Latest News

Cheptegei adds to his three world titles with Olympic 10,000m crown and Games record in Paris

Published

2 years ago

2024/08/3

Priyan

Joshua Cheptegei isn’t a man who is lacking in global titles, but there was one clear omission from the Ugandan’s impressive medal collection.

On Friday night (2), at the end of the first full day of in-stadium athletics action at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Cheptegei finally won the title he had been longing for, claiming gold in the men’s 10,000m.

He did so in impressive fashion, timing his attack to perfection and striking from 600 metres out before going on to charge through the line in 26:43.14, breaking the Olympic record set 16 years ago by Kenenisa Bekele, the man Cheptegei had succeeded as world record-holder over the distance.

It was a thrilling race in the Stade de France, one which the Ethiopian trio of Berihu Aregawi, Yomif Kejelcha and Selemon Barega, the defending champion, tried their best to dictate. Ultimately, though, they had to settle for just one medal in the form of Aregawi’s silver while USA’s Grant Fisher claimed bronze.

Jimmy Gressier, much to the delight of the home fans, led for the first two laps, but Barega then moved to the front and led through 1000m in 2:43.1 with the field already somewhat strung out.

Barega’s teammate Kejelcha strode to the front one lap later and Aregawi slotted into third, creating an Ethiopian 1-2-3 formation. At 2000m, reached in 5:22.7, they were comfortably on course to break Bekele’s Olympic record. At this point, Cheptegei was near the back of the lead pack, while his teammate Jacob Kiplimo, the Commonwealth champion, was in the middle.

Barega – moving with intent as though it was part of a premeditated plan – returned to the lead at 3000m, reached in 8:02.00, putting them on course to finish inside 26:50. Fisher was in fourth, just ahead of Kiplimo and Gressier.

Kejelcha and Aregawi both took turns in the lead in the next two kilometres with half way being reached in 13:23.2. Aregawi led at that point from Kejelcha, Fisher and Kenya’s Benard Kibet. The top 20 men were operating inside Olympic record pace; Cheptegei, sitting in 15th, did not care for records, though.

With 10 laps to go, Kejelcha tried to make another break, but Canada’s Moh Ahmed covered it, as Kibet and South Africa’s Adriaan Wildschutt also moved up through the pack.

With 21 minutes on the clock, Cheptegei made his presence known. He didn’t go right to the front, but moved near enough so as to let his opponents know that he was a threat. Following a slightly slower kilometre of 2:48, the field had bunched up slightly with 8000m being reached in 21:33.5.

Aregawi went back into the lead after 23 minutes with Ahmed, Kejelcha and Fisher still near the front of the pack. With two laps to go, twelve men remained in contention in the lead group.

Cheptegei, his motivation clear with every stride, hit the front with less than 600 metres to go and started to wind up the pace. Aregawi, Ahmed, Fisher, Kejelcha and Kiplimo all tried their best to cover his move. As the finishing speed moved up another notch in the final 400 metres, eight men were still in contention.

The Ugandan was away and clear with Fisher a few strides behind. Aregawi came sprinting down the home straight and caught Fisher in the closing stages to claim silver. There was no catching Cheptegei, though, as he crossed the line in an Olympic record of 26:43.14.

“I can’t describe the feeling,” said Cheptegei. “I’ve wanted this for a long time. When I took silver in Tokyo, I was disappointed. I wanted just to win the 10,000m.

“It’s the dream of young people to achieve what they want to achieve in life. Barely 16 years ago when I was watching the great Kenenisa Bekele win in Beijing, it was something that grew in my heart. I said, one day, one time, I want to be Olympic champion.”

Aregawi claimed silver in 26:43.44 and Fisher finished 0.02 behind. Ahmed was fourth (26:43.79) and Kibet was rewarded with a PB of 26:43.98 in fifth. Kejelcha, Barega and Kiplimo rounded out the top eight.

The first 13 men finished inside the previous Olympic record. Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo (26:49.49), South Africa’s Wildschutt (26:50.64) and France’s Gressier (26:58.67) all set national records.

MEN’S 10,000m MEDALLISTS
🥇	Joshua Cheptegei (UGA)	26:43.14 OR
🥈	Berihu Aregawi (ETH)	26:43.44
🥉	Grant Fisher (USA)	26:43.46 SB

(World Athletics)

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Tariffs ruling is major blow to Trump’s second-term agenda

Published

5 hours ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

[pic BBC]

Donald Trump had been warning for months that a Supreme Court decision like this would be catastrophic.

If the court curtailed his ability to impose these tariffs, he had said, it would be an “economic and national security disaster”.

A six-justice majority of the Supreme Court, in ruling against the president on Friday, didn’t care much about his concerns.

Congress, not the president, has the power to impose tariffs, the justices ruled. And nothing in the law that the president based his tariffs on, the Emergency Economic Powers Act of 1977, delegated such sweeping powers to Trump.

The court’s decision represents a rare check on this president’s broad use of executive authority.

A majority of the justices over the past year have shown a willingness to allow Trump to press ahead with his agenda, particularly on immigration and reshaping the federal government, even as legal challenges work their way through the court system.

This case, which was fast-tracked through the court system as an emergency, slams the door on one such expansive use of presidential authority.

With several other major cases involving controversial uses of executive power, such as efforts to end birthright citizenship and to dismiss a Federal Reserve governor based on alleged improprieties, this may not be Trump’s only setback in the coming months.

At the very least, this decision weakens Trump’s hand when trying to force other nations to make concessions to the US and tarnishes his veneer of invincibility.

Weakness begets weakness, and America’s trading partners may be emboldened to take a tougher line with the US now that the president’s tariff powers have been curtailed.

It also opens up the possibility that the Trump administration may have to give back much of the tariff revenue it collected over the past year.

While the justices left this thorny issue to be decided by a lower court, Brett Kavanaugh in his dissent warned that the process is likely to be a “mess”.

The Trump administration had plenty of time to prepare for Friday’s decision.

Supreme Court precedent, and the attitude of many of the justices when the case was argued in court last November, indicated that an adverse outcome for the president was quite possible.

Jamieson Greer, Trump’s top trade adviser, said last month that the White House has “a lot of different options” on how to proceed if the tariffs were struck down.

“The reality,” he said, “is the president is going to have tariffs as part of his trade policy going forward.”

The other options that could be at Trump’s disposal are more limited, however.

They require government agencies to produce detailed reports to justify imposing tariffs, and they have limits on their scope and duration.

Gone are the days when the president could threaten, or enact, triple-digit tariffs with the wave of a pen or the click of a Truth Social post.

Getty Images A large container ship with lots of cargo on board is in foreground with Miami skyline behind — *A Rotterdam container ship prepares to dock at Port Miami [BBC]*

New tariffs will require a longer lead-in time before they are imposed.

That could limit the kind of economic disruption that took place when the president announced his expansive “Liberation Day” tariffs last year, and would give other nations more time to prepare their responses.

If Trump wants to restore his free hand to impose new tariffs, he could always ask Congress for the kind of explicit authorisation that the Supreme Court has said is necessary. But with narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and midterm elections looming, the success of such a move seems unlikely.

In fact, some of Trump’s conservative allies in Congress may be breathing somewhat easier with this decision.

The president’s tariffs – and the costs they have imposed on consumers – have been unpopular among many Americans. Republican candidates in battleground states and congressional districts would have been open to Democratic attacks for supporting Trump’s policies.

That area of vulnerability has been reduced for now.

Friday’s decision will set up an awkward moment on Tuesday, when Trump delivers his annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. Traditionally, many of the Supreme Court justices sit in the front row of the chamber.

The president, after spending months issuing dire warnings against the court, could stand eye-to-eye with the justices who eroded one of the key pillars of Trump’s second-term agenda.

***[BBC]***

A graphic showing how the US Supreme Court voted on Trump’s tariffs. The top section lists John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch, Amy Coney Barrett, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson as finding the tariffs illegal. The lower section shows Clarence Thomas, Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito as not voting to strike them down. Colour bars indicate whether each justice was nominated by a Republican or Democratic president - the three nominated by a Democratic president (Sotomayor, Kagan and Brown Jackson) found the tariffs illegal, while the Republicans were split down the middle. — *A Rotterdam container ship prepares to dock at Port Miami [BBC]*

New tariffs will require a longer lead-in time before they are imposed.

That could limit the kind of economic disruption that took place when the president announced his expansive “Liberation Day” tariffs last year, and would give other nations more time to prepare their responses.

If Trump wants to restore his free hand to impose new tariffs, he could always ask Congress for the kind of explicit authorisation that the Supreme Court has said is necessary. But with narrow Republican majorities in the House and Senate, and midterm elections looming, the success of such a move seems unlikely.

In fact, some of Trump’s conservative allies in Congress may be breathing somewhat easier with this decision.

The president’s tariffs – and the costs they have imposed on consumers – have been unpopular among many Americans. Republican candidates in battleground states and congressional districts would have been open to Democratic attacks for supporting Trump’s policies.

That area of vulnerability has been reduced for now.

Friday’s decision will set up an awkward moment on Tuesday, when Trump delivers his annual State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress. Traditionally, many of the Supreme Court justices sit in the front row of the chamber.

The president, after spending months issuing dire warnings against the court, could stand eye-to-eye with the justices who eroded one of the key pillars of Trump’s second-term agenda.

***[BBC]***

Latest News

New Zealand meet familiar opponents Pakistan at spin-friendly Premadasa

Published

6 hours ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

Mitchell Santner, here with Rob Walter, is set to come back in for the Super Eight game against Pakistan [Cricinfo]

41: That’s the number of times New Zealand and Pakistan faced each other across formats in a 30-month period between October 2022 and April 2025. Twenty four of those meetings came in T20Is, with the sides compensating for a tour which New Zealand abandoned in 2021, citing security concerns by piling on as many bilateral engagements as is it was possible to fit in a calendar.

Aside from a T20 World Cup semi-final in Sydney in 2022, none of those games mattered as much as the one in Colombo on February 21. Both sides have much convincing to do as credible title-contenders after a group stage which saw them ease past lower-ranked teams while getting thumped by the one powerhouse they played. In New Zealand’s case, it was South Africa who gave them a battering, while Pakistan were left similarly bruised by an Indian side that has otherwise not quite hit its straps.

For New Zealand, the biggest challenge is the switch of venue. They played all of their games in Chennai and Ahmedabad, and relied on a balance between seam and spin that leaned towards the former, with Mitchell Santner the only frontline spinner and Rachin Ravindra or Glenn Phillips chipping in with the odd over. In Colombo, that balance is likely to reverse as the slower bowlers take centre stage, something Pakistan have deployed so effectively in most of their matches.

Santner’s men have not tinkered much with the batting order, which has held up remarkably well for the most part. Against weaker oppositions, some combination of openers Finn Allen and Tim Seifert, or top order batters Ravindra and Phillips, have showcased enough firepower to ease home. Opposition attacks have also struggled to puncture their way through, with New Zealand losing just 14 wickets in four games, the second fewest for any side in this tournament.

Unlike New Zealand, Pakistan know this city intimately well by now. Three of their four games may have been played at the SSC – the other Colombo ground – but their match against India here at the RPS was, like Saturday’s contest, also an evening game, giving them a valuable read into the pitch and conditions. It is the venue they used more spin on than any other, with captain Salman Ali Agha suggesting that would only continue in the Super Eight.

Pakistan’s top order has the explosiveness to blow teams away, even if they have struggled to translate that potential with form for Saim Ayub. Sahibzada Farhan at the other end has taken on the mantle for powerplay run-scoring as runs for Agha having dried up before the game against Namibia, and Babar Azam no nearer to maximising his ability. That fragility too quickly brings up a middle order comprising too many bowling allrounders or the untested Khawaja Nafay, a situation that led to a near-defeat against the Netherlands and a decisive defeat against India.

This is two teams situated among the middle powers of this World Cup, eager to demonstrate they’re better than what they managed against true superpowers like India and South Africa. What matters, ultimately, is which of them can show they’re better than the middle power they face off against on Saturday.

Jacob Duffy takes a wicket against Pakistan every 10.5 deliveries. Among bowlers with at least 15 scalps against Pakistan, no one in the world matches that strike rate. Eighteen of his 62 wickets have come against Saturday’s opponents, at an average of 12.77, comfortably the best amongst teams he has played more than five games against. The catch, however, is that all but one of those wickets have come in New Zealand, in conditions very different to what’ll be in front of him at the Premadasa in Colombo. But Hardik Pandya, who boasts an almost equally impressive record against Pakistan, did not find this very venue an impediment against bowling effectiveness against Pakistan. Duffy will hope to have similar success.

Abrar Ahmed was, arguably harshly, dropped against Namibia after an off-day against India. But his longer-term form makes it unlikely he will stay out of the side again in the raised stakes of the Super Eight. He was Pakistan’s second-highest wicket-taker in 2025, and at the Asia Cup last year, his economy rate of 5.36 in spin-friendly conditions was by far the most miserly in the tournament. All of that points to the India game being an aberration, with Pakistan needing him at his best for the business stages. He was Pakistan’s best bowler in the two series against Sri Lanka and Australia prior to this World Cup, and how he responds to the wake-up call of his axing may go some distance to determining the fate of Saturday’s game.

Abrar Ahmed is expected to come back into the side, but Pakistan will not want to make wholesale changes to a team that delivered so handsomely in their must-win game against Namibia.

Pakistan: Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Ali Agha (capt) Babar Azam, Khawaja Nafay, Shadab Khan, Usman Khan (wk) Mohammad Nawaz/Faheem Ashraf, Salman Mirza, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed

New Zealand will take a late call on Lockie Ferguson, who gets into Sri Lanka on Friday night after being granted paternity leave. It will be interesting to see how New Zealand manage to incorporate more spin into their XI to reconcile with Sri Lankan conditions. That might bring Ish Sodhi in for his first game this World Cup.

New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi Jacob Duffy

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Bowlers, Marsh orchestrate consolation Australia win

Published

6 hours ago

2026/02/20

Priyan

Mitchell Marsh hit seven fours and four sixes en route to Australia's victory [Cricbuzz]

It was a result that one could have foreseen from a distance. As much as Oman have shown glimpses of their potential at this T20 World Cup, Australia were always going to be a difficult proposition, despite all the backlash surrounding their shocking early exit. And the 2021 champions brought the curtains down on a disappointing campaign with a resounding nine-wicket win over Oman in Pallekele on Friday (February 20).

After the Aussies elected to bowl first, Xavier Bartlett got the ball to hoop around, cleaning up Aamir Kaleem with a ripping outswinger off the first ball of the match. It was a sign of things to come as Australia struck twice more in the PowerPlay, even as Glenn Maxwell spilled a sitter at second slip to deny Bartlett a second in the opening over. Nathan Ellis got the ball to skid off a hard length as Karan Sonavale chopped it onto his stumps, before Bartlett castled Jatinder Singh with an away-swinger that then jagged back in upon pitching.

In between these wickets, Oman’s batters looked to remain positive in the PowerPlay and even closed out the phase with a six off Hammad Mirza’s bat. But soon enough, Adam Zampa spun a web around the rest of the batters, getting the ball to beat Mirza before delivering the sucker blow – a quicker one that skid quickly off the pitch to bowl him on the heave. A successful review then saw the leggie trap Mohammad Nadeem on the paddle-sweep and what ensued was a free fall, despite Wasim Ali mustering some sort of a fight with his 33-ball 32.

Australia’s players didn’t necessarily wear huge smiles, fittingly reflective of a team that had no business crashing out of the tournament as early as they have. But there were no issues in cleaning up the Oman lineup. So much so that for all his woes, Maxwell picked up a couple of wickets which included his 50th T20I scalp. Zampa completed the clean-up act with consecutive wickets as Jay Odedra holed out to long on, before last man Shafiq Jan went for a slog-sweep, only to see his furniture disturbed.

The Mitchell Marsh-Travis Head duo then picked up from where they left off against Sri Lanka. Three boundaries in the opening over set Marsh on his way before he slammed a six in the next. Head thrashed left-arm spinner Shakeel Ahmed for a couple of cracking boundaries before Marsh continued to butcher the ball. The duo brought up a second fifty-run stand in as many games, ending the PowerPlay on 73/0 as Marsh reached his half-century with a delightful extended loft over mid-off.

Australia were in a hurry as the boundaries kept coming at a blistering pace. There was one moment of excitement in an otherwise dull affair – Shakeel got Head to slog-sweep the ball a mile up on the leg-side before the bowler and wicket-keeper Vinayak Shukla both went for the catch. Neither called decisively and Shukla clung on despite a juggling act, taking off on a celebratory sprint and unleashing Cristiano Ronaldo’s ‘Siuuu’ celebration. But it was all but the minutest deviation before the inevitable outcome of a whopping Australian win, with Josh Inglis sealing the deal with a boundary.

Australia got the job done with a whopping 62 deliveries to spare, catapulting their net run-rate above that of table-toppers Zimbabwe too. It counted for little, however, as they head home before the Super Eights.

Brief Scores:
Oman 104 in 16.2 overs (Jatinder Singh 17, Karan Sonavale 12, Hammad Mirza 16, Wasim Ali 32; Marcus Stoinis 1-16, Nathan Ellis 1-14, Adam Zampa 4-21, Glenn Maxwell 2-13, Xavier Bartlett 2-27) lost to Australia 108/1 in 9.4 overs (Mitchell Marsh 64*, Travis Head 32, Josh Inglis 12*; Shakeel Ahmed 1-29) by 9 wickets

[Cricbuzz]