Author: WTX Sports Team

The Sports Team is responsible for delivering your Sports Brief. Weekly roundup to cover all things Football, Cricket, Tennis Formula 1, Boxing and Olympics and more.

Steven van de Velde has arrived in Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympics (Picture: Getty) The head of the British Olympic Association has condemned the decision to allow a convicted child rapist to take part in the Paris Olympics this summer. Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde was convicted of three counts of rape against a 12-year-old girl from Milton Keynes and sentenced to four years in prison in 2016. But the 29-year-old…

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The opening ceremony will have a very different look this year (Picture: Getty) The Parade of Nations for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony has been confirmed, but how does it work and when do Great Britain enter? The Olympics got underway in the French capital on Wednesday and continued on Thursday ahead of tonight’s official opening ceremony on Friday, July 26, 2024. The opening ceremony will have a very different look this year…

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Rafael Nadal faces a nightmare after picking up a thigh injury (Picture: Getty) Novak Djokovic fans are convinced that Rafael Nadal is scared to face the Serbian at the Paris Olympics and have launched online conspiracy theories. It emerged on Thursday that Nadal has picked up a thigh injury, which forced him to cancel practice, and has thrown his Olympic singles participation into doubt. That news only landed after the draw was made, with Nadal…

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Olympic Football fixtures today 25 July 2024 – all eyes on Emma Hayes Women’s Olympic football is in action tonight – watch live on BBC iPlayer. Group A  Canada vs New Zealand (16:00) France vs Colombia (20:00) Group B Germany vs Australia (18:00) USA vs Zambia (20:00) Group C Spain vs Japan (16:00) Nigeria vs Brazil (18:00)

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Morocco beat Argentina in game marked by crowd troubles and chaos  The first football match of the Olympics was suspended for nearly two hours due to crowd trouble. Morocco led Argentina 2-0 before Argentina scored and pressed for an equaliser. Cristian Medina appeared to make it 2-2 in the 16th minute of 15 scheduled injury-time minutes, sparking chaos. The match eventually resumed in an empty stadium after a lengthy delay, with VAR disallowing Argentina’s equaliser,…

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Paris Olympics 2024 – A quick guide When and where Olympic Games start? The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will officially get underway this Friday evening, July 26, with the traditional opening ceremony. However, rugby sevens, handball and football are scheduled to start before. What time is the 2024 Olympic opening ceremony? The Olympics opening ceremony is expected to begin at 7.30pm in Paris, so 6.30pm UK time. Where can I watch the Olympics in the…

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Canada Olympic football team sack coaches after using drone to spy on rivals The Canadian women’s football team have sacked two members of staff after they were accused of using a drone to ‘spy’ on New Zealand’s team ahead of the Paris Olympics. On Tuesday, the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) claimed that a drone caught flying over and filming their training camp belonged to a member of Canada’s side. Defending Olympic champions Canada play…

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France has refused to lift a ban preventing its athletes from wearing a hijab at the upcoming Olympics in Paris. The host nation has faced intense pressure from human rights and sporting organisations since announcing the ruling in April. But despite heavy criticism from campaigners who have called for the decision to be reversed, French ministers have refused to back down. Australian Muslim boxer Tina Rahimi, who wears a full hijab during bouts has slammed…

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Andy Murray doesn’t have long left in professional tennis before he officially enters retirement and hangs up his racket. The British sporting legend, a two-time Wimbledon champion and double Olympic gold medallist, is featuring on the Paris clay at the Games this summer. On July 23, Andy Murray posted on X: ‘Arrived in Paris for my last ever tennis tournament @Olympics competing for [Great Britain]. ‘[It has] been by far the most memorable weeks of…

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Netherlands team boss Pieter van den Hoogenband has defended the decision to take convicted rapist Steven van de Velde to the Paris Olympics. Van de Velde, who was selected in the Dutch volleyball team, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to raping a 12-year-old girl when he was 19. He resumed his volleyball career after serving 12 months of a four-year sentence and was named in the Netherlands’ Olympic…

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Team GB legend Charlotte Dujardin has been provisionally suspended for six months after a video emerged showing her ‘engaging in conduct contrary to the principles of horse welfare’. Equestrian star Dujardin, Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian, pulled out of the Paris Olympics on Tuesday afternoon, just days away from the start of competition in the French capital. The 39-year-old announced her decision to withdraw after a video, taken four years ago, emerged in which she…

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Team GB are hoping for a top five finish at theParis 2024 Olympics, and if all goes as predicted they’ll achieve that and then some. We’re just days away from the start of this summer’s games, with Britain’s top athletes already in the French capital after the short trip across the English Channel. After finishing third in the medal table at London 2012 and then second at Rio 2016, fourth at Tokyo 2020 was an…

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Charlotte Dujardin has been forced to withdraw from Team GB for the upcoming Olympics after a video came to light which showed her repeatedly whipping a horse on the legs. The 39-year-old, who is Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian and was just days away from featuring at her fourth Games in Paris, has now been banned for six months by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). In her statement, Dujardin claimed she made an ‘error…

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Team GB’s biggest stars are all in action at the 2024 Olympics in Paris including Tom Daley, Max Whitlock and Sky Brown as the Games begin. The opening ceremony takes place on Friday (July 26) but the action actually gets underway today (July 24) with the football and rugby sevens kicking things off. Equestrian star Charlotte Dujardin would’ve been one of the main British storylines of the Games – who was hoping to become the…

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Squadrons of soldiers drafted from all over France; an AI surveillance system that would make China’s president Xi Jinping jealous; both banks of the River Seine barricaded. This is Paris days before the 2024 Olympic Games, which kick off this Friday, July 26. To anyone who does not live in a large European city like London, Paris – often referred to as the ‘City of Love’ – might resemble a dystopian enclave preparing for the Hunger…

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The Olympic Games should be an equestrian free event amid the horse abuse scandal involving Charlotte Dujardin, according to animal rights group PETA. Team GB superstar Dujardin has been provisionally suspended by equestrian’s governing body with immediate effect after a video from four years ago emerged showing her making ‘an error of judgement’. The fallout from the controversy will have far reaching and immediate consequences for Team GB in Paris, as well their three-time gold…

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Charlotte Dujardin has withdrawn from Team GB for the Paris Olympics after a video emerged of her whipping a horse in a coaching session, but what are the rules for using whips in dressage? When competing in dressage, entering the arena with a whip is against the rules and will result in a technical fault. However, whips are allowed to be used in the practice area, as long as it is dropped before entering the…

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Viewers are enraged by ITV’s Good Morning Britain commentator Alice Plunkett ‘defending’ equestrian Charlotte Dujardin from backlash surrounding a video of the Olympian whipping a horse. Dujardin has been forced to withdraw from Team GB for the upcoming Olympics after a video – shown for the first time on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday – showing her whipping the back of a horses legs repeatedly during training was revealed. The 39-year-old, who is Britain’s joint-most decorated female Olympian, has now…

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The International Olympic Committee has voted for the creation of the first Olympic Esports Games, only without the games people care about. While esports has been a fixture of the gaming landscape for years now, its path to being recognised as a sport by the Olympics has been a somewhat slow crawl. The first major step came with the creation of the Olympic Esports Series, which was first held in Singapore in June 2023. The…

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Athletes will be sleeping on ‘anti-sex beds’ at the Paris 2024 Olympics… but do they work? (Photo: TikTok/Instagram) Team GB legend Tom Daley is among the Olympians to have gone viral after testing out the ‘anti-sex beds’ in the Olympic Village ahead of the Paris 2024 Games. This summer’s Olympics officially get underway on Friday night in the ‘city of love’ but organisers have once again attempted to stop athletes from engaging in any randy…

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The Paris Games are embracing sustainable, plant-based options in the athletes’ village (Picture: Getty) The great Usain Bolt famously claimed that McDonald’s chicken nuggets helped power him to gold-medal supremacy at the Beijing Olympics – but fast-food options are off the menu for athletes in Paris this summer. Organisers for the 2024 Olympic Games have instead opted for a healthy, sustainable approach, with a host of high-end French cuisine treats on offer as competitors from…

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Almost a decade on from when he first burst onto the scene at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Ben Proud will represent Team GB at his third Olympics in Paris. The 29-year-old swimmer is one of the fastest athletes in his sport and in 2022 became the first person ever to win World, European and Commonwealth swimming titles in the same year – all within two months of each other. What are your thoughts ahead of…

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Snoop Dogg, real name Calvin Broadus, has a very special role in the Paris Olympics this week – and we can’t wait! The 2024 Paris Olympics are set to kick off this week on July 26 and will run until August 11. Already the Olympians have descended upon the French capital and excitement is beginning to build. But some have questioned why Snoop Dogg, 52, is involved in the sporting competition. It was revealed today…

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From running to tennis, there’s an Olympic sport for every nudist (Picture: Jam Press) A group of sport-loving nudists have held their own Olympics – with all competitors playing in their birthday suits. From volleyball to boules, the naturists spent the weekend flexing their talents at the Yorkshire Sun Society in Hull from July 19 to 21. The event was organised by British Naturism, who were getting into the spirit of sport with the 2024…

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The Paris 2024 Olympics get underway on Friday (Photo: Getty) In just a few days’ time, the Paris 2024 Olympics will get underway with thousands of athletes from across the world set to compete. The very best from the worlds of athletics, cycling, swimming, tennis, breakdancing and more will converge on the French capital with the sole aim of becoming an Olympic gold medalist. But for some there’s a little more at stake, with this…

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