Sport

After last Sunday’s astonishing ascent of the 508-metre Taipei 101 tower, Alex Honnold laid claim to being not only the world’s best free climber but also one of history’s greatest athletes.

Lauded for his supreme talent and then publicly castigated for squandering it, Australian three-time NBA All-Star Ben Simmons knows the perils of getting your heart’s desire.

When Monica Seles arrived in Melbourne in January 1996 to chase her fourth AO title, her biggest obstacles were the mental scars from a courtside stabbing three years earlier.

More than seven years after her victory over an up-and-coming Ash Barty at Wimbledon, Russian-born Daria Kasatkina will fly the Australian flag in her first home grand slam.

For the author, his daughter’s delight at practising her favourite gymnastics feat scores a perfect 10.

The 2026 FIFA World Cup draw was a stunning own goal of self-love and sycophancy with a Trumped-up ‘peace prize’ – all in the service of further monetising the world game.

Watching young cricket players on a pitch close to home, the author is visited by memories that flow from the action.

The England men’s cricket team arrived with swagger and talent, further validating the author’s unbridled loathing. Their humiliation in the first Ashes Test was righteous.

In 1985, chess great Viktor Korchnoi was persuaded to take on Géza Maróczy. What really set the challenge apart was that the Hungarian grandmaster had died decades earlier.

Following the death of her father in 1964, the author found solace in her love of cricket and especially in her adulation of fellow left-hander and batting allrounder Bob Cowper.

When press gallery journalists swap their notepads for batting pads to take on politicians in the annual one-day cricket match, the contest for some is make-or-break.