Nadal 'Feels Great' despite Practice Partner's Wimbledon Exit

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 28, 2022 Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his first round match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo REUTERS/Toby Melville
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 28, 2022 Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his first round match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo REUTERS/Toby Melville
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Nadal 'Feels Great' despite Practice Partner's Wimbledon Exit

Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 28, 2022 Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his first round match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo REUTERS/Toby Melville
Tennis - Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Britain - June 28, 2022 Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning his first round match against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo REUTERS/Toby Melville

Rafael Nadal said he "feels great" even though Wimbledon practice partner and 2021 runner-up Matteo Berrettini withdrew from the tournament with Covid on Tuesday.

Italy's Berrettini, widely regarded as one of defending champion Novak Djokovic's biggest threats and a potential semi-final opponent for Nadal, said he was "heartbroken" to pull out.

He joined 2017 runner-up Marin Cilic, who also tested positive before his first-round match, in withdrawing.

French player Alize Cornet added to questions over the health protocols in tennis by saying there had been an "epidemic of Covid" at the recent French Open but "nobody talked about it".

Nadal practiced with Berrettini at Wimbledon last week but the Spanish star shrugged off any concerns over his health.

"It's difficult to be a close contact when you are outside, when you are practicing," AFP quoted Nadal as saying.

"For the moment I am feeling great, no problems at all. The main thing is I feel very sorry for him because he was playing fantastic, winning two tournaments before the tournament starts."

The All England Club said in a statement that protocols remained in place to minimize the risk of infection.

"We are following UK guidance around assessment and isolation of any potential infectious disease," the statement said.

"Our player medical team also continue to wear face masks for any consultation."

Wimbledon was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic while the 2021 edition was run at reduced capacity with players confined to a bubble.

Cornet claimed that at Roland Garros earlier this month there had been an "epidemic" of coronavirus.

"In the locker room, everyone had it and we said nothing," said Cornet. "I saw girls wearing masks, perhaps because they knew and did not want to pass it on."

Hours later, Cornet rowed back on her claims, writing on social media that she only "suspected a few cases of Covid during Roland Garros, without having any proof".

"It was above all to emphasize that the virus was now part of our lives and that we had to deal with it," she said.

Nadal said he had been told by a physio from the ATP men's tour that it was up to players to decide whether they tested or not.

"Now if you tell me even if you are positive, you can keep playing, this is something I didn't know. The only thing I used to know is up to you, even if you feel bad, if you want to be tested or not."

Nadal was speaking after overcoming a scare in his Wimbledon opener, fighting back from dropping the third set and falling a break down in the fourth to eventually see off Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo.

The second seed, playing on grass for the first time since his 2019 Wimbledon semi-final loss to Roger Federer, triumphed 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 over 41st-ranked Cerundolo, who was making his All England Club debut.

But the 36-year-old Spaniard, who has already captured the Australian and French Opens this year to stand halfway to the first men's calendar Slam since 1969, did it the hard way.

After coasting through the first two sets on Centre Court, he surrendered an early break in the third set and then had to claw his way back from 3-1 and 4-2 down in the fourth.

"Three years without being here on this amazing surface, it is amazing to be back," said Nadal.

Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 Wimbledon champion, arrived at the tournament with question marks over his durability for the two weeks having played the entire French Open with his troublesome left foot anesthetized.

He has since undergone a course of radiofrequency stimulation, a treatment aimed at reducing nerve pain in his foot.

Nadal will take on Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania for a place in the last 32.



Shakhtar Boss Pays Ukrainian Racer $200,000 After Games Disqualification

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
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Shakhtar Boss Pays Ukrainian Racer $200,000 After Games Disqualification

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy holds helmet as he meets with a Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych , who was disqualified from the Olympic skeleton competition over his "helmet of remembrance" depicting athletes killed since Russia's invasion and his father and coach, Mykhailo Heraskevych, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Munich, Germany February 13, 2026. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

The owner of ‌Ukrainian football club Shakhtar Donetsk has donated more than $200,000 to skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych after the athlete was disqualified from the Milano Cortina Winter Games before competing over the use of a helmet depicting Ukrainian athletes killed in the war with Russia, the club said on Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Heraskevych was disqualified last week when the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation jury ruled that imagery on the helmet — depicting athletes killed since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 — breached rules on athletes' expression at ‌the Games.

He ‌then lost an appeal at the Court ‌of ⁠Arbitration for Sport hours ⁠before the final two runs of his competition, having missed the first two runs due to his disqualification.

Heraskevych had been allowed to train with the helmet that displayed the faces of 24 dead Ukrainian athletes for several days in Cortina d'Ampezzo where the sliding center is, but the International Olympic Committee then ⁠warned him a day before his competition ‌started that he could not wear ‌it there.

“Vlad Heraskevych was denied the opportunity to compete for victory ‌at the Olympic Games, yet he returns to Ukraine a ‌true winner," Shakhtar President Rinat Akhmetov said in a club statement.

"The respect and pride he has earned among Ukrainians through his actions are the highest reward. At the same time, I want him to ‌have enough energy and resources to continue his sporting career, as well as to fight ⁠for truth, freedom ⁠and the remembrance of those who gave their lives for Ukraine," he said.

The amount is equal to the prize money Ukraine pays athletes who win a gold medal at the Games.

The case dominated headlines early on at the Olympics, with IOC President Kirsty Coventry meeting Heraskevych on Thursday morning at the sliding venue in a failed last-minute attempt to broker a compromise.

The IOC suggested he wear a black armband and display the helmet before and after the race, but said using it in competition breached rules on keeping politics off fields of play. Heraskevych also earned praise from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.


Speed Skating-Italy Clinch Shock Men’s Team Pursuit Gold, Canada Successfully Defend Women’s Title

 Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)
Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)
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Speed Skating-Italy Clinch Shock Men’s Team Pursuit Gold, Canada Successfully Defend Women’s Title

 Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)
Team Italy with Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini, Michele Malfatti, celebrate winning the gold medal on the podium of the men's team pursuit speed skating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP)

An inspired Italy delighted the home crowd with a stunning victory in the Olympic men's team pursuit final as

Canada's Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann delivered another seamless performance to beat the Netherlands in the women's event and retain their title ‌on Tuesday.

Italy's ‌men upset the US who ‌arrived ⁠at the Games ⁠as world champions and gold medal favorites.

Spurred on by double Olympic champion Francesca Lollobrigida, the Italian team of Davide Ghiotto, Andrea Giovannini and Michele Malfatti electrified a frenzied arena as they stormed ⁠to a time of three ‌minutes 39.20 seconds - ‌a commanding 4.51 seconds clear of the ‌Americans with China taking bronze.

The roar inside ‌the venue as Italy powered home was thunderous as the crowd rose to their feet, cheering the host nation to one ‌of their most special golds of a highly successful Games.

Canada's women ⁠crossed ⁠the line 0.96 seconds ahead of the Netherlands, stopping the clock at two minutes 55.81 seconds, and

Japan rounded out the women's podium by beating the US in the Final B.

It was only Canada's third gold medal of the Games, following Mikael Kingsbury's win in men's dual moguls and Megan Oldham's victory in women's freeski big air.


Lindsey Vonn Back in US Following Crash in Olympic Downhill 

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)
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Lindsey Vonn Back in US Following Crash in Olympic Downhill 

Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics - Alpine Skiing - Women's Downhill 3rd Official Training - Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre, Belluno, Italy - February 07, 2026. Lindsey Vonn of United States in action during training. (Reuters)

Lindsey Vonn is back home in the US following a week of treatment at a hospital in Italy after breaking her left leg in the Olympic downhill at the Milan Cortina Games.

“Haven’t stood on my feet in over a week... been in a hospital bed immobile since my race. And although I’m not yet able to stand, being back on home soil feels amazing,” Vonn posted on X with an American flag emoji. “Huge thank you to everyone in Italy for taking good care of me.”

The 41-year-old Vonn suffered a complex tibia fracture that has already been operated on multiple times following her Feb. 8 crash. She has said she'll need more surgery in the US.

Nine days before her fall in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Vonn ruptured the ACL in her left knee in another crash in Switzerland.

Even before then, all eyes had been on her as the feel-good story heading into the Olympics for her comeback after nearly six years of retirement.