Sports
Swimming world records: Johannes Liebmann and Kate Douglass set new marks in Paris and California
Germany’s Johannes Liebmann and American Kate Douglass set swimming world records on Saturday, dazzling at events held in Paris and California.
Liebmann, 19, knocked nearly four seconds off the men’s 1500m freestyle record as he claimed his first international gold medal at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris.
He completed the distance in 14 minutes 26.79 seconds – 3.88secs faster than the previous record which was set by American Bobby Finke at the 2024 Olympics, also held in the French capital.
Liebmann became the first swimmer to go under 14:30 for the distance as he slashed the most time off the record since Australia’s Grant Hackett in 2001.
Three-time Olympic champion Hackett took more than seven seconds off when he swam 14:34.56 – a record which stood for 10 years.
Douglass broke the women’s 50m freestyle record for the second time this summer, achieving her feat in California during heats at the Pan Pacific Championships.
The two-time Olympic champion, 24, clocked 23.49secs to regain the record from Gretchen Walsh.
Douglass swam 23.59 in June before compatriot Walsh lowered the mark to 23.55 nine days later.
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Sports
Finlay Tarling: Cycling union CPA calls for better helmets for racers
The cyclists’ union has expressed “fury” over the death of British rider Fin Tarling during Friday’s stage of the Volta a Portugal.
The 19-year-old NSN Cycling rider reportedly collided with a vehicle not involved in the race.
And the union’s president Adam Hansen told BBC Sport there needs to be better helmet safety as cyclists hit record-breaking speeds during races.
“We are speechless and filled with anger,” said the Cyclistes Professionnels Associes (CPA) on social media.
“It is not right that a young athlete’s life should end this way, and we are furious that even today it is still not possible to prevent such serious accidents.
“We share in the grief of his family, friends, team, and everyone who knew Finlay. Rest in peace, young rider; we pray for you, and we will carry you in our hearts.”
Tarling was the younger brother of Josh, a time trial specialist for British super team Netcompany Ineos, who has won a stage of the Giro d’Italia and a European Time Trial title.
Fin Tarling himself had finished strongly in the time trial a few days earlier in the race he would never finish.
He was part of a new generation of male and female British riders on the World Tour who grew up on the success of highly decorated road cyclists, such as Mark Cavendish, Chris Froome and Lizzie Deignan, during a golden decade for British participation in the sport from 2012.
Just like all young professionals, Fin spent hours every day trying to extract as much performance as possible. But he was known to love every element of cycling and was always in the saddle.
His parents, Michael and Dawn, frequently attended races and even set up their own team in their home in Ceredigion, west Wales.
BBC Sport understands organisers are considering a tribute to Tarling at the men’s Tour of Britain, which starts on 2 September.
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Sports
European Athletics Championships: O’Connor secures European gold in heptathlon
Ireland’s Kate O’Connor secured gold in the heptathlon at the European Championships in Birmingham.
The Newry-born 25-year-old entered the final event with a 51-point lead on nearest challenger, Emma Oosterwegel of the Netherlands.
O’Connor needed to get to within 3.4 seconds of Oosterwegel in the 800m to seal overall victory and did just that with the Dutch woman winning the race in 2:10.87, but O’Connor – in third behind Sveva Gerevini of Italy – was within a second in 2:11.74.
It meant that O’Connor came top with 6751 points, with Oosterwegel taking silver on 6713 and Netherlands’ Sofie Dokter claiming bronze on 6664.
This success builds on the gold O’Connor won at the Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland in July.
More to follow
More to follow.
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Sports
Notttingham Forest finalising Taiwo Awoniyi sale to Coventry
Nottingham Forest are finalising the sale of striker Taiwo Awoniyi to Coventry City.
A deal is in place for Awoniyi, 29, to move to the newly-promoted Premier League club, pending him completing a medical.
The Nigeria international joined Forest on a five-year contract in a then club-record deal worth £17.2million (€20m;$23.3m) from Union Berlin in the summer of 2022.
He scored winning goals against Liverpool and Arsenal in the Premier League during his debut season and ended the 2022-23 campaign with 10 goals in 27 league appearances.
Awoniyi began the subsequent season with three goals in three matches, but later faced two lengthy spells out with injury, and has since struggled to establish himself as a starter for Forest, with Igor Jesus and Chris Wood, ahead of him in the pecking order.
Last season, he played just 18 times in all competitions, and started only three Premier League games. He still managed to record some important contributions, including two goals and an assist in a 3-1 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in May, and a goal in the 3-0 win against Tottenham Hotspur, which saw his side pull away from relegation threat.
Awoniyi has recorded 23 goals in 103 matches for Forest.
He was on the books of Liverpool for six years and had several loan spells before moving to Union Berlin permanently in 2021.
Coventry will play Premier League football for the first time in 25 years in 2026-27 and have broken their transfer record on three occasions this summer as they prepare for their return.
They completed the club-record signing of Nordsjaelland midfielder Caleb Yirenkyi in August, with the fee for the midfielder surpassing the £22.5million ($29.9m) paid to sign goalkeeper Carl Rushworth from Brighton & Hove Albion and the fee of around £17m ($22.9m) for centre-back Aurele Amenda from Eintracht Frankfurt.
Disrupted by injury, but ‘vital’ contributions
While injuries have limited his impact in more recent times, Awoniyi’s contribution at Nottingham Forest has been vital
The 10 goals the popular striker scored in 2022-2023 played a huge part in helping the club to retain their Premier League status in their first season back in the top-flight after promotion.
His most vital strike came in the 1-0 win over Arsenal that edged Forest towards safety in May 2023.
But he has started only six Premier League games over the last two seasons, partly because of some serious injury misfortune.
In May 2025, Awoniyi suffered a serious abdominal injury when he collided with a post in a game against Leicester City and was subsequently placed in an induced coma as part of his recovery process following surgery.
Awoniyi returned to the team in October 2025 and, in January this year, he scored his first Premier League goal since the injury, in a 2-0 away win at Brentford.
The 29-year-old has always been a hugely positive influence in the Forest dressing room.
But he has found himself down the pecking order at the City Ground and newly-appointed head coach Oliver Glasner is keen to see the club add more firepower to their attacking options before the window closes.
A move to Coventry would give Awoniyi the chance of regular first-team football — and would equip Frank Lampard’s side with a player with significant experience of how to survive in the top-flight.
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