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Paris Olympics: Athletics to feature custom purple track

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Paris Olympics: Athletics to feature custom purple track

Italian firm Mondo will supply this summer’s Paris Olympics with a custom purple track which could be the fastest yet for athletes hunting the biggest prizes in sport.

Based in the sleepy Piedmont town of Alba which is immersed in vineyards where the grapes for the world-famous Barolo wine ripen in the sun, Mondo first made the track for the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

For Paris — its 13th Olympics — it has devised the Mondotrack EB that will host 46 of 48 athletics events of the Games at the Stade de France.

The biggest stars in athletics such as reigning women’s world 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson will strive for Olympic glory on its surface.

Mondo claim the track delivers better performance than the one used at the Covid-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where three world records were broken, including the men’s and women’s 400m hurdles marks set by Karsten Warholm and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone respectively.

“We have changed the design of the cells on the lower layer of the track compared to the one used in Tokyo,” Maurizio Stroppiana, vice-president of Mondo’s sports division and son of one of the two founders, told AFP.

“That reduces the energy loss for athletes and sends it back up to them at the best possible point of their movement.”

However, research and development manager Andrea Marenghi says that Mondo cannot “do whatever we want” with the composition of the track.

“There are very strict criteria set by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) because the most important thing is to safeguard the health of the athlete and not impair their technique,” says Marenghi.

“Athletes are more high-performance than ever, and the track doesn’t give anything that they don’t already have.”

The Paris track will be a striking purple rather than the traditional terracotta.

Marenghi told AFP that the two new shades — one for the competition areas and another for the technical areas — will only be used for the Games in the French capital.

“We wanted to have an original colour,” said former decathlete Alain Blondel, the head of athletics and para-athletics events at the Paris Olympics.

“The two shades of purple allow for maximum contrast when TV pictures are being shot, highlighting the athletes.”

Despite being purple the track, which in all measures 21,000 square metres, will also be more “green” than usual as it is made with more natural components than ever before.

“Up to 50 percent of the components of the track are either renewable to recycled… we were at just over 30 percent for London 2012,” says Mondo’s sustainability and innovation chief Giorgio Lesage.

 

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Super Eagles Midfielder Ndidi Pays Courtesy Visit To Sports Minister

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Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi paid a courtesy visit to the office of the Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator

Super Eagles midfielder Wilfred Ndidi paid a courtesy visit to the office of the Honourable Minister of Sports Development, Senator John Owan Enoh, on Wednesday, May 14, 2024.

Accompanied by his manager, Yahaya Atom, and Mr. Yemi Idowu, Ndidi engaged in discussions with the Sports Minister on various matters pertaining to Nigerian football.

During the visit, Senator Enoh extended his congratulations to Ndidi on Leicester City’s promotion to the English Premier League, acknowledging the midfielder’s contributions to the team’s success. He also took the opportunity to discuss the upcoming World Cup qualifying matches, scheduled to commence early next month.

The minister emphasized the importance of preparation and urged Ndidi to play a pivotal role in the Super Eagles’ quest to secure their place in the World Cup. He encouraged Ndidi to continue to exhibit the same level of dedication and skill that has made him a valuable asset to both club and country.

Also, Ndidi conveyed his appreciation to Senator Enoh, expressing gratitude for the minister’s undiluted support and commitment to the well-being of the Super Eagles team, particularly during the recent Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) tournament. He commended Senator Enoh for the excellent care and assistance provided to the team throughout their campaign.

The meeting concluded on a positive note, with both Ndidi and Senator Enoh expressing optimism for the future of Nigerian football and pledging their continued support to the advancement of the sport in the country.

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Morgan slams ‘disgraceful’ Tottenham ‘idiots’ after Arsenal blow

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Television broadcaster and Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan has branded any Tottenham fan celebrating their 2-0 loss to Manchester City last

Television broadcaster and Arsenal supporter Piers Morgan has branded any Tottenham fan celebrating their 2-0 loss to Manchester City last night as ‘disgraceful idiots’ in a fierce rant.

In what was such a pivotal game for the title race, Spurs dealt their bitter rivals Arsenal a brutal blow as they handed Man City the top spot in the league table thanks to Erling Haaland’s second-half brace alongside Heung-min Son’s late missed chance that could’ve levelled the scoreline with just five minutes left.

Ange Postecoglou’s side could’ve still mathematically finished in the top four before last night’s clash, with them needing to overturn a five-point deficit to Aston Villa, but the result meant that Spurs were left in a position where they can now finish outside the top five on the final day of the season.

Even after the full-time whistle, supporters noticed a playful conversation between Pep Guardiola and Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero, with the Man City boss finishing it off by playfully punching the Argentinian in the chest with a smile – a stark contrast to the post-match press conference of Postecoglou who appeared incensed on the touchline at a fan celebrating his side’s loss.

With emotions running high for all three teams, it was Morgan who summarised what many Arsenal fans have been claiming in the days leading up to the match, which saw Tottenham fans asking the club on social media to lose in order to derail Mikel Arteta’s side’s attempt at lifting their first Premier League trophy in over 20 years.

One of those fans was former Spurs midfielder Jamie O’Hara, who took to watching the match in a Manchester City shirt during a live watch along on talkSPORT, in which he was also seen doing the poznan and singing Blue Moon.

Speaking to Ally McCoist and Alan Brazil on TalkSPORT’s Breakfast show the following morning, Morgan fumed: “Morning chaps. I’ll tell you what I can say [about the match], Jamie O’Hara and all the other little Spurs fans who were actually celebrating their team losing are possibly the most disgraceful bunch of tiny-club-mentality idiots I think world football has ever seen!

“I mean honestly, they were dancing around in celebration as Man City scored against them. O’Hara is wearing a City shirt and jumping around because it’s the closest thing they’ll ever get to winning anything in their tiny, godforsaken lives.

“It’s got to be the most embarrassing, humiliating, self-harming act of treachery I’ve ever seen and I really feel sorry [for them], because I’ve woken up this morning knowing how it feels to be a Spurs fan for a night and it’s horrible. I’ve woken up with a massive headache, I got hardly any sleep, I drank too much and I felt a sense of self-loathing which only disappeared when I remembered I was an Arsenal fan.

“Just to remind everyone, O’Hara was in the Arsenal academy before we got rid of him and sent him to Tottenham, that just shows his mentality. I do feel sorry for Ange Postecoglou because he’s an Australian, he doesn’t understand what it means to want to lose something in sport because losing is alien to them. Postecoglou has literally had to turn around in a massive game for them which could’ve helped them to qualify for the Champions League but no, there was a Tottenham fan behind him chanting throughout the game for him to throw the match.

“Postecoglou, because he’s a winner, turned around and had a go at him. What a moment for Tottenham fans, I mean, how can any of them live with themselves after watching that scene go down last night? They had a chance to try and make top four, they were the better team for 70 percent of that match against City but Son missed an absolute sitter and Arsenal aren’t heading for the Premier League on Sunday. I’m annoyed, I’m annoyed but I’m also ashamed, even more so than usual, of Spurs fans.”

 

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First Women’s Club World Cup to take place in 2026

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The inaugural Women’s Club World Cup will take place in January and February 2026, Fifa has confirmed. The 16-team tournament will be held

The inaugural Women’s Club World Cup will take place in January and February 2026, Fifa has confirmed.

The 16-team tournament will be held every four years and fall during the domestic season for European leagues, between the Women’s Champions League group stages and the knockout rounds.

The USA’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) season usually begins in March.

Fifa announced its intention to create a global women’s club competition in December 2022 and a Fifa congress confirmed the plans on Wednesday in Bangkok.

Barcelona are the current European champions, NY Gotham FC the reigning NWSL champions and Brazilian side Corinthians are the holders of the Copa Libertadores Femenina.

The Fifa congress also approved a new international match calendar from 2026-29 with the aim of providing players with more opportunities for rest and recovery by reducing the number of international breaks from six to five.

“The women’s international match calendar and the subsequent amendments to our regulations represent an important milestone in our pledge to take the women’s game to the next level by enhancing competitiveness across the world,” said Fifa president Gianni Infantino.

The first edition of the expanded men’s Club World Cup tournament – which will also be staged every four years – is scheduled for next summer.

The Fifa congress is also set to vote for the host of the 2027 Women’s World Cup with Brazil up against a joint bid from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

 

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