching received made him the most expensive Under-18 German player ever at the time, while 2019 saw him win the Fritz-Walter Gold Medal, an award handed out to Germany's best youth player. Previous winners include Timo Werner, Emre Can and Mario Gotze.

But most importantly, that move proved an unequivocal success for the player, as did his next.

Adeyemi confirmed to Stats Perform last year that he rejected the chance to join Chelsea from Unterhaching in his teens, instead opting to move just over the border to Salzburg. Had he gone to London, maybe he would've broken into their first-team – but it's probably just as likely that he'd have been lost among the Blues' army of loan players.

That's not to say loans can't work. Adeyemi's Salzburg career was carefully mapped out for him even before he joined, and that included an initial 18-month stint with Liefering, who essentially act as a B team. A haul of 15 goals and eight assists in the second tier provided strong evidence the teenager was ready for the step up in 2020.

His introduction to top-tier football wasn't quite so explosive, only having a hand in goals in six of his first 29 Austrian Bundesliga matches, but a key factor here was the need to remain patient – only nine of those 29 games were as a starter.

It wasn't until the final three months of 2020-21 that Adeyemi began to nail down a starting role, with seven of his 11 starts coming between mid-February and the end of May. This period also yielded six of his seven league goals.

This proved the final push he needed – with Patson Daka leaving for Leicester City, Adeyemi went from being the forwards' supporting act to the leading man in attack.

As you'd expect, this led to a bit of a change in his role, but there's no doubt he's thriving, securing his first senior international cap in September and finding himself linked heavily with Borussia Dortmund.

 

Sure, chance creation frequency is down (2.7 per 90, to 1.6), but the pay-off in terms of his effectiveness in front of goal is more than worth it.

His 14 goals is a league high, while only Kelvin Yeboah (11.2) – who has since joined Genoa – can better Adeyemi's 10.1 non-penalty expected goals (np-xG). Though on a per-90-minute basis, Adeyemi ranks first in the division with 0.72 np-xG (minimum 650 minutes played).

But it would be doing Adeyemi a huge disservice to give the impression he's 'just' some poacher. He's an immensely exciting player characterised by his explosive pace, low centre of gravity and silky ability on the ball. Yeboah (21) is the sole forward with more carries leading to shots and chances created than Adeyemi (21), though the Ghanaian's total comes from nearly 300 minutes more on the pitch.

It's a similar story in the Champions League. His carries led to a combined total of eight shots and chances created in the group stage – the only Opta-defined strikers to better that were Kylian Mbappe, Cristiano Ronaldo (both nine) and Arnaut Danjuma (14).

 

Even if it's reductive to just look at that metric, there's no doubt his performances have translated to European football's biggest stage – Sevilla's Diego Carlos will have been hoping to never see the youngster again after terrorising the Brazilian in the group.

Adeyemi's displays were a major factor in Salzburg reaching the knockouts of the Champions League for the first time in their history.

It would be a truly inspirational tale were it to be him, the young Bavarian cast-off, who plotted Bayern's downfall this time.

Corinne Suter won downhill gold and Sofia Goggia claimed an astonishing Olympic silver medal in Beijing on Tuesday less than a month after a huge crash.

Suter mastered the 'Rock course' at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Centre to top the podium after crossing the line in a time of one minute, 31.87 seconds.

The Swiss world champion suffered a nasty pre-season training accident in Zermatt back in September, but revealed she took inspiration from the great Lindsey Vonn to win the blue riband event.

Suter said: "My head was not really good from the beginning of the season. It's always difficult when you have such a hard crash because you think, 'yeah it's okay', but it's not."

She added: "From the first training run I really liked the slope here and also the snow is really good. Also I [was] watching today the runs from her (Vonn) all the time. She's my biggest idol."

Goggia could surely never have envisaged winning a medal just 23 days after a crash in Cortina left her with a damaged cruciate ligament and a fractured left leg, yet the Italian was only 0.16secs slower than Suter and she was joined on the podium by compatriot Nadia Delago.

An elated Goggia said: "I came here with no days of skiing. I also crashed in super-G training and I said to my coach: ‘I cannot do this, I cannot do this. How can I make it to the downhill if I cannot put my leg down?’ And he said: ‘You will do it because you know how to do it.'"

Goggia added: "I found an incredible strength inside of myself...I was travelling by a sort of light."

Valieva on course for controversial gold 

Russian teenager Kamila Valieva started her quest to win a controversial figure skating singles gold medal by recovering a mistake to take the lead.

The 15-year-old was contentiously cleared to go for the individual title on Monday despite the revelation that she had tested positive for performance-enhancing drug trimetazidine in December

After helping the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) secure team figure skating gold last week, Valieva headed into the individual event as the favourite to take the title.

Valieva failed to land a triple axel after being cheered onto the ice for her short program routine, but put that behind her to earn a score of 82.16 from the judges. 

She looked very emotional on the ice after such a difficult time for the youngster, who could have found herself thrown out of the Games.

Fellow Russian Anna Shcherbakova is in second spot following her score of 80.20, with Kaori Sakamoto (79.84) of Japan in third heading into the free skate on Thursday.

 

Riiber's Beijing nightmare takes a huge turn for the worse

Norway increased their lead at the top of the medal table, but Jarl Magnus Riiber endured a Nordic combined nightmare.

The 24-year-old spent two weeks isolating in a hotel room after testing positive for coronavirus when he arrived in China, but was on course to win gold a day after coming out quarantine.

The Norwegian topped the ski jump standings on the large hill and held a lead of 44 seconds at the start of the 10-kilometre cross-country skiing race.

Riiber literally lost his way, though, as he headed for the finishing line at the end of the first of four laps, rather than starting another loop.

After realising what he later described as "a silly mistake", Riiber turned back in a hasty retreat, but his advantage had been cut to barely 10 seconds.

He ended up finishing eighth as compatriot Joergen Graabak was crowned champion, and Riiber was left to reflect on a massive gaffe.

 

Debutants Denmark into last eight 

Denmark will face ROC in the quarter-finals of the men's ice hockey competition after beating Latvia 3-2 at the Wukesong Sports Centre.

The Danes are competing in this event for the first time and they are making their presence felt, with goalkeeper Sebastian Dahm describing the defeat of Latvia as "the biggest result in Danish ice hockey."

Germany, silver medallists in PyeongChang four years ago, are out after a 4-0 defeat by Slovakia, who will face the United States in the last eight.

Canada and Sweden will do battle for a place in the semi-finals, while Finland take on Switzerland.

Great Britain flagbearer Dave Ryding takes to the slopes on Wednesday, as he looks to seal the nation's first medal at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

And he has the support of Liverpool and England footballer Jordan Henderson.

There are two finals in the men's freestyle skiing, too, while Finland and Switzerland's women go for bronze in the ice hockey.

Medals are up for grabs in the biathlon, cross-country skiing and short track speed skating. Here, Stats Perform looks at the main events to come on Wednesday.

Alpine ski

It has been a frustrating Games so far for Team GB, with no medals recorded as of yet. However, one of their big hopes will go for glory in the men's slalom.

Ryding, 35, made history by winning the first World Cup title for Great Britain just prior to the Games. However, he is one of six different winners in the six World Cup slalom events held so far this season, meaning the Olympic field is wide open.

But, he has the full backing of not only Team GB, but his beloved Liverpool, whose captain Henderson sent a message of support to Ryding.

"I just wanted to send you a quick message to say big congratulations on the win and all the very best in Beijing," Henderson said in the video message.

"I hope it goes well. It's nice to hear you are a big Liverpool fan. I hope to see you at Anfield when you get back. Take care mate, good luck.”

Sebastian Foss-Solevag, the 2021 world champion, must be considered among the favourites. 

Biathlon

Belarus will be looking to defend their title from 2018 in the women's 4x6km relay, though Sweden and France – silver and bronze medallists respectively in Pyeongchang – are also contenders.

Sweden are the current World Cup leaders, with Norway second and France third, with Belarus down in fifth place.

Cross-country skiing

There are two medal events in cross-country skiing on Wednesday, in the men's and women's team sprints.

The United States are the reigning women's champions, while Norway hold the title in the men's. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo is part of the team, and he is hunting a fourth medal in Beijing.

Freestyle skiing

Likewise, six more athletes will win medals in freestyle skiing. The men's freeski slopestyle final is perfectly poised. Switzerland's Andri Ragettli topped the qualifying standings, but only just ahead of big air gold medallist Birk Ruud, while reigning Olympic champion Nicholas Goepper came third, with fellow Americans Alex Hall and Colby Stevenson finishing in the top six too.

Another American, Chris Lillis, is going for gold in the men's aerials. He helped the United States to victory in mixed team aerials last week.

Ukrainian Oleksandr Abramenko will be out to defend his title, though World Cup leader Maxim Burov is the favourite.

Short track speed skating

Canada, Italy, China, South Korea and the Russian Olympic Committee will battle it out for a podium place in the men's 5000m relay, with 2018 champions Hungary having failed to make the cut.

In the women's 1500m, South Korea are again well represented, with reigning champion and world record holder Choi Min-jeong involved, along with current World Cup leader Lee Yu-bin.

However, Suzanne Schulting is the 2021 World Short Track Speed Skating champion at all distances and has enjoyed a wonderful Games so far, setting two Olympic records, one world record and winning four medals (two gold, two silver).

Gymnastics star Simone Biles is engaged to Houston Texans safety Jonathan Owens.

The couple, who met shortly before the coronavirus pandemic, announced the news via their social media pages on Tuesday.

"Woke up a fiance," Biles tweeted. "I can't wait to spend forever and ever with you, you're everything I dreamed of and more!"

In January last year, Owens said the enforced shutdown of sport caused by COVID-19 allowed him and Biles to spend time getting to know one another.

"It was one of the few times in her life where everything was just shut off and she couldn't do anything," he told Texas Monthly. "So we used it to get to know each other - really get to know each other. It created our bond and made it stronger. Now I'm so thankful."

Biles, 24, is a four-time Olympic gold medallist and is regarded as one of the greatest gymnasts in the history of the sport.

She holds a record 25 world championship medals, 19 of which are gold, and is the only female gymnast with five world all-around titles.

At the Tokyo Olympics last year, Biles withdrew from four individual events for which she had qualified after pulling out of the women's team competition after just one rotation.

The United States star cited the need to focus on her mental health as she chose not to contest the individual all-round, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise finals.

Biles returned for the balance beam final, winning bronze, after which she described her pride in bringing greater attention to mental health concerns.

Owens, 26, was signed by the Texans after spending a year with the Arizona Cardinals. He played seven times in the NFL last season.

When Suriname Olympian Anthony Nesty was named the head coach of the USA men’s team for the 2022 Budapest World Championships, he made history in multiple ways.

The most culturally significant is that he becomes the first black swim coach to lead a U.S. team into the World Championships.

Nesty’s selection can hardly be considered as some sort of affirmative action pick: he, along with Todd DeSorbo, who is leading the women’s team to Budapest, number among the country’s most on-fire coaches at the moment, and are arguably at the top of the global food chain as well.

Nesty-coached swimmers Bobby Finke and Kieran Smith to Olympic medals, with Finke pulling off a surprise 800/1500 double in thrilling come-from-behind fashion.

Since the Olympics, the United States’ two most-decorated swimmers in Tokyo have joined Nesty’s group: Caeleb Dressel, who was training previously in the same pool but under former Florida head coach Gregg Troy; and Katie Ledecky, who made the post-Tokyo move from Stanford where she trained under Greg Meehan.

In total, those four swimmers have a combined 16 Olympic gold medals and 20 total Olympic medals. Throw in a bronze from Natalie Hinds, who was training at Georgia pre-Tokyo but has also now joined the Gators post-grad group, and the Nesty-led staff is now the epicentre of the swimming universe, at least in the Western Hemisphere.

He has broken barriers before that 1988 Olympic gold medal made him the first Black male athlete to win an individual Olympic medal in swimming.  It wasn’t his only achievement. 

As an athlete, representing Suriname, Nesty was not only the 1988 Olympic gold medallist and 1992 Olympic bronze medallist in the 100 butterfly but was also a 1991 World Champion in the same event.

 

 

 

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