As torrential rain hit Glasgow on Tuesday night during the men’s 10,000m at the Commonwealth Games, Uganda’s Samuel Simba Cherop would have been forgiven had he abandoned the race midway when he lost his spike.

But the 20-year-old stoically carried on, finishing seventh despite running the final 15 laps in one spike and a sodden sock.

Cherop lost the spike after contact in the pack with 6,000 metres remaining in the rain-soaked final at Scotstoun Stadium in the West End of the Scottish city.

He briefly attempted to refit the shoe before discarding it and recovered from losing contact with the leaders to record a personal-best time of 27 minutes and 56.68 seconds.

Cherop was the highest-placed of Uganda’s three runners, with Dan Kibet finishing 11th in 28:05.84 and Oscar Chelimo placing 12th in 28:10.49.

Running with one shoe in the rain 😅

Uganda’s Samuel Simba Cherop finished with a PB in the men’s 10,000km in one shoe and one very soggy sock after losing his other shoe along the way 👟 pic.twitter.com/xerR4tHBZG

— TNT Sports (@tntsports) July 28, 2026

Australia’s Ky Robinson won gold in 27:48.93, ahead of India’s Gulveer Singh and the Isle of Man’s David Mullarkey, who finished second and third respectively.

“There was a lot of jostling out there,” Robinson said, adding that the runners had to concentrate on remaining upright and avoiding trouble.

The result ended Uganda’s sequence of five consecutive Commonwealth men’s 10,000m titles, which began with Boniface Kiprop in 2006 and continued through Moses Kipsiro, Joshua Cheptegei and defending champion Jacob Kiplimo.

The Ugandan is not the first distance runner to produce a notable result after losing a spike. Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto won the 2018 Diamond League steeplechase final after completing more than six laps in one shoe, while Moses Tanui finished second in the 1993 World Championship 10,000m after losing a spike when Haile Gebrselassie clipped his heel at the bell.

CHICAGO — In his first Big Ten media day as Penn State’s football coach, Matt Campbell touted every intangible that gave Iowa State the Big 12’s most conference wins from 2017 through 2025. Fit. Character. Toughness. Alignment. Campbell crafted those words into a powerful message that he endorsed and embodied in propelling the Cyclones to unprecedented heights.

Campbell’s team, rebranded through his use of black as a primary color, responded with 14 wins against ranked teams, including four against top-10 foes. Iowa State routinely hit the ceiling throughout Campbell’s 10-year tenure with eight of the program’s nine winning Big 12 seasons — ever.

Relocated in Happy Valley, Campbell, 46, traded in black for navy blue, and both the colors and words did more than wash: They blended. He’s wagering that the same traits that took Iowa State from bottom feeders to Big 12 title contenders will elevate the Nittany Lions from good to great. And he’s doing it with a roster composed of 24 Iowa State transfers — 40 total — alongside dozens of Penn State holdovers.

It’s not an easy task. There’s the potential for infighting or cliques if Campbell’s message doesn’t resonate. So, he was transparent with his former Cyclones, telling them “we aren’t at Iowa State anymore; we are at Penn State.” Campbell pushed all of the players to lean on one another and build camaraderie during every aspect of campus life from academics to nutrition to strength and conditioning, with his seniors leading the way.

“You had an influx of young men that came over from Iowa State. You had two seniors that came in from UCLA, and then you had some great seniors that chose to stay at Penn State,” Campbell said. “So we paired those guys up in leadership groups and allowed them to draft out the team and really start the accountabilities out there.

“‘Here’s how we’re going to ask you to do it and why, and then we’re going to hold you for a really high standard.’ … That was really big for us to be able to start to build player-driven leadership.”

At Iowa State, Campbell’s system developed leaders and became self-perpetuating in roughly three-year intervals, starting with players like David Montgomery and Allen Lazard early in his tenure to Brock Purdy and Breece Hall to new Nittany Lions Rocco Becht and Ben Brahmer. Along with dozens of glue players, those stars pushed the standard to new heights and maintained it.

It didn’t always work, which allowed Campbell to grow as a coach. After a No. 9 finish and a Fiesta Bowl victory in 2020, massive expectations weighed down the Cyclones. With nearly every major contributor returning, Iowa State began the 2021 season ranked in the top 10 but finished 7-6. The Cyclones followed with a 4-8 season in 2022. It forced Campbell to adapt and hone his system to stop the free fall. He looked inward. He fired assistant coaches, including those who were among his closest friends.

“Ego and entitlement can settle in really fast,” Campbell said. “I did a really poor job of leading our football program probably through our ’21 and ’22 season. I allowed some of those things to creep in, and I’m really fortunate to be able to have the opportunity to correct that.”

Campbell relied on Becht to ignite the turnaround in 2023, and the quarterback guided the Cyclones to a second appearance in the Big 12 Championship Game. Becht has started 40 games and became one of three Big 12 quarterbacks to go over 9,000 career passing yards. Becht joined Campbell at Penn State in part to build a cohesive culture based on the ideals shaped at Iowa State. To Becht, this building process is far different from what he experienced during Iowa State’s 4-8 campaign.

“We had a lot of ego, entitlement, selfish players, and we don’t have any of that now,” Becht said. “It’s completely different, just with building a team with players from all across the country are coming together as one, and that’s hard to do.”

Campbell takes over a program that was on the cusp of excellence but never achieved it under predecessor James Franklin. The Nittany Lions advanced to the College Football Playoff semifinals in 2024 and won double-digit games from 2022 to 2024 but failed in their biggest games. Franklin, who now coaches Virginia Tech, was 0-15 against top-six competition from 2017 onward. Campbell was 3-3 over the same stretch.

That success against high-level competition and the ability to mold Iowa State into winners with multiple iterations provides Campbell with confidence he can do the same at Penn State. He has a larger recruiting base, more access to elite talent and significantly more resources. He enjoyed relatively strong support from Iowa State’s fans, but Nittany Lions football generated nearly $147 million in fiscal year 2025; the Cyclones reported $53.1 million.

At every Power 4 program there’s pressure to perform, but Campbell recognizes the expectations are higher at Penn State than what he experienced at Iowa State. But what served him in Ames is what he relies on now. Winning is expected, but for Campbell, it’s rooted in the process.

“I’ve always believed in if we handle the values and standards and expectations internally, our player-driven leadership, staying committed to each other, not letting selfishness come in …,” Campbell said. “If we can do those things, then I always believe the scoreboard’s going to take care of itself.”

Campbell may have traded black (and cardinal) for navy, but his message resonates no matter what colored pullover he’s wearing.

“He’s been the same guy for the past five years since I’ve known him,” Becht said. “He comes in with an eagerness to just go to work and make the best team possible, but that starts with who you are as a person. That’s what he tries to create every single day.”

Former Ireland and Australia head coach Joe Schmidt will work with Ulster in a consultancy role focused on the province’s coaching pathway.

The position of coach development advisor is newly created role for the Kiwi and does not involve working with the senior team.

As Ulster statement said Schmidt “will support the ongoing development of coaches across the province, helping to strengthen a clear and connected coaching pathway”.

The 60-year-old finished with up with the Wallabies this month after a win over Italy in the Nations Championship ended a run of six straight defeats.

“Ulster has a proud rugby tradition and further developing the coaching pathway in the region is something that we believe can add value,” said Schmidt.

Schmidt is one of Ireland’s most successful ever rugby coaches having led the national side between 2013 and 2019, winning back-to-back Six Nations titles in his first two campaigns before a Grand Slam in 2018.

He was also at the helm for Ireland’s first ever win over the All Blacks and maiden triumph over the Springboks on South African soil, both in 2016.

Prior to that, Schmidt had worked as an assistant with Clermont and served as Leinster’s head coach for three years, winning a pair of Heineken Cups with the latter.

Schmidt has recently been linked with a return to the RDS with head coach Leo Cullen set to leave the side after more than a decade in charge at the end of the 2026-27 season.