West Ham Hire Nuno to Replace Sacked Potter

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football -  FA Cup - Fourth Round Replay - Nottingham Forest v Bristol City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 7, 2024 Nuno Espirito Santo before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup - Fourth Round Replay - Nottingham Forest v Bristol City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 7, 2024 Nuno Espirito Santo before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
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West Ham Hire Nuno to Replace Sacked Potter

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football -  FA Cup - Fourth Round Replay - Nottingham Forest v Bristol City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 7, 2024 Nuno Espirito Santo before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - FA Cup - Fourth Round Replay - Nottingham Forest v Bristol City - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - February 7, 2024 Nuno Espirito Santo before the match REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo

West Ham hired Nuno Espirito Santo as their new manager just hours after sacking Graham Potter on Saturday.

Nuno, axed by Nottingham Forest earlier this season, agreed a three-year contract with the Premier League strugglers and will take charge of his first game at Everton on Monday.

Potter's exit, which came only nine months after his appointment, was widely expected after the Hammers slumped to second bottom of the table, AFP reported.

"I am very pleased to be here and very proud to be representing West Ham United," Nuno, 51, said.

"My objective is to work hard to get the very best from the team and ensure that we are as competitive as we possibly can be.

"The work has already started and I am looking forward to the challenge that is ahead."

Former Tottenham and Wolves boss Nuno was dismissed by Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis three weeks ago after the pair fell out over the club's transfer policy.

Nuno had earned praise for lifting Forest into European competition for the first time in 30 years last season via a seventh-place finish in the Premier League.

The Portuguese coach also impressed at Wolves, helping establish them in the top-flight before leaving for a turbulent 17-match spell at Tottenham that ended in the sack.

Potter managed just three points from West Ham's five league matches this season, while they also crashed out of the League Cup against Wolves.

The former Chelsea and Brighton manager only took the reins at the London Stadium in January, with last season's disappointing 14th place finish putting pressure on him to hit the ground running this season.

Last weekend's home defeat against Crystal Palace proved the final straw.

Potter, who lost five of West Ham's six games this season, was relieved of his duties less than 24 hours after holding his usual pre-match press conference on Friday.

"Results and performances over the course of the second half of last season and the start of the 2025/26 season have not matched expectations," West Ham said in a statement.

"The board of directors believe that a change is necessary in order to help improve the team's position in the Premier League as soon as possible."

Potter won only six of his 25 West Ham matches after replacing Julen Lopetegui, who lasted just 22 matches after taking over from David Moyes, who is now in charge of Everton.

Despite Potter's substantial spending on eight new signings in the summer transfer window, West Ham made a woeful start to the season.

A 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest last month provided some respite, but West Ham went down by the same score to Tottenham after the international break before the Palace loss heralded the end of his dismal spell in charge.

In a statement released soon after his dismissal, Potter hinted he felt he deserved more time.

"I am incredibly disappointed to be leaving West Ham United Football Club, particularly without being able to achieve what we set out to achieve at the start of our journey in East London," said Potter, who lasted less than seven months before being axed as Chelsea boss in 2023.

"I do however fully acknowledge that the results have just not been good enough up to now."



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.