A sickening injury to England’s Gabriel Langton overshadowed his team’s silver medal in the men’s team gymnastics final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 19-year-old, from the City of Birmingham Gymnastics Club, needed lengthy treatment on the mat after a horrible fall in the final rotation of the evening at The Arena.

Langton fell head first to the floor after missing his catch on the horizontal metal bar, three metres in the air, leading to a lengthy delay to the action as he was tended to by up to a dozen medical staff.

He was eventually led away on a trolley after being moved on to a stretcher with his head and neck braced and left to huge applause from the packed crowd who had spent much of the previous 10 minutes in hushed silence.

Langton was seen to be conscious and moving his legs and arms before leaving the arena floor, while team officials later said he was moving and speaking to doctors.

When competition resumed, his England team-mates were unable to overhaul their deficit to Canada who claimed their first gold medal in the event in 20 years, having finished second to England at the past two games.

Langton, a late call-up to Team England in the place of the injured six-time Olympic medallist Max Whitlock, was unable to join his teammates on the podium as England collected their silver medals.

Team-mate Luke Whitehouse, who was first on to the apparatus after the competition restarted and posted a relatively low score of 11.700, said: “When something like that happens, you’ve just got to forget about it and reset. I just had to focus on my routine one skill at a time.”

Whitehouse added: “From what we’ve heard, he’s doing OK. Gymnastics is such a dangerous sport and things like this remind us of that. It’s one of those things you have to put out of your mind.”

Felix Dolci, who helped Canada to gold and led qualifying for the all-around competition said: “It’s terrible but it goes to show that gymnastics is a very very difficult and complicated sport. It’s dangerous you know sometimes.

“All our thoughts go to Gabriel and the team. Pushing through this is definitely not easy, (England) stayed focussed, they stayed in the zone, a huge shout out to them because that’s not an easy one.

“For any gymnast that was on the field of play, seeing this not only is difficult, but something you never want to see. It goes to show how hard the sport is.”

Hamish Carter from Team Scotland – who narrowly missed out on a bronze medal to Australia in the final rotation – said: “I didn’t actually see what happened. I’m just so happy that he’s alright and, having experienced that, anything could have happened.

“We’ve walked away with no medal but I’m thinking of Gabe in this moment.”

BOSTON — Toronto Blue Jays slugger Addison Barger will miss the rest of the 2026 season due to right elbow surgery. After a breakout campaign during Toronto’s run to the World Series last year, Barger was expected to be a huge part of the club’s chances this season. Instead, both his and the Jays’ year have been filled with disappointment and injury.

After hitting 21 homers last year, and three more in the playoffs, Barger’s 2026 season is over after just nine games and one hit. He hasn’t played since hurting his elbow on a throw from the outfield on May 9th that was clocked at 101.2 mph. The Jays currently sit 28th in MLB in homers from outfielders (32), after receiving the second-most last year (113). For a Jays team (47-56) that has lacked power and big-swing potential, Barger’s absence has been noticeable.

“It’s tough to lose the whole year of at-bats, reps, performance,” manager John Schneider said. “We were counting on him, obviously, to be a big part of our team. You can see how much you miss him, for sure.”

Barger has been dealing with elbow issues for “a couple years,” Schneider said, and the Jays hope surgery will eliminate any problems moving forward. He will undergo either full Tommy John surgery or an internal brace procedure on Monday. Noted surgeon and Texas Rangers team physician Dr. Keith Meister will perform the surgery. Rehab for the internal brace procedure takes about six months for position players, Schneider said. A full Tommy John surgery would be around a nine-month recovery. They will decide on an option on Monday.

The rehab timeline for both potential procedures will likely cost Barger some time at the start of next season, though a looming lockout could result in a later Opening Day than usual.

While major elbow surgery is much more common for pitchers, there are recent examples of position players successfully returning from the surgery. Bryce Harper underwent full Tommy John surgery in November 2022 and returned in May 2023, though he was limited to designated hitter duty for nearly three months before returning to the field. When asked if there was a chance Barger could return as a DH at first, Schneider said the Jays will need to see how their team is built next year.

For now, Barger’s season-ending surgery continues an unfortunate injury trend for the 2026 Jays. They lost Anthony Santander to shoulder surgery in the spring, Cody Ponce tore his ACL during his first start of the year, José Berríos underwent Tommy John surgery, Max Scherzer has spent most of the season on the injured list, George Springer hurt his toe twice, and so on. Many Jays eventually got healthy, but the team hasn’t yet managed to recover in the standings.

As Barger rehabbed, neared game action and then suffered a setback (a back injury) while recovering from his initial elbow injury, the outfielder’s potential return was a tantalizing prospect for a Jays team in need of an offensive injection. It’s a 2026 return that will now not occur.

CHICAGO – On a Friday morning drive to Jackson Park and the start of WNBA All-Star Game festivities, an overcast sky dulled the spectacular horizon line of Lake Michigan. Scaffolding hid the Statue of the Republic’s gilt torso from sight. Presumably, the commissioner was to blame for all this, too, and a congressman seven states away ginned up an investigation into the league’s handling of cloud cover. These tend to be the game’s default settings.

It has been an exhausting run in the WNBA’s 30th anniversary season. Every shoe drop seems to crater the floor. One hour of media day player interviews, amid all the narratives afflicting the sport, felt like a long time to hold your breath. Then, at roughly 9:49 a.m., a slim figure in a white dress shirt and blue jeans walked onto the floor of a basketball court.

Here was Barack Obama, in lieu of drama. A visit meant as a surprise, though in retrospect hosting All-Star practices on the Obama Presidential Center campus was a strong tell. There were smiles. There were selfies. There was Jonquel Jones, dribbling over and into the 44th U.S. President, who promptly dropped into a stance and even got a deflection on a former Most Valuable Player.

“He was playing good ‘D,’” Jones said a few minutes later. “But I also went out last night. So I’m not in my best form right now.”

The overall operation, however, was for at least a few blessed hours in good, uneventful shape. Instead of crises, Caitlin Clark was advocating for a 5-point shot in the All-Star Game. Instead of outrage, there was an Angel Reese Barbie doll. For a day, the WNBA chose normal, and good gracious, what a relief.

Almost 200 games have been played already this season, not that you’d necessarily know, when there’s a furor over comments about transgender athletes or emergency meetings regarding player safety or kvetching about invites to skills competitions or more chapters written about embattled commissioner Cathy Engelbert. And that was just this week.

It’s wearying, even if certain matters at hand can’t be ignored. There is a way to experience this basketball organization without trivializing some very serious problems it has to solve.

At long last, everyone found it Friday. Ordinary won for a few hours at least.

In one single space, these things occurred:

Nneka Ogwumike, the president of the WNBA Players Association, eloquently reiterated the need to be proactive on issues like player harassment and stop attributing it to growing pains. “After a while, if you’re still experiencing those symptoms,” she said, “you have to do something to alleviate that type of pain.”

Also, Toronto Tempo guard Marina Mabrey declared that she would exchange a grilled cheese for a ride in Reese’s Rolls-Royce, Dallas Stars guard Paige Bueckers explained how much dirty laundry she accrues before she knows she must relent and do the dang laundry, and Philadelphia native Kahleah Copper offered an unsolicited recommendation to LeBron James, soon to be the newest member of the 76ers.

“I know you’re going to be playing in south Philly,” the Phoenix Mercury guard said, “but go down and get you a cheesesteak from Dalessandro’s.”

Jonquel Jones dribbles against former President Barack Obama. (Geoff Stellfox / Getty Images)

Maybe this is just what happens in a low-stakes environment like an All-Star weekend. A space a few steps removed from the withering onslaught of social media and craven agendas. Everyone exhales, deeply.

But it did happen. There was a balance. Maintaining it is maybe impossible outside of this moment, but it’s worth a shot, because the alternative can’t get any more aggravating. “Some of the stuff they deal with is ridiculous,” said Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon, who will run Team Coop on Saturday night at the United Center. “What we do have in common is basketball, and a love for this league, and pushing this league forward, and promoting the excellence this league displays. Talk about that. Talk about that more.”

This wasn’t all attributable to a man who left the building right when the sun started cutting through the sheet of clouds – thanks, Obama – but the vibes suited that man’s appearance, and vice-versa. “It’s a good reminder for all of us,” Clark said. “Treat people with respect. Treat people with grace.”

No WNBA player is more scrutinized and weaponized than the Indiana Fever’s star point guard, when really all she’s ever done is be extremely good at basketball. Too many people seem incapable of taking her for who she is and what she can do, and only that. The WNBA has a bunch of loose wires to fix, and she’s a one-woman emblem of one of them.

Small wonder the former president made sure to introduce himself with a message captured by a videographer on the floor. “Don’t let all this nonsense get you down,” Obama told Clark. He told her to hang on to her joy, and then agreed to her request for a picture.

Obama: “You’re fantastic. Don’t let all this nonsense get you down…I didn’t get famous til I was like 45 I mean you’re my daughters age…so don’t lose that joy…and you’re a hooper.”

Caitlin: “I try sometimes.”

Obama: “No you’re always hooping and you’re on a nice little run.” pic.twitter.com/eMVO6j5kQg

— correlation (@nosyone4) July 24, 2026

“It’s a moment I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life,” Clark said. “My hands don’t usually get sweaty and clammy, but (they) did for that.”

All in all, Friday was refreshingly simple. The WNBA did normal, and it worked out great. A big group with big differences came together to celebrate in the shadow of a building with five-foot concrete letters near the roof that declare “We” to be the single most powerful word in this country. Everyone doing what makes them happy, and that was that.

For a while, it was nice to pretend.