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.
Jamaican bobsledder Jazmine Fenlator-Victorian may not have claimed any medals but can be considered a winner based on the fact that she was even able to compete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
After originally being scheduled to compete in both the Women’s Monobob and the two-woman bobsled, the three-time Olympian could only compete in one after the team narrowly failed to qualify for the latter event.
As if that wasn’t enough for her to contend with, she was also dealing with death in her family as her sister passed away just before the Olympics.
“Right now, I don’t have the words to really express all that I have experienced in these last weeks,” she said in an Instagram post on Tuesday.
“What I can do is say this…Thank You from the absolute bottom of my heart. Competing in Beijing has been wild in more ways than one. I honestly didn’t believe I could be here and I made it and competed with every ounce in me to the best of my ability despite circumstances,” she added.
Fenlator-Victorian finished 19th in the Women’s Monobob with a time of 4:28.56.
“For now, I’m filled with gratitude for every individual that has coached me, mentored me, treated me, cared for me, messaged, shared, contributed, provided, smiled, and more. My heart is exploding, and I want you all to know I truly appreciate it all over the last three Olympics. One love,” Fenlator-Victorian said.
Julian Nagelsmann has backed Bayern Munich to bounce back from hitting rock Bochum.
The Bayern boss will send out his team to face Salzburg in the Champions League on Wednesday after a wave of criticism in the wake of a shock 4-2 weekend defeat.
Such are the sky-high standards at German giants Bayern that the 4-2 loss to mid-table Bochum in the Bundesliga has seen the team exposed to criticism and questioning, mostly but not exclusively from outside the club.
Bayern still hold a six-point lead at the top of the German top flight, and they will be strongly favoured to fend off Salzburg over two legs at the last-16 stage in Europe.
"If you concede four goals, the defence is of course criticised," Nagelsmann said. "Before Bochum we were good. We are by far the team with the most ball wins in Europe."
Nagelsmann said he had been looking at how Bayern's opponents were able to open up a 4-1 interval lead and added: "You can anticipate many things if you're greedy. We didn't have that against Bochum.
"Most of the time we're able to score more goals than we concede. In the Champions League and in the cup, of course, the impact is greater when that happens. So we are all willing to get a better result than we got on Saturday."
Bayern have come under fire from club legend Lothar Matthaus, who now works as a television pundit. Matthaus pointed the finger at Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Hernandez, saying they are not providing good value for money.
Nagelsmann said he would not comment "on every expert opinion that comes out without pressure from the leather chair", adding: "In the end, it's about us delivering such a performance that this kind of thing doesn't even come up."
Bayern honorary president Uli Hoeness suggested there was perhaps "not enough friction" in the team, and Thomas Muller responded to that and similar verdicts on Tuesday.
Muller said: "At the end we are judged on our results. It was a disastrous result against Bochum.
"We've already discussed that, we're very self-critical. We already have friction. Many of us have known each other for years. The powers that come from that trust unleash more powers. I see us on the right track."
Looking at the Bochum result, Muller said: "We don't close our eyes and tick it off, we're very analytical and self-critical."
Liverpool must be considered favourites for the Champions League last-16 tie with Inter, but the Nerazzurri deserve to be back in the latter stages of the competition, according to Simone Inzaghi.
Inter finished second behind Real Madrid in Group D, progressing to the last 16 of the competition for the first time since 2011-12.
This will be the fifth meeting between Inter and Liverpool. Each of the previous four have been in the knockout stages of the European Cup/Champions League, with the Serie A side progressing over two legs in the 1964-65 semi-finals – a year in which they went on to lift the trophy – and the Reds emerging from the last 16 in 2007-08.
Inzaghi knows his team cannot be considered favourites, given the strength of Liverpool, yet he wants his team to play with freedom on their return to the knockout stages.
He told a news conference: "Liverpool are one of the best teams in Europe, but our players deserve to play these kinds of games.
"We haven't played in the round of 16 for many years and although it will be very difficult, we'll try to make it.
"On paper, Liverpool are the favourite, but the games must be played. I'll ask the lads to go on the pitch and play our football with a free mind, showing our ideas. Determination will make the difference.
"The first step was to reach the round of 16. We'll face a top club with strong players, but all games start from 0-0. In some games, you must take care of every detail.
"We watched Liverpool's matches, the ones against Milan and the most recent ones.
"They have a deep squad, a great coach, they are intense, so we need to do well every time, both when we have the ball and when we defend."
Inter head into the clash having lost their grip on top spot in Serie A following a derby defeat to Milan and a 1-1 draw with their other title rivals, Napoli.
"I am not satisfied with the results, I didn't expect them," the former Lazio coach added.
"But I think we played two great games against two great teams who, along with Juventus, will be title challengers."
Inter have been eliminated from two of their previous three two-legged knockout ties against English opponents. All three of these have been at the round-of-16 stage, losing out to Liverpool in 2007-08 and Manchester United in 2008-09, before eliminating Chelsea a year later en route to winning the Champions League under Jose Mourinho.
They have, however, won their past two home games in the Champions League, one more than they had managed in their previous nine between November 2018 and September 2021 (D5 L3). The last time they recorded three consecutive home wins in the competition was between December 2009 and November 2010.
Trent Alexander-Arnold accepts there is pressure for Liverpool to win at least one trophy every season.
At the same time, Alexander-Arnold knows silverware will not come easily, noting star-studded Manchester City have yet to win the Champions League.
Still only 23, the England right-back is already a Premier League and Champions League winner, as well as holding medals in the UEFA Super Cup and Club World Cup.
Liverpool remain in the hunt for silverware on four fronts this term despite trailing holders City by nine points in the league, albeit with a game in hand.
The Reds squad is arguably as strong as it has ever been, with the likes of Ibrahima Konate and Luis Diaz having bolstered strength in depth over the past two windows.
Homegrown talent Alexander-Arnold has noticed a shift in expectations over the past few seasons but does not feel there has been a lack of success in relation to the strength of performances.
"We don't feel disappointed we haven't won enough trophies. We feel the trophies we have won are the biggest and the best you can get your hands on," he said, ahead of Liverpool's Champions League last-16 first-leg tie at Inter.
"Obviously, I'm not making any digs, but you look at Man City's amazing team and they haven't been able to win the Champions League.
"They've won a couple of Prems but haven't won the Champions League; we've won both over the last few years, so it shows we're able to do it in both competitions.
"But I think there's an expectation now as a team, as players, to win trophies. One trophy a season minimum is what we want to be achieving with the squad we've got, the players, the manager. We should be winning trophies; if we don't, it's disappointing.
"We're not at that stage now where we're happy to just get to finals and it's unexpected and a day out. There's an expectation now to do that every season."
Assessing Liverpool's aims for this campaign, Alexander-Arnold acknowledged the title race is out of the Reds' hands to an extent but says there is a confidence among the team in all the other competitions.
"As a team, as a club, we do expect ourselves to go as far as we can in competitions. Looking at it now there's only the league that's not really in our hands, all other cup competitions we believe we can win them and beat anyone on our day if we get it right," he added.
"The only one is the league, anything can happen there, the other three we believe we're able to win them.
"I would say definitely on all four fronts, it makes it easier now having so many great players in the team.
"The season when we won the Champions League we almost won the league, we've shown ourselves and other people we can compete on multiple fronts.
"To have a place in all four competitions at this stage of the season is good for us, we've got a chance in a few weeks to add silverware early doors [in the EFL Cup final against Chelsea].
"That's the focus for us, to have a chance in all four competitions for as long as we can."
Kamila Valieva showed her emotions under the spotlight after putting herself on course for a controversial figure skating singles gold medal in Beijing on Tuesday.
The 15-year-old Russian was contentiously cleared to go for the individual title on Monday despite testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
Valieva was given the green light to compete at the Capital Indoor Stadium due to "exceptional circumstances", largely due to the teenager's age ensuring she is considered to be a "protected person" under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules.
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.
The Kazan-born sensation, who tested positive for trimetazidine in December, was cheered when she skated out to begin her short program routine.
Valieva made a mistake when she failed to land a triple axel but put that behind her like a champion to ensure she leads heading into the free skate on Thursday.
She avoided hitting the deck when making that error and showed her class to earn a score of 82.16 from the judges.
Valieva looked very emotional on the ice after 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.
Denis Oswald, chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disciplinary commission, revealed earlier in the day that Valieva claimed she may have failed a drugs test after accidentally consuming medication belonging to her grandfather.
"Her argument was contamination which happened with a product her grandfather was taking," Oswald told reporters.
Trimetazidine is a medication that prevents angina attacks but is banned by WADA because it aids blood flow to the heart.
After the first two heats in the Men's two-man Bobsled at the Yanqing National Sliding Centre on Monday, the Jamaican team of Nimroy Turgott and Shanwayne Stephens found themselves in 30th place.
The pair clocked a time of 1:01.23 in their first heat then returned to clock 1:01.35 in the second for a combined time of 2:02.58, which left them last.
On Tuesday, Stephens and Turgott returned for heat 3 and needed to finish in the top 20 to advance to the medal round.
However, after the third heat, they failed to improve their position in the standings, thus ending the quest for a medal. Their final time after three heats was 3:04.12.
The Trinidadian team of Axel Brown and Andre Marcano sat 27th after the two heats with a time of 2:01.70. They eventually fell back a place on Tuesday after heat three, finishing with a time of 3:02.56.
The German team of Francesco Friedreich and Thorsten Margis was the fastest after the first two heats, with a time of 1:58.38, and eventually secured gold in the event with a time of 3:56.89.
Germany secured a historic treble with Johannes Lochner and Florian Bauer finishing second in 3:57.38 and Christoph Hafer and Mathias Sommer finishing third in 3:58.58.
Elsewhere on Monday, Jamaican Alpine Skier Benjamin Alexander finished 46th overall in the Men’s Giant Slalom with a time of 3:18.52.
Haiti’s Richardson Viano also competed in the Men’s Giant Slalom but failed to finish.
The gold medal in the event was won by Switzerland’s Marco Odermatt in 2:09.35 while silver was taken by Slovenia’s Zan Kranjek in 2:09.54 and bronze by Mathieu Faivre of France in 2:10.69.
Jurgen Klopp allayed fears over the fitness of captain Jordan Henderson for Liverpool's Champions League last-16 first-leg tie at Inter, a team he considers the best in Italy.
Henderson suffered a minor back issue playing against Cardiff City in the FA Cup, which ruled him out of the 2-0 win over Leicester City.
The skipper was back as the Reds defeated Burnley 1-0 on Sunday and took a knock on the knee against the Clarets.
However, Liverpool boss Klopp confirmed Henderson will be fit for a mouth-watering showdown with reigning Serie A champions Inter at San Siro on Wednesday.
"Hendo is fine, he got a knock on his knee, today was the second day of recovery for a lot of players," Klopp said.
"So, not the longest session for him, but apart from that no issues really.
"He was back last week, his knee in the game definitely was not comfortable. The wound you can really see it, it looks like lips, should not be there. Apart from that he's fine."
Klopp's side, who were Champions League winners in the 2018-19 season, won all six of their group-stage fixtures – including one at San Siro against Milan.
The German boss believes that record will count for little against a Nerazzurri side he holds in the highest regard.
"Top-class team, top-class players and manager – I think it's probably the best team in Italy again this season, you can see it in the table at the moment," Klopp added.
"Very well organised, well drilled, individual quality is big.
"That's the Champions League, top-class team, we have to show a top-class showing, but why shouldn't we try?
"Historically the results in the group stage in the knockout stage don't count, so no advantage [to winning all six group games].
"It was good when we did it, we didn't expect it, we didn't think there was a chance to do that. But it doesn't help now obviously, it just shows we're a good football team.
"In years before when we went to the final we had average group-stage results, came through pretty much on one wheel.
"It's game 51 for me in the Champions League [with Liverpool], we gained some experience in the competition, that's what we want to use."
Klopp is operating with a near fully fit squad, something that has not happened all too often during his time at Anfield.
He welcomed such a rarity, and the opportunity to keep his team fresh with five substitutes allowed in Champions League matches compared to the three permitted in the Premier League.
"It's absolutely a good situation to have, no doubt about that," he said.
"What's much more important is how we play rather than who is playing. But it's good we have different options for different situations.
"We need fresh legs, but it's good we have a chance to make five changes, it's good for football in a really tough period.
"The boys have to deal with it as well. If I have opportunities to make more changes that's how it is, it means we can't always use the same line-up. We never had it before, it's pretty exciting."
Jarl Magnus Riiber's Beijing nightmare literally took another huge turn for the worse when he cost himself the chance of Olympic gold by skiing down the wrong route.
The Norwegian was on course to take the men's Nordic combined title on Tuesday when he held a lead of 44 seconds at the start of the 10-kilometre cross-country skiing race.
Riiber was the man to catch after putting himself into the gold medal position by topping the ski jump standings on the large hill at the National Ski Jumping Centre.
The 24-year-old only ended a spell of two weeks in quarantine the day before this event, having tested positive for coronavirus when he arrived in China.
Riiber endured another nightmare when he headed for the finishing line at the end of the first of four laps in the cross-country skiing finale, rather than starting another loop.
After realising the error he had made, 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.
Riiber said: "It's not fun to show the world that I've maybe wasted a gold medal on that.
"It's a silly mistake, but on a normal day with that mistake as well I would be in the fight, I'm a good sprinter and I would fight for the gold anyway."
Asked about his physical condition following a fortnight in a hotel room, he said: "I like to say I am one of the best cross-country skiers on the normal day with good preparation and I showed that before that I can go fast (in) races."
An Olympic record was set by Canada's women in the speed skating team pursuit as they capitalised on a slip-up from Japan.
Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Valerie Maltais took advantage of a late fall by Japan's Takagi Nana to clinch gold at the National Speed Skating Oval on Tuesday.
Japan led every lap and looked to be storming towards victory, yet Canada kept themselves within touching distance and pounced when the mistake came.
Canada crossed in an Olympic record time of two minutes and 53.44 seconds, ahead of Japan by 11.03 seconds, with the Netherlands claiming bronze after beating Russia in the B final.
It was Canada's first Olympic gold in the event and just their second medal in women's team pursuit after a silver in 2006.
Canada have now won gold in five different women's speed skating events across their Olympic history, which equals a record set by the Netherlands.
Weidemann, meanwhile, has completed a set of medals in Beijing. She claimed bronze in the 3,000m and took silver in the 5,000m, and becomes the third Canadian speed skater to win at least three medals at a single Games, after Cindy Klassen (five in 2006) and Gaetan Boucher (three in 1984).
"It's always sad to see another team fall," she said. "We've watched Japan for so long, they have taken it to a new level. We have constantly been chasing them."
Courtney Lawes and Manu Tuilagi could make a welcome return for England in their Six Nations showdown with Wales at Twickenham.
Lawes may have been installed as England skipper for the tournament if he had not been sidelined due to concussion.
The towering lock missed the loss to Scotland and a win over Italy, but head coach Eddie Jones is hopeful he can face defending champions Wales a week on Saturday.
Centre Tuilagi could also be unleashed on Wayne Pivac's side, having been back in action for Sale Sharks after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Lock Joe Launchbury (knee) and flanker Lewis Ludlam (ribs) could also be back in contention.
"Potentially we'll have Launchbury, Tuilagi, Lawes and Ludlam," Jones said.
Tom Curry has captained England in the absence of the injured Owen Farrell and Lawes.
But Lawes could have the honour of leading the Red Rose out once again in a battle between two sides who have won one and lost one of their matches heading into a weekend off.
The Australian added: "We'd be hopeful that by the end of next week Courtney will be training fully.
"He's making some great progress and the medical staff have done some terrific work with him. He's not far away now and we're really hopeful he'll be back in full training and able to play against Wales."
Jones said of Tuilagi: "Just having a power running centre would give us a different option.
"Everything we're doing now is about trying to create opportunities through finesse and that's through good running lines and passing.
"But to have someone who can take you forward quickly and engage two or three defenders then allows you to try and finesse extra space, which would be really useful to us.
"We've had three centres play and I think Sladey [Henry Slade] has been very good. Joe Marchant and Elliot Daly have had their moments, but we need to get more out of that and we understand that."
Lautaro Martinez expects Inter to be quickly on the front foot when they tackle Liverpool in the Champions League at San Siro on Wednesday.
The blow of losing top spot to Milan in Serie A could be softened by a positive midweek result against Jurgen Klopp's Premier League giants.
Inter remain firmly in the Scudetto race, one point behind Milan and with a game in hand, and last season's champions are also eager to make progress in Europe.
Liverpool will provide them with a stiff test, and the Reds have already won away against Milan in the competition earlier this season.
Martinez told Prime Video: "Against Liverpool, we want to be protagonists, keep the ball, attack, defend the goal well and hurt the opponent."
The Argentinian forward has yet to score in the Champions League this season, despite totalling 2.14 expected goals (xG) in the group stage. That metric assesses the chances he has had, with Martinez having had 25 shots so far, of which just six have hit the target.
He has played six games in the Champions League in each of the last three seasons, hitting five goals in 2019-20 and one last term. Indeed, since scoring against Real Madrid in November 2020, Martinez has played 697 minutes without finding the net in the competition.
To get off the mark against Liverpool would be ideal timing.
"You will see a player who has grown a lot," Martinez said. "It will be a great game to play. We passed the group phase, which was already important to us. Now I hope to do well and to lend a hand to the team to try to move forward, which is our dream."
Martinez hailed Liverpool boss Klopp as "a great coach", and predicted the German will have done his homework on Inter.
"Liverpool have many strong players," Martinez added. "We have to prepare for the game well and work on the possession phase because it will be important. They attack with a lot of people, they play with very fast forwards. We will have to be careful."
Liverpool won home and away when these sides met at the same last-16 stage in the 2007-08 season, with Fernando Torres getting the only goal of the game at San Siro.
Up to this point, the only team to have recorded wins over both Milan and Inter in the same European Cup or Champions League campaign have been Harry Redknapp's Tottenham in the 2010-11 season.
Paris Saint-Germain will have Neymar available for Tuesday's Champions League last-16 tie against Real Madrid.
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, the Brazil forward returned to training over the last week, with Mauricio Pochettino confirming on Monday that he could be considered for selection.
It has now been confirmed that Neymar is in the squad, with PSG revealing their 24-man selection ahead of Tuesday's game.
Neymar, who has scored only three goals this season, seems unlikely to start in Paris, with Pochettino having said: "We have to be careful. Sometimes what we want doesn't fit with the reality of the situation."
He is joined in the squad by Lionel Messi – who scored 26 goals in 45 appearances against Madrid for Barcelona – and Kylian Mbappe, who may well be playing for Los Blancos next season.
As expected, Sergio Ramos will not be fit to face his former club, though Pochettino is able to call on the services of ex-Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas, while Ander Herrera has also returned to the fold after missing the win over Rennes on Friday, as has Idrissa Gueye following his successful Africa Cup of Nations campaign with Senegal.
Karim Benzema was Madrid's big injury concern heading into Tuesday's first leg, but the France striker was included in Carlo Ancelotti's squad, which was confirmed on Monday.
Teenage Winter Olympics star Kamila Valieva may have failed a drugs test after accidentally consuming medication belonging to her grandfather, it has been claimed.
Denis Oswald, chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) disciplinary commission, said on Tuesday this was a theory put forward by the 15-year-old Russian figure skater.
"Her argument was contamination which happened with a product her grandfather was taking," Oswald told reporters in Beijing.
Valieva, 15, helped the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) claim team figure skating gold last week, and she headed into the individual event on Tuesday as a big favourite to triumph there too.
She was cleared to compete by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which stated that it was appropriate that a provisional suspension had been lifted.
That was after the IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) appealed to CAS against a decision by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to let Valieva skate.
The youngster tested positive in December for trimetazidine, a medication that prevents angina attacks but is banned by WADA because it aids blood flow to the heart.
Oswald said the IOC would respect the CAS ruling and said Valieva's B sample had not yet been examined.
He did not apportion any blame but said the IOC would push for Valieva's entourage to face investigation over the saga.
Speaking in a news conference, Oswald said: "It's clearly a wish and a decision of the IOC, but also mainly on WADA, to examine all aspects of this case, including the situation of the entourage of the girl, because of course you can imagine a girl of 15 would not do something wrong alone. Yes, the entourage will be investigated."
Oswald played down the prospect of any sense of this being a repeat of state-sponsored doping, as experienced previously with Russian competitors, most notoriously at their home Winter Olympics in Sochi eight years ago.
"My impression from what I have seen and heard is that there is no connection with the institutionalised doping we had in Sochi," Oswald said.
"It seems to be a totally different case, but it is difficult to have an opinion without having all the details."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
