By John Mehaffey The timeless magic of the mile, the only non-metric track distance still recognized as an official world record, prompted a spate of nostalgic headlines this month with the death of the first man to run four 440-yard laps in under four minutes. The...
The author before tackling the Beijing velodrome. (Photo courtesy of Deborah Charles) I’m not an Olympic athlete. But for half an hour in Beijing, I got to act like one. I was in China’s capital to cover the 2008 Olympics. An avid cyclist, I had lots of...
By Paul Radford I have covered 17 Olympics and can assure you, they are much more than sport. Consider them international politics with sports thrown in. North Korea’s sudden enthusiasm for taking part in next month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on the southern...
I waded into a raging debate over race relations in America. I emerged battered and bruised — and better able to understand different views. San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (center) kneels in protest with teammates during the national anthem...
By John Mehaffey U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on professional football players who have protested during the national anthem against racial injustice and police brutality tap into a toxic racist well depressingly familiar to generations of black American...
By John Mehaffey Truly bizarre television footage available on YouTube shows Muhammad Ali, the swiftest moving heavyweight boxer in history and gifted with dazzling speed of hand and foot, kicking ineffectually at a figure resembling a crab on its back sliding along...
By John Mehaffey A proposal to scrap all world track and field records set before 2005 has divided the athletics community and exposed the illegal drugs problem that continues to bedevil the core sport of the Olympic Games. Blood and urine samples from world record...
While racial and religious tensions have risen in Britain after the Brexit vote, Muslim players are quietly breaking down barriers in English cricket. Moeen Ali of England bowls against India in Perth, Australia, 30 January 2015 (EPA/Richard Wainwright) In many ways...
By John Mehaffey Thugs masquerading as soccer fans have disfigured the 2016 European championships in France in an ugly reminder of the street violence that erupted in Marseille before a match between England and Tunisia at the 1998 World Cup. This year round, English...
Muhammad Ali shattered conventions inside and outside the boxing ring, and he forever changed the relationship between sports stars and fans. Muhammad Ali at a rally against the Vietnam War, Chicago, 11 May 1967(AP Photo/Charles Harrity) This is our second story on...