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Al-Qurashi Wins Gold in 100m Race at Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Saudi athlete Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi won the gold medal in the T53 100m wheelchair race - SPA
Saudi athlete Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi won the gold medal in the T53 100m wheelchair race - SPA
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Al-Qurashi Wins Gold in 100m Race at Paris 2024 Paralympic Games

Saudi athlete Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi won the gold medal in the T53 100m wheelchair race - SPA
Saudi athlete Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi won the gold medal in the T53 100m wheelchair race - SPA

Saudi athlete Abdulrahman Al-Qurashi won the gold medal in the T53 100m wheelchair race at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, held at the Stade de France.
Al-Qurashi won the gold medal by finishing first with a new personal best of 14:48 seconds, leaving the silver medal to Thailand's Paeyo Pongsakorn, who finished with 14:66 seconds. The bronze medal went to Brazilian Ariosvaldo da Silva, who finished in 15:08 seconds, SPA reported.
With this gold medal, Al-Qurashi increased Saudi Arabia's Paralympic medal tally to six medals (two gold, two silver, and two bronze). He had previously won bronze in the 100m wheelchair race at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.
This year's event was attended by Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee Secretary General Abdulaziz Baeshen and the accompanying delegation.

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Ferrari’s Leclerc Fastest in First Practice at Australian Grand Prix

Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc drives back on circuit during the second practice session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc drives back on circuit during the second practice session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
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Ferrari’s Leclerc Fastest in First Practice at Australian Grand Prix

Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc drives back on circuit during the second practice session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 6, 2026. (AFP)
Ferrari's Monegasque driver Charles Leclerc drives back on circuit during the second practice session of the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne on March 6, 2026. (AFP)

Charles Leclerc led a ‌Ferrari 1-2 at the top of the timesheet in the Australian Grand Prix's first practice, while defending champion Lando Norris suffered a gearbox issue as Formula One's new engine era launched with a spate of reliability problems.

Leclerc lapped a sun-bathed Albert Park in one minute 20.267 on soft tires on Friday, nearly a half-second quicker than second fastest teammate Lewis Hamilton, the seven-times world champion. Four-times champion Max Verstappen was third fastest for Red Bull, 0.522 seconds behind Leclerc, with Verstappen's new teammate Izack Hadjar fourth.

Constructors champions McLaren had a sobering start, with Norris complaining his downshifts were "shocking" ‌in his ‌opening lap.

He cut his session short after managing to ‌clock ⁠only the 19th ⁠fastest lap on medium tires.

His teammate Oscar Piastri was sixth quickest on soft tires, but nearly a second behind Leclerc's best.

He also came to a halt, reporting a throttle problem in his first lap before he was able to get going again.

Ferrari and Red Bull rose above the initial chaos, posting clean early laps and setting the pace on medium tires.

Racing ⁠Bulls rookie Arvid Lindblad triggered a safety car less ‌than four minutes into the session when ‌he came to a halt in pit lane and needed to be rolled ‌back to the garage by team mechanics.

However, the 18-year-old came back ‌strongly to record the fifth fastest time. Williams driver Alex Albon also lost power and stopped on the track late in the session, prompting the second virtual safety car.

The new hybrid engines, which feature a much larger share of ‌electric power than in the previous era, have proved a steep learning curve for drivers, placing a greater ⁠onus on managing ⁠energy deployment and regeneration.

Having barely clocked any laps during winter testing due to reliability issues, Aston Martin's troubled start continued as Fernando Alonso was unable to leave the garage due to a suspected power unit problem.

His teammate Lance Stroll could manage only three laps on hard tires, the best (1:50.334) more than 30 seconds behind Leclerc. Though strong in winter testing, Mercedes' George Russell was seventh fastest ahead of eighth-ranked Kimi Antonelli.

Rebooted F1 team Audi, formerly known as Sauber, started well, with Gabriel Bortoleto and Nico Hulkenberg ninth and 10th quickest in the session.

New team Cadillac's first session in Formula One was underwhelming, though Valtteri Bottas racked up 24 laps and the 17th fastest lap.

Teammate Sergio Perez was 20th quickest.

Sports

Aston Martin Feel ‘Powerless’ as Battery Problem Risks Australian Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)
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Aston Martin Feel ‘Powerless’ as Battery Problem Risks Australian Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)

Aston Martin's hopes of racing ‌in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix rest on their final batteries holding up until Sunday's race, leaving them feeling "powerless" and in a "scary place to be", team principal Adrian Newey said on Friday.

The Formula One team have been plagued by problems with their Honda power unit, with drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll having their laps restricted due to the risk of sustaining permanent nerve damage from vibrations in the car.

Twice world champion Alonso was unable to leave the garage in the first free practice on Friday, while Stroll managed only three laps ‌due to problems ‌with the power unit.

Newey said the team brought ‌four ⁠batteries to Melbourne ⁠but two had already failed, leaving only the ones left in the drivers' cars.

"So we lose one of those, then it's obviously a big problem," Newey told reporters.

"So we've got to be very careful on how we use the batteries."

"Given our kind of rate of battery damage, it's quite a scary place to be in."

Aston Martin also ⁠suffered a battery problem on the final day of ‌pre-season testing in Bahrain last month, ‌which compounded the team's critical shortage of laps and data before the ‌season-opener in Melbourne.

Powered by Mercedes last season, Aston Martin finished seventh ‌in the championship.

Honda withdrew from F1 in 2021 after providing a competitive power unit for Red Bull that helped Max Verstappen win the title but confirmed in 2023 they would return with Aston Martin in 2026.

The new ‌partnership raised concerns from the get-go.

Newey pinned the power unit problems on a lack of experience, saying ⁠only about ⁠30% of Honda's original team remained in place for the Aston Martin project.

He added that his team only became aware of the personnel problems in November.

Newey said the reliability issues were affecting his whole team, noting that Aston Martin's mechanics had been up until four in the morning on Friday working on solutions.

"I think it's one where I kind of feel a bit powerless, because clearly we've got a very significant PU (power unit) problem, and our lack of running then also means, at the same time, we're not finding out about the car," he added.

"It just becomes a self-feeding problem.

"And of course, it's using a lot of energy in the human sense."

Sports

Venus Williams’ Comeback Hits Another Snag as She Falls in 1st Round in Indian Wells

Venus Williams of the US in action against Diane Parry of France during their women's singles tennis match on day 2 of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
Venus Williams of the US in action against Diane Parry of France during their women's singles tennis match on day 2 of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
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Venus Williams’ Comeback Hits Another Snag as She Falls in 1st Round in Indian Wells

Venus Williams of the US in action against Diane Parry of France during their women's singles tennis match on day 2 of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
Venus Williams of the US in action against Diane Parry of France during their women's singles tennis match on day 2 of the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament in Indian Wells, California, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)

Venus Williams lost again in her return to the BNP Paribas Open, falling in the first round Thursday, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1 to Diane Parry of France.

The 45-year-old Williams, who has dropped her last eight WTA singles matches, received a wild card into the singles and doubles draws for the tournament in the Southern California desert. It came 30 years after she made her Indian Wells debut in 1996 when she was 15.

After Williams rallied in the second set to tie it, the 23-year-old Parry, ranked 111th in the world, took control and cruised in the third.

It was Williams' 10th career appearance in the tournament and first since 2024, when she also lost in the first round as a wild card. The seven-time major winner was given a wild card last year, but didn’t accept it.

“Of course, losing isn’t fun, but it’s great to play in front of a home crowd,” the Southern California native said. “They were behind me the whole way, and that was really fun for that.

“I have amazing fans that believe in me and it’s fun to play for them, or even in practice when they come out. It’s very thrilling. Yeah, today was a tough one, but that’s sport and that’s life, and I’ll take what I need from it.”

Parry will face 15th-ranked American Madison Keys in the second round Saturday.

Williams entered the BNP Paribas Open having lost her last seven matches, with the only win in her comeback to the tour coming on her return to Washington last year.

She competed in the Australian Open in January and lost in the first round in both singles and doubles. Williams was the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open singles main draw, surpassing the mark set by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round in 2015.

Williams most recently participated in the ATX Open in Austin, Texas, last month as a wild-card entry and lost in the first round of singles to Ajla Tomljanovic.