Nine-year-old ‘Da Vinci of Dorset’ to have art exhibited at Royal Academy

A nine-year-old boy who started drawing because he was bored during lockdown is to have his work exhibited at the Royal Academy. Lucas Greenfield began creating portraits of his favourite footballers and has gone on to be described as “Dorset's Da Vinci”. Homeless Man, one of his pencil drawings, has been selected from more than 33,000 entries to be displayed as part of the Royal Academy’s Young Artists’ Summer Show.

World’s longest Hula Hoop discovered

A man who discovered the world’s longest Hula Hoop plans to keep it as a family heirloom. Sam Lightfoot, 26, found the four-inch monster crisp, which trumps the previous world record - a 3.7-inch hoop found back in May. Asked how significant a personal achievement his discovery is, he said: “It’s up there in the top ten, along with buying a house and a car.” He said he is “worried about breaking it” so he’s “keeping it safe in its packet in the utility room”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Gymnast says gold medal is ‘peeling’

Chinese gymnast Zhu Xueying says her gold medal is peeling. Xueying, 23, won gold in trampoline gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics this year. She said she originally thought the small mark was dirt - only to find the defect “got bigger” when she rubbed it. The Tokyo organising committee told the Global Times the material coming off the gymnasts medal was its protective coating, rather than the actual gold plating.