Sport shorts: Paralympian Vervoort ends life through euthanasia, Mourinho linked with Dortmund, Alonso criticises Hamilton
Ten things from the world of sport on Wednesday 23 October
1. Paralympian ends life through euthanasia
Paralympic athlete Marieke Vervoort has ended her own life by euthanasia at the age of 40, after her incurable degenerative muscle disease left her in constant pain and suffering seizures, paralysis and insomnia.
Euthanasia is legal in Vervoort’s home country of Belgium. The wheelchair sprinter won gold and silver medals at the 2012 London Paralympic Games.
BBC Radio 5 Live presenter Eleanor Oldroyd paid tribute to Vervoort and said: “When I heard Marieke Vervoort had died, I felt deeply sad - for her loving family, her many friends and her fans around the world.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
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.
“She was a remarkable champion, on and off the track. She was outrageously funny and full of life, but I’ve never had such frank conversations about death with anyone.
“Somehow, though, those conversations weren’t depressing; she had accepted her time on earth would be shorter than many, but she was determined to wring every last drop of fun out of it that she could.”
2. Mourinho linked with Dortmund
German newspaper Bild reports that Jose Mourinho is being linked with Borussia Dortmund.
The Daily Mail, citing the Bild story, says Dortmund are in “regular contact” with Mourinho, who has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United last December.
Portuguese Mourinho is “already learning” German, the Mail says, and is keen to return to football management.
Current Dortmund coach Lucien Favre is safe for now but the Bundesliga giants are “keen to look at the bigger picture”.
2. Moriarty: red would have been the end of me
Ross Moriarty admits that he feared being sent-off in Wales’s 20-19 victory over France at the Rugby World Cup last weekend.
In the quarter-final clash Moriarty saw yellow for a high tackle on France’s Gael Fickou. He stayed on the pitch and went on to score the match-winning try.
“I was just thinking, ‘please, please don’t be a red’,” said Moriarty. “That was definitely a big moment. I had been on for only 90 seconds and I was thinking to myself, ‘If he gives me a red card, this is the end of me’.
“It was a mistimed tackle. I closed my eyes and thought he was going to run round me, but he stopped and ducked under me.”
‘Scared’ Wales need to toughen up against South Africa
4. Real target Lewandowski
According to reports in Spain Read Madrid are lining up a January move for Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski. The Polish captain scored twice for Bayern in last night’s 3-2 Champions League win at Olympiakos. The 31-year-old has now scored 21 goals in 17 games for club and country this season.
5. El Clasico set for 18 December
ESPN reports that the El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid will be rescheduled for 18 December. The La Liga clash was supposed to be played this weekend but unrest in Catalonia has forced the postponement.
6. Alonso hits out at Hamilton
Fernando Alonso has criticised Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton for his Instagram post urging people to save the environment by going vegan.
Two-time title winner Alonso told Spanish radio station Cope: “I think I would keep my eating habits to myself. I would never release a message like Lewis. You can’t send out a message on one day, and on the next day do the opposite.
“We all know the lifestyle that Lewis has, and that Formula 1 drivers take 200 planes a year. You can’t then say ‘don’t eat meat’.”
7. Nationals win game one of 2019 World Series
The Washington Nationals have taken a 1-0 lead in Major League Baseball’s World Series after beating the Houston Astros 5-4 in game one. The best-of-seven series continues tomorrow with game two in Houston (1.07am start UK time).
8. Clippers beat Lakers in the battle of LA
Los Angeles Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 112-102 in their NBA regular season opener last night. Kawhi Leonard scored 30 points for the Clippers, who face the Golden State Warriors next on Friday (3.30am start UK time).
9. Salah returns for holders Liverpool
After missing last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Manchester United Mohamed Salah is back in contention for Liverpool’s away clash at Genk in group E of the Uefa Champions League.
Right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold (virus) and centre-half Joel Matip (knee) will miss the match in Belgium tonight.
Chelsea travel to Amsterdam to face last season’s semi-finalists Ajax and boss Frank Lampard will be without N’Golo Kante, Ross Barkley, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger.
10. High fives in the Champions League
Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur scored ten goals between them in last night’s Champions League matches.
The Sky Blues thrashed Atalanta 5-1 at the Etihad with Raheem Sterling scoring a hat-trick, while Harry Kane and Son Heung-min both scored twice as Tottenham put their early season woes behind them with a 5-0 victory over Red Star Belgrade.
Kylian Mbappe came on as a second-half substitute for Paris Saint-Germain and scored a hat-trick in the French side’s 5-0 win at Club Bruges.
Today’s back pages
Son rises as five-star Spurs take heat off Pochettino
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Dark energy data suggest Einstein was right (luckily)
Speed Read Albert Einstein's 1915 theory of general relativity has been proven correct, according to data collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Ukraine fires ATACMS, Russia ups hybrid war
Speed Read Ukraine shot U.S.-provided long-range missiles and Russia threatened retaliation
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
New York DA floats 4-year Trump sentencing freeze
Speed Read President-elect Donald Trump's sentencing is on hold, and his lawyers are pushing to dismiss the case while he's in office
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Mason Greenwood: footballer arrested on suspicion of rape and assault
Speed Read Man Utd confirm the striker will not train or play until further notice
By The Week Staff Published
-
Handball: swapping bikini bottoms for tight pants
Speed Read Women competitors will be required to ‘wear short tight pants with a close fit’
By The Week Staff Published
-
Cristiano Ronaldo’s second coming
Speed Read Last week, Manchester United re-signed the forward on a two-year deal thought to be worth more than £400,000 a week
By The Week Staff Last updated
-
Bank holidays and boycotts: are MPs trying to jinx England?
Speed Read Declaring a bank holiday would be ‘tempting fate’, says Boris Johnson
By The Week Staff Published
-
Weightlifting: Olympic Games set for transgender first
Speed Read New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard will make history at Tokyo 2020
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sport shorts: Champions League expansion plan to be agreed
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Joachim Low and the Lions women’s team
By Mike Starling Published
-
Sport shorts: Sturgeon slams Rangers fans over title celebrations
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Keely Hodgkinson and Bryson DeChambeau
By Mike Starling Published
-
Sport shorts: Klopp’s unwanted record as Liverpool lose again at Anfield
Speed Read News and reactions from the world of sport, featuring Tiger Woods and Tom Brady
By Mike Starling Published