Cheltenham best bits, England v Wales in Six Nations and Dan Carter | Classic Youtube | Sport
1) Cheltenham week is almost upon us, so let’s get in the mood with some memorable Festival moments from down the years. Here’s the celebrated Arkle, kicking clear in 1964 to win the first of three consecutive Gold Cups. Here are the other two. Dawn Run lit up a gloomy day in 1986 to win the same trophy in a thrilling finale. And kick back and enjoy two of the most popular horses in Cheltenham history, Desert Orchid winning a classic in 1989, and Best Mate storming home in 2004. In other races, here’s every grammar pedant’s favourite, Big Buck’s, taking the World Hurdle for a fourth year in a row in 2012, and Sprinter Sacre’s memorable comeback in the 2016 Champion Chase.
2) How did that happen? Would be hard to find a better goal of the week season contender than this, from Dundalk’s Jordan Flores.
3) It’s England v Wales this weekend. Last year’s match, in which Wales ended a run of six Six Nations defeats to their rivals with a wonderful win in Cardiff, was an absolute corker. There are so many stunning moments that make this fixture special, but here are six of the best from 1967 to 2005.
4) To Germany, and the ridiculous feats of Daniel Batz, who managed no less than five (five!) penalty saves to help fourth-tier Saarbrücken into the DFB-Pokal semi-finals at the expense of the Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf.
5) The eight-year ban for Chinese swimming superstar Sun Yang, effectively ending the 28-year-old’s career after he was found guilty of a second doping offence, was widely covered this week. Sun won gold medals at both the 2012 and 2016 Olympics but was the subject of protests at the 2019 World Championships, with Australia’s Mack Horton and Britain’s Duncan Scott refusing to share a podium with the Chinese swimmer. The ban certainly gives a new perspective to Sun’s exchange with Scott in which he taunted the Glasgow-born swimmer: “You’re a loser, I’m the winner. Yes?”
6) Soccer Aid for Unicef is back for 2020. Who can forget when Boris Johnson did this to the former Germany international Maurizio Gaudino or Sergio Pizzorno’s club foot over David Seaman or Teddy Sheringham’s reducer on Gordon Ramsey?
1) More wind-assisted sporting fun: this swerving conversion by Dan Carter.
2) A new triple-jump indoor world record, from Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas.
3) How to make a curling stone, the science behind it, and how to play the game. You can also watch our documentary on why one tiny, uninhabited Scottish island – Ailsa Craig – is key to every Olympic curling stone.
4) Nile Wilson, Team GB’s gymnast and Olympic medalist, shows Eddie ‘The Beast’ Hall how to do a backflip.
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