#24th European Athletics Championships

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Under the skin of the enigmatic Raikkonen

KIMI RAIKKONEN IS ONE OF THOSE BLOKES WHO polarises opinion, that people seem to either love or hate. Ironic really, considering he is the epitome of getting on with doing his own thing, not manipulating anything, staying clear of boring politics and not worrying about things he has no control over. As a private man who can be difficult to read – not to mention one who a proportion of Formula 1 followers think has passed his best –he is, as our cover suggests, F1’s enigma. Which is why Ben Anderson’sin-depth 14-page feature, beginning on page 14, is probably the best and most-balanced thing you’ll ever read about him. Based on interviews with Raikkonen himself and those around him, it properly assesses his role on the F1 grid, and in the paddock. Ferrari announced a one-year contract extension for Raikkonen on Tuesday – after the last page of our feature had gone to press – but one thing for sure is that he is closer to the end of his F1 career than the beginning, and this week’s Autosport also provides a study of a talent at the opposite end of the spectrum. There hasn’t been a buzz this big about a young British prospect since Lewis Hamilton was rising the ranks, and Kevin Turner’s chat with Lando Norris (p28)tells us all about his cracking recent F1 test with McLaren. It was good timing that the interview coincides with two more wins in the Formula 3 European Championship at Zandvoort (p40). Funny to think that Norris hadn’t even been born when Raikkonen made his Formula Renault UK debut in 1999, and was only a toddler when Kimi first raced a Formula 1 car…

“IF YOU STRUGGLE, PEOPLE SLAG YOU OFF, BUT IT DOESN’T BOTHER ME”

It is very rare that a driver comes along who challenges preconceived notions of what it takes to be a Formula 1 driver. But when a true prodigy breaks through into grand prix racing through sheer force of talent, they often create a sort of butterfly effect.The world we thought we knew before is suddenly changed, and will never be the same again. Kimi Raikkonen should go down in F1 history as one such driver. It has taken Max Verstappen’s remarkable recent ascension to motorsport’s pinnacle to further redefine the boundaries of possibility – so successful in one season of junior single-seater racing that he simply must be in F1 immediately. Since 2015, Verstappen has been thrilling fans, threatening reputations, and rewriting rules with his fearless and superlative brand of racing. Fourteen years earlier, Raikkonen laid the template –arriving with Peter Sauber’s eponymous team after a brief but highly successful stint in Formula Renault. Raikkonen had competed in fewer than 25 car races; surely he couldn’t be ready for such a monumental leap.Yet there he was – 13th on the grid for his debut in Australia, within four tenths of a second of sophomore team-mate Nick Heidfeld, scoring a point in his first GP, finishing not much more than 12 seconds behind his team-mate. Raikkonen looked immediately like he belonged – a driver so naturally gifted he could bypass F3 and F3000 completely, turn convention on its head, yet be immediately and properly competitive in F1. Truly astounding. The question with all prodigies, in any sport, is what next? Will they fully harness that ability, show the necessary will and dedication to ally proper craft to their genius, and transform themselves into a truly unstoppable force? It is this unique blend that tends to define the ultimate greatness of an athlete – whether they burn out early and fade away in the Wayne Rooney style, or evolve into an era-defining machine in the mould of Cristiano Ronaldo. Raikkonen’s stats suggest he’s something of an underachiever. This weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix will mark his 263rd grand prix start; only four drivers – Rubens Barrichello, Michael Schumacher, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso – have started more. For a driver of Raikkonen’s ability and longevity to have scored ‘only’ 20 wins and 17 pole positions, plus a single world championship achieved in fortuitous circumstances in 2007, seems out of kilter. Damon Hill would not consider himself to be the most naturally gifted driver ever to grace F1. Raikkonen could make that claim, yet Hill achieved more wins and poles than Raikkonen has, in much less than half the number of starts. And yet Raikkonen is still good enough that he is still racing for Ferrari – F1’s grandest team – at the ripe old age of 37, and Tuesday’s announcement that he will remain for 2018 means he will continue doing so for another season at least. That shows Raikkonen still has something serious to offer in the eyes of those who make the biggest decisions in Maranello. Sport is always about much more than pure numbers. Personality and style also count for as much sometimes. Raikkonen commands a strong and loyal fan base, energised by his ‘Iceman’ reputation, one he says he’s done nothing conscious to cultivate. Publicly, Raikkonen comes off as a cool, aloof, anti-hero character – a no-nonsense antidote to the clean-cut corporate image of modern racing. His ‘wild-child’ early years curry him huge favour with those followers of F1 who pine for the era of James Hunt, when drivers partied away the nights and drove by the seat of their pants in the day. But even lovable rogues like Hunt and Raikkonen are driven by a fierce competitive instinct that belies their devil-may-care reputations.We are left with a confusing picture. How to reconcile the incredible natural ability that once redrew boundaries at Sauber and McLaren, and claimed a historic post-Schumacher world championship for Ferrari, with the later seasons of struggle: bettered by Felipe Massa, outpaced by Romain Grosjean, destroyed by Alonso, now playing second fiddle to Sebastian Vettel? Herein lies the enigma of Kimi Raikkonen.

BLAZING A TRAIL AT SAUBER

Raikkonen’s first season in F1 was very strong by conventional standards for a rookie, but when you consider his fundamental lack of experience in car racing it was truly exceptional. His results were very good – four points finishes in total, twice finishing fourth (in Austria and Canada) and placing inside the top 10 in the world championship. Raikkonen made a vital contribution to what then constituted Sauber’s best F1 season, but it was his raw speed that caught the eye. Third time out, Raikkonen qualified only a tenth behind Heidfeld in Brazil, and thereafter matched his more experienced team-mate 7-7 on Saturdays. Not only that, Raikkonen performed with a calm assuredness that belied his lack of experience. “Kimi was very young [21] and not experienced at all – it was very risky,” says Sauber driver trainer Josef Leberer, who worked with Ayrton Senna at McLaren and recalls his season alongside Raikkonen with fondness. “A lot of people said, ‘I don’t understand why Sauber were doing this’. But it worked. “He’s not the kind of guy who sits days and hours on the computer. Such an intuitive driver, his instinct is incredible. This way I would say he’s one of the best. It comes naturally. No bullshit. Just wanna be fast, no excuses. “He was not spoiled, so you could talk with him and be straightforward, and he was an incredible, cool guy. Doing the massage in the morning we had to wake him up and he said, ‘Let me get an extra five minutes of sleep before the race’. I’d never seen this – the second race in Malaysia and he wanted to sleep an extra few minutes! Can you imagine being like this in your second race? “He made such an impact. We had a feeling and he was fast immediately. You could see he had the requirements to be a top driver.” Raikkonen’s extraordinary ability to drive an F1 car quickly without the educational foundation enjoyed by his peers left a lasting impression on the paddock. Renowned motor racing journalist and author David Tremayne was Sauber’s press release writer during Raikkonen’s rookie campaign. He recalls a driver aloof and reserved in public, but completely different when hidden from the glare of a camera lens. “He was very quiet, like he is now,” explains Tremayne. “You thought, ‘What is this kid like, is he going to be another Mika [Hakkinen]?’ But he clearly wasn’t in terms of the way he conducted himself – he wasn’t forthcoming. Kimi didn’t want to do any of the other bollocks. He wanted to get in the car and get on with it. “[But] at Monza I heard all this raucous laughter on top of the media bus at Sauber. I went downstairs and it was Kimi, Peter Collins, and a guy who turned out to be Kimi’s kart mechanic – and it was Kimi doing all the laughing. “It was the only time I ever saw what you might call ‘the real Kimi’– with mates, completely relaxed, no need to be protective of anything.

I think he has the ability to compartmentalise. There was a lot of fire in him but you didn’t get to see it. He’s very self-reliant. I don’t think he needs an entourage. “As a driver, he was wonderful to watch. Felipe came in the following year and he was quick but always on a different line. Kimi was just cool and calm with it – not pushing the car or wrestling with it.”So many drivers dream of being world champion, work hard to achieve that dream, but never even make it onto the grid. Others carve out opportunity but become overwhelmed by expectation or consumed by pressure. It seems Raikkonen benefited not only from exceptional natural ability behind the wheel – after all there are many drivers who share that sort of skill – but also a mental resilience and confidence that helped strip away the extra burdens that might have destroyed someone of a different character. Raikkonen never dreamed big or got carried away by the prospect of fame and fortune. It seems it was this aloof attitude, bordering on indifference, that made him so perfectly suited to thrive in F1. “It was a good team to be in; nice people – I still have lunch there,” Raikkonen tells Autosport, relaxing into his seat as we discuss the first stage of his long career in F1. “For me, it was very easy in someways because I didn’t really expect anything.“I didn’t know anything about F1. I never went to see a race. The first time I saw it live was when I was in a test myself. So for me it was like if you just go to Formula Renault [for the first time]. I had nothing to worry about – what’s the point? It either goes well or it goes bad. What can you do?” Ultimately, it went very well indeed for Raikkonen, who made such an impression that he was poached by Ron Dennis to replace retiring double world champion Hakkinen at McLaren for 2002. Even a wunderkind like Verstappen had to wait four races into his second season before earning promotion to one of F1’s biggest teams… 

McLAREN: WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN  

Some paddock insiders consider Raikkonen’s five-year stint at McLaren to be his absolute peak. His first grand prix victory at Malaysia in 2003 briefly made him F1’s youngest winner since team founder Bruce McLaren. Raikkonen won eight more times for McLaren in those five seasons, as well as taking 11 pole positions and 36 podiums from 87 starts. He quickly established himself as one of grand prix racing’s most exciting stars, but a world championship title eluded him. He was second to Alonso in 2005, but came closest to breaking through two years earlier, when Raikkonen lost out to Schumacher by just two points. “Back in those days he was massively quick,” recalls Pat Fry, McLaren’s chief engineer during Raikkonen’s stint with the team. “It’s a shame car reliability and engine reliability didn’t work for him really. If you look at him through the early 2000s, he was right up there with the best, wasn’t he? He was absolutely outstanding driving the McLaren through 2003, 2005. He should’ve won the championship in 2005.” Raikkonen was unfortunate in that his time at McLaren coincided with Schumacher’s most dominant seasons at Ferrari and latterly the brief but potent rise of Alonso at Renault. Only once during that period, in ’05, could McLaren be considered to have produced the absolute quickest car on the grid, and senior personnel admit it was too unreliable to ultimately get the job done. In this context, Raikkonen achieved much of his success against the odds. Apart from his first year with the team in 2002 – when he was paired alongside stalwart David Coulthard – Raikkonen was never beaten by his McLaren team-mate across a season. He won many admirers inside the squad for his fearless style of racing. “He was blindingly quick – sometimes the circuit wasn’t big enough to contain him in those early days, but he was pushing to the max and everyone liked it,” remembers McLaren’s chief operating officer Jonathan Neale. “He used to scare me. He scared me because he was so completely fearless. You just knew there was no way he was going to give anything less than 110%, and I don’t mean that lightly. He was just a force of nature.” Out of the car, McLaren found a “completely uncompromising” driver, whose “maverick” style didn’t always sit well with the team’s clean-cut corporate image. “We struggled to find out who he was as he didn’t say very much,” adds Neale. “[But] everybody underestimates him at their peril. He did have a fantastic sense of humour. If there were two drivers going on stage, to do a presentation or a question-and-answer session, he’d be sitting in the back and he’d do an amazing mimic. He had the voices and the phrases, all of that, so he was a sharp observer. “There was never a dull moment, but he was a great racer –somebody who is still spoken of highly in the team for what did with us, for us, and the style in which he did it, which was uncompromising. It was uncompromising in the car, it was uncompromising in the set-up, he was uncompromising on whether he wanted to be with a sponsor. It’s not always easy, but isn’t it refreshing when you find somebody who is brave enough to be candid and frank and not prepared to cower to conformity?

“He wouldn’t suffer fools. Everyone was taken at face value, no airs, no graces, nobody standing on ceremony, what you see is what get, very grounded, but enormous following with the mechanics and engineers – real loyalty. “Because that fire burns very intensely, it was kind of polarising –either you got it or you didn’t. It is quite difficult getting engineers close to him – to be able to have that rapport and reach him without being too much, too little, not a fool. “Any whiff of bullshit and you were toast! But [race engineer] Mark Slade was very good with Kimi and they had an understanding. Mark knew when to leave him alone, and when to push him and there were occasions when Mark was quite assertive with him, but because he built up that trust he could be. It is easy to be intimidated by somebody of that temperament.” Slade has worked with Raikkonen twice through the Finn’s F1 career – first at McLaren and later at Lotus. Slade responded well to Raikkonen’s no-nonsense attitude and fussiness for precision. He says the Raikkonen that drove for McLaren arrived at Woking “well-rounded” and was “massively impressive”. “He knew how to manage tyres, he knew how to set up the car – it was like working with someone who’d done it for five years,” Slade recalls. “He knew exactly what he wanted. It was not like working with a new driver. “The only aspect that was a little bit ragged early on was in qualifying, when we had to put the fuel in the car for the race, so 2003. He had a little bit of a tendency to want to be on pole regardless of the amount of fuel in the car. And there were a couple of races where he went off trying to achieve too much. “We basically banned him from watching the other drivers’qualifying laps. We just told him, ‘Go out and drive the car as quickly as it will go’. We did that for the rest of this season and he didn’t do any more mistakes.” Raikkonen is often portrayed as a lazy driver – someone who simply relies on his natural feel for the car but isn’t particularly interested in doing anything other than driving. Slade argues that’s a misunderstanding of Raikkonen’s approach. It’s not that he is uninterested, rather that he sees clear delineation in responsibilities within teams, and wants to trust those around him to do their jobs properly without interference. Slade admits this approach can compromise Raikkonen when internal politics arise.

“There were times at McLaren when things didn’t go the way they should have for Kimi and if he had been just a little bit more involved, that could have swapped things around a bit,” Slade says. “In the middle of 2005 there were certain things happening with the design direction of the car that didn’t suit Kimi and there was a lot of tension and pressure. I was having to fight Kimi’s corner, because he wasn’t really doing much himself. That was quite stressful. “He didn’t like hanging around in the office for very long. His debriefs were very short, but he gave us the important points and that was almost perfect for me, because it meant we didn’t spend lots of time talking about what was not relevant. He won’t rant about it. It’s just, ‘That’s what we need to fix’. Simple as that. “If people try to push him in a different direction, it’s not going to work because you need him on board. You need to be on board with him and he needs to be on board with you. For me, it was enjoyable to work with him, because it was logical and straightforward. “One of the biggest difficulties with drivers who are less consistent with their approach is trying to filter out this inconsistency. It becomes very difficult very quickly. If he came in saying there’s something wrong with the car, the chances are there’s something wrong with the car – even if you can’t see that on data. Ninety-nine percent of the time he’s right. “When we were doing Michelin tyre testing, they desperately wanted him to do the testing. They told us at one point that he was the best test driver that they worked with. They used to give a little array of tick boxes for different characteristics of the tyre – what the tyres were doing, what the characteristics of the different compounds were. They said there were some drivers who got most of the points correct, but he always got them all correct. “And his consistency of lap time when we tested eight different compounds – his baselines would be within one tenth, and that meant that they could properly analyse the lap time data as well as the driver’s comments.” Slade says he’s never seen anything else like Raikkonen’s “extraordinary level of sensitivity” to the car, to the point where Raikkonen could detect problems with McLaren’s traction control so aware the engineers couldn’t see in their trackside data. The chase for a ‘perfect car’ can be a real curse when too many things aren’t working correctly, but this degree of feel made Raikkonen a formidable weapon during F1’s tyre war between Bridgestone and Michelin. “That played a big part of how it went,” says Raikkonen. “I was very happy to do the tyre tests. We could test 20 different sets of tyres and choose exactly what you wanted, whatever you feel is best for you. It was one extra thing that you could use.” Raikkonen does not agree with those, such as Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe, who would say his McLaren years represent Raikkonen at his peak. But he was certainly unfortunate not to win at least one world title with McLaren, and Slade recalls some truly stunning drives by Raikkonen during that period. “No doubt Michael, Fernando and Kimi were the three guys,” argues Slade, who feels Raikkonen could have won “15 straight races” in 2005 with better reliability. “Then, just slightly behind, DC, [Juan Pablo] Montoya and a few others. When it came to the driving and his racecraft, Kimi was right up there.“In the middle part of the [2005] season the car was phenomenal and he was driving phenomenally well. At Monza, he qualified fastest with the full tank of fuel [before a grid penalty]; at Silverstone, he was half a second per lap quicker than Montoya, who won the race; in France he started 13th and finished second. Japan was awesome because he came from the back and won. “One of the best races he ever did was Indianapolis in 2003, when we were on the Michelin wets and the Michelin wets were rubbish. He finished second. It was fantastic. He just drove his heart out. He didn’t win the race, but it was an absolutely phenomenal drive. “Nurburgring 2006 – the engine was terrible that year and he finished fourth. I remember him coming to the bus afterwards, sweat pouring off him, and he said, ‘I just drove 60 qualifying laps’, and you could see he had. We knew he had to drive phenomenally well to achieve that with the car we had then.” By now Raikkonen had grown increasingly frustrated with life at McLaren and reputedly made an agreement with Ferrari as early as late-2005 to join the Scuderia for 2007. “He signed with Ferrari two years before he moved to Ferrari,” confirms his then-Ferrari team-mate Massa. “I remember when I signed for Ferrari, Kimi already has his contract; the only way I stay in Ferrari is if Michael stops.” Schumacher announced his first retirement from F1 after winning the 2006 Italian GP at Monza. Thus, the way was clear for Raikkonen and Massa to usher in a new era at Maranello.

MARK SLADE RAIKKONEN’S ENGINEER AT McLAREN AND LOTUS

Does Kimi have particular traits in his driving? He’s very, very smooth, very gentle, very precise – minimal inputs into the car. He wants the car to do the work. Most drivers tend to be a bit more aggressive with inputs, which can have benefits when the tyres are hard and difficult to get into the working window. The other thing is power steering. He came to us and complained about power steering. We spent a lot of time fixing it. Then he went to Ferrari and apparently complained about power steering there. Then he came back to Lotus and complained about power steering. So the feel of the steering is very, very important. He doesn’t want any friction in it. He doesn’t want any play on the brake pedal. Also, Mark [Arnall] always carried a special cloth to clean the windscreen, because if there was a slightest finger print or scratch, we had to change it.

He says he hates understeer and you often hear him complain about the front… Even at McLaren there were occasions where we did have issues. Canada was a good one in 2005. We were slower on new tyres than on used tyres because he couldn’t get the new tyre temperature to work. The start of the lap can be a real problem if he just hasn’t got the front grip that he needs to get the car into corners. I would say that’s probably the only real weakness. There were times also that was an advantage, because he was a lot more gentle on tyres. When we won the race with Lotus in 2013 in Melbourne, he just walked away with it because he could do one stop. Those tyres were absolutely perfect for him, then Pirelli changed the tyres and that disadvantaged him unfortunately.

Why does he often seem to make mistakes in qualifying? He takes a high-risk approach to qualifying. It’s all about corner entry speed. And if you get the corner wrong you tend to drop a lot of time. Other drivers probably prioritise the exit a little bit more. He’s trying to carry speed through; that is high risk. 

WORLD CHAMPION THEN DITCHED BY FERRARI

Raikkonen’s Ferrari career got off to a dream start – pole position and victory in his first race in Melbourne, and of course he went on to claim the championship as Ferrari backed his bid to overhaul the McLarens of Alonso and rookie sensation Lewis Hamilton. Raikkonen succeeded in this mission by a solitary point when team-mate Massa moved aside for him to win the season finale in Brazil.“For me it counts much more than any others – if I had won with McLaren or with somebody else,” Raikkonen says. “Ferrari is Ferrari.I got close a few times in the McLaren. I mean yes in some people’s eyes I [could] have won three championships. I didn’t deserve it.In the end, whoever gets the most points deserves it. “Would I be happier with three championships? It makes no difference. I am happy with what I have achieved.” It felt as though F1 almost owed Raikkonen that championship– regardless of the peculiar circumstances – as payback for the disappointment and near-misses at McLaren. But although he finally conquered the world in his first season as a Ferrari driver, Raikkonen never fully established himself as the team’s number one. Raikkonen says his biggest concern before coming to Ferrari was having to adjust to Bridgestone tyres after years spent honing his car on Michelin rubber, but according to Rob Smedley – Massa’s race engineer throughout Raikkonen’s first stint at Ferrari – the tyres were “never the limiting factor” for Raikkonen during this period.“In terms of raw talent he definitely was one of the best drivers on the grid when he came to us,” Smedley says. “[But] he very much needs a particular set-up. He needs the front to work for him very positively. He turns the car in very early, a little bit like Michael, like Fernando, like Valtteri [Bottas]. They turn very early in the corner, and due to that he’s very demanding on the front-end in that phase of the corner.“He needs to start sending the car into the apex almost immediately when he starts thinking about the corner, especially in medium-speed corners. When he first came to us, it took us a longtime to understand what he wanted. “He’s the driver who, probably the most I’ve ever seen of anyone, is absolutely and entirely unfazed by rear locking at the start of heavy braking. To be able to deal with that and not to be fazed by that is something quite incredible. “We spent a lot of our time in that winter of 2007 attempting to understand how on earth he was putting the brake balance so far rearward. He was running probably 8% more rearward than Felipe and the other drivers – that’s another planet. “We were quite surprised by that, but actually what he was trying to do, in his own way, was to make the car turn as soon as he asked for it.As soon as he asked for response out of the steering, he wanted the car to turn. He had a particular way of driving the car and I think it took us a little bit of time to understand that. Once we did, we got performance from him.” But not consistently. Raikkonen was closely matched with Massa through most of 2007, but would likely have been asked to support his team-mate’s own bid for the championship had Massa not suffered a damper failure while running ahead of Raikkonen in that year’s Italian GP – and narrowly leading Raikkonen in the standings. Massa, who describes Raikkonen as “for sure one of the strangest people I’ve met”, was a fan of the Finn’s honesty as a team-mate, but rates Schumacher and Alonso higher: “Definitely Michael and Fernando were stronger – not quicker, but more complete.” The following year Raikkonen was cast into the supporting role, as his title defence fell apart amid a run of four consecutive non-scoring races in the second half of the season. Massa was unlucky not to become world champion in ’08 and was Ferrari’s leading driver through the first part of a difficult 2009 campaign too, before he suffered a terrible head injury during qualifying for the Hungarian GP. “We never were really comfortable – like if you drive and you have to try and do things that are not normal,” says Raikkonen of his first stint at Ferrari. “We never really found it and put things together. We changed the cars a little bit, but we just struggled compared to what we did in the first bit.” Raikkonen showed flashes of form in a very difficult 2009 Ferrari, which was not a strong answer to the regulatory upheaval of the previous winter. He qualified on the front row and finished third at Monaco, but he wasn’t proving so relentlessly impressive as he had done in his McLaren years– against a team-mate not rated as one of the absolute best on the grid.

“In ’08 Felipe was still in the stage of rapid improvement and overall Felipe was pretty much quicker than him, definitely in qualifying,” adds Smedley, who reckons Raikkonen’s “pure natural talent” made him better than Massa at looking after the rear tyres in races.“That was one of the things that really surprised me, because I expected him to come in and be blisteringly quick but not really manage things in such a mechanically sympathetic way, and in fact the opposite was true. One of the strengths he’s always got is that he can take the tyres further than anybody else and, wherever he goes, the team tries to exploit that.“It’s never a matter of application with Kimi – you just plug him in and he just does it. You often wonder [what would happen] if he had the level of application of others with his level of natural skill and tenacity, [but] one thing you can say about him is that he doesn’t bring any politics. The guy is absolutely apolitical.“I think that comes a little bit from not being interested in this world. The thing that is really important to him is going racing on a Sunday afternoon, qualifying, trying to be better than anybody else. And all the other periphery bits do not interest him. “And that’s kind of where he probably differs to 99.9% of the rest of us in F1. You wake up thinking about it, you go to sleep thinking about it – much to the annoyance of my wife! But that’s how we are– constantly striving to do better and be the best. I don’t think Kimi has that. I mean, he likes it here, he comes and drives his car, then he goes home, and doesn’t think about it a great deal after that.” The feeling inside Ferrari was that Massa was establishing himself as the quicker driver, and that messed with Raikkonen’s head. Raikkonen’s form certainly picked up following Massa’s accident. Kimi was on the podium at Budapest, Valencia and Monza, and beat Giancarlo Fisichella’s Force India to victory at Spa. His performances were made to look all the more remarkable by how badly Massa’s stand-ins Luca Badoer (who qualified slowest of all at Valencia and Spa) and Fisichella (who took over after Spa) struggled. But it wasn’t enough for Ferrari, which elected to pay Raikkonen out of the final two years of his contract to bring Alonso on board for 2010. Raikkonen is still guarded about the events that unfolded behind closed doors at Maranello, but says he was keen to get out of F1 in any case. “I have nothing to hide really,” says Raikkonen, who originally never planned for a long career in F1. “That’s how it played out and I was happy at that point to say, ‘OK, that’s fine and I’ll go’. Honestly, somethings happen in life and I didn’t feel bad about it. Obviously, I had a contract, but that got dealt with. They obviously wanted something else at that point, and for me that’s how it goes sometimes. I wanted to do something else anyhow.”

RETURN FROM THE WILDERNESS

Raikkonen was temporarily done with F1, but F1 wasn’t done with him. Throughout his two-year stint experimenting in the World Rally Championship, proposals were made for his return. Eventually, Raikkonen realised he missed the joy of wheel-to-wheel competition so began thinking seriously about a comeback. He held talks with Williams – “I had a meeting with Toto [Wol��]; he came to my home” – and Lotus, before opting to make his comeback with the Enstone outfit.“The year before I got people asking me if I wanted to come back– there was a lot of talk but I felt if I want to come back I needed to have a current team that people will at least try to put the money into,” Raikkonen explains. “I didn’t need the money, but I wanted a car and a team that actually had some chances to do something good, rather than just being there.”Raikkonen enjoyed a superb first season with Lotus. He finished every one of the 20 races held in 2012, was on the podium seven times, and claimed a victory in Abu Dhabi – the infamous GP where he told the team to “leave me alone I know what I’m doing” over the radio while preparing for a safety car restart.Then-Lotus team principal Eric Boullier recalls a driver who was“a bit rusty over one lap” at first, but “brilliant” in the races, despite spending two seasons out of the game.“His capability and racecraft was amazing,” recalls Boullier.“The good thing for him [was] he had Grosjean near to him, and he [Grosjean] was very fast on one lap but not as good [overall].The most amazing thing about Kimi is he has a great understanding.He has a GPS in his head. He’s doing his own strategy, it’s amazing. ”Boullier recalls the 2012 Hungarian GP as the perfect example of Raikkonen’s craft, where the Finn came from the third row of the grid to beat Grosjean (who qualified on the front row) to second by saving his tyres and running longer in each stint. “You just have to guess sometimes what he wants, because he’snot the best communicator in the world,” Boullier adds. “Kimi gets quite stressed sometimes; he needs people who understand him and can handle him.“He is charismatic – actually, his charisma is strong enough to make people fans of him. What would be better would be to have more motivation to push people around him. He’s not as complete as maybe a Vettel, but he is a great driver. Some drivers need support. He’s one of the guys who can do it on his own. He’s incredibly talented.“He’s quite easy [to work with] to be honest – as long as you give him space to breathe and you’re not on his back all the time.

That was key – to let him live his life. ”Reuniting Raikkonen with Slade (who came across from Mercedes to work with Kimi again) also proved crucial in helping Raikkonen get the most from his comeback, and Lotus get the best out of Raikkonen. “When he first came back, he was really enthusiastic,” remembers Slade. “Unfortunately, he got messed around a bit on the salary side of things. That was an annoyance, but in terms of the driving, I felt he was still exactly the same. I don’t think it’s any secret that he’snot a big fan of the F1 paddock scene and the stuff that goes with it.”It seemed those two seasons of F1, racing on the most extremely fragile rubber of the Pirelli control tyre era, also suited Raikkonen’s particular skillset. Often he would score a big result by making fewer pitstops than his rivals, but Raikkonen himself reckons the design of that generation of Lotus – conceived by James Allison’s team around the Renault V8 engine and exhaust-blown downforce – made more of a difference, giving him the “pure front-end” grip he needs to drive well. Whatever, the combination gelled superbly. Raikkonen added eight more podiums to his tally in 2013, winning the first race of the season in Melbourne and finishing second six times. An unfortunate retirement at Spa that year (thanks to a visor tear-off blocking a brake duct) broke an incredible run of 27 consecutive points finishes stretching back to the Bahrain GP of 2012. “He’s relentless,” says Slade. “I’d say Fernando is the closest in terms of achieving consistent results.” But into the latter part of 2013, Grosjean began to establish himself as the stronger and generally faster of the two Lotus drivers,even though he was twice defeated by Raikkonen overall in the championship. Grosjean describes Raikkonen as “the perfect  benchmark” and says he learned a lot from racing alongside the Finn. “As team-mates we didn’t talk much – maybe three times in two years!” Grosjean says. “Everybody thinks he doesn’t give a shit; he actually does. He works. Same as Fernando – the only thing he thinks on Sunday is 2pm, how to get the car to where he wants it to go.“Once I had a rear soft spring for a race and Kimi tried it and liked it. He was pushing to get the springs. He was trying even though you think he doesn’t [care]. It was interesting that everybody thinks he [just] comes and drives the car and goes. He actually works. ”Their head-to-head record as team-mates is also skewed slightly by the fact Raikkonen skipped the final two races of 2013 – quitting the team over a financial dispute and electing to have surgery on a long-standing back injury, legacy of a testing accident during his first season in F1 at Sauber. “Unfortunately the whole thing [was] destroyed by people that, in my mind, were just stupid to be honest,” Raikkonen says. “They had a great thing on their hands. “It’s not my business, but I left there purely because I didn’t get paid. Without it, who knows? But then obviously I got the offer from Ferrari. I never had a bad feeling with them when I left, despite people thinking that. You know how people always think it will end in a mess, but they offered me a new deal and I went back.”

WHY RAIKKONEN OWES HIS SECOND F1 CAREER TO RALLYING AND NASCAR

Kimi Raikkonen’s two-year sabbatical from F1 in 2010-2011 led him to try his hand at other forms of motorsport he’d long wished to dabble in but never had the time to do so while fully absorbed into grand prix racing’s goldfish bowl. Having sampled Rally Finland in the summer of 2009, Raikkonen contested most of the 2010 World Rally Championship as part of the Citroen Junior Team, and nine rounds of the 2011 championship with a DS 3 run under his own ‘Ice 1 Racing’ banner. There were many incidents, but also many top 10s. “I always wanted to try the rally stuff, because it looks so difficult,”says Raikkonen. “I wanted to see how it would go and I was happy to have the help from Red Bull to do it. I still think it’s a great sport, it’s so difficult. The problem is that it needs time – experience counts a lot more in rallying than in circuit racing.“In rallying you have to put the same effort in driving, but you [also] have to listen to your co-driver. The most difficult thing is that you have to think about what he says and then react. That takes too much time. When that starts to happen automatically then you can go faster, then it gets easier.I was close to getting to that point,then things happened and I ended up back in F1. ”Raikkonen also travelled Stateside in 2011, to try his hand at NASCAR. He contested the lower-tier Nationwide and Truck series races at Charlotte, qualifying mid-pack for his Nationwide outing.It was this experience that refired Raikkonen’s enthusiasm for circuit racing and accelerated his F1 return. “Without that happening then I would definitely not be here today,”he says. “I would never have lasted this long if I hadn’t had a few years doing something else, trying things.

MARANELLO COMEBACK

It was during Raikkonen’s financial dispute with Lotus that he agreed a two-year deal to return to Maranello. Initially, it looked as though signing Raikkonen was the perfect insurance policy for Ferrari,which seemed in danger of losing Alonso after failing to carry the fight to Vettel and Red Bull in 2013. But despite publicly criticising the team and being admonished by company president Luca di Montezemolo, Alonso stayed put (for the moment) and he and Raikkonen became team-mates for 2014, as Massa departed for a fresh start at Williams. Raikkonen’s first season back at the Scuderia was a real struggle.The first year of F1’s current V6 hybrid turbo era was Ferrari’s least competitive since 1993. The car was bad, Raikkonen couldn’t adapt it to his driving style, and was demolished in the championship by Alonso, 161 points to 55. Jonathan Neale recalls how McLaren found its suspension development pulled “in two different directions” owing to Raikkonen’s demand for instant steering response from its cars, and Pat Fry, who was Ferrari’s chief engineer when Raikkonen returned in 2014, found his team coming up against an age-old problem – one exacerbated by stiff and hard Pirelli tyres that Raikkonen often struggled to get working for a single flying lap in qualifying. “He has a very smooth driving style – you’ve got to get rid of the understeer in the car,” says Fry. “You can obviously play around with suspension geometries and stuff like that to try and give him the feel,and sort out power-steering and all that stuff. ”The process was made trickier by Alonso’s long-standing presence as Ferrari’s number one driver, which inevitably led the team in a development direction that suited Alonso, before he departed for the ill-fated McLaren-Honda project.“In all the years I’ve worked with Kimi, the year I saw him struggle the most was that first year back at Ferrari,” says his long-time trainer Mark Arnall. “Coming from Lotus, where he had a good front-end on the car and had podium after podium after podium, it’s not like he suddenly forgot how to drive – he just couldn’t get a balance with that 2014 car.” But Raikkonen commanded the faith of technical director James Allison, with whom he worked at Lotus previously, and knew that he would have to play the long game at Ferrari to get back to where he needed to be.“I knew what I was getting into,” Raikkonen says. “With the engineers, I wouldn’t say they were bad – maybe the fit wasn’t what I wanted. It just didn’t work, I suppose, and our car was not very good.

“The front end has to be right there. If it’s not right, it’s not right,unfortunately. When it’s right things are very easy. Even when you have a good year, it’s a little percentage that’s perfect. There’s always something. There’s so many things that you have no control over.“Some days everything goes perfectly fine, and some days whatever you do it seems to be against you, but I’ve been long enough in the sport to know it. People look at you in one race and if you struggle they slag you off, but I’m used to it so it doesn’t bother me too much.“I want myself to do well and I know what I can do. That’s more important for me. Obviously, it’s not nice when you are in a team like Ferrari and the results are not coming, [but] I had no issues with them and I knew that things would turn out to be just fine with time. It just took some patience.” Raikkonen’s form has gradually improved since that annus horribilis, during which time the Ferrari senior management has changed, the technical structure has changed, the identity of his team-mate has changed, and so has his engineering group. Drafting in Dave Greenwood as his race engineer at the end of 2014 has made a massive difference for Raikkonen. “The car has been getting better and better every year, and a big part for me has been the people,” Raikkonen explains. “Dave is for sure one of the greatest guys that I have ever worked with. I would compare him with Slade – I very highly rate them. “For me it’s important that when we do something, everything has to be exactly like it should be. A very easy example: the ride height,if it’s [supposed] to be 20mm, it has to be 20mm; it can’t be 21mm or 19mm.“When everything is ‘close enough’, and you have five or six things like that, we all know in F1 how much difference small things make,then suddenly the lap time is not so perfect anymore.”Vettel has generally outperformed Raikkonen since arriving at Maranello in 2015, but their similar set-up demands and harmonious working relationship is helping drive Ferrari’s development in a single direction, and the Scuderia is now finally carrying the fight to Mercedes in the world championship – though it is Vettel leading the charge rather than Raikkonen. “Of all F1 drivers, he is probably closer to him [Vettel] than any of the others,” says Arnall, who arranged for Vettel to travel with Raikkonen on a private jet when Vettel was first in F1, and recalls Vettel’s rapid progression playing badminton against Raikkonen. “Kimi always liked Seb and I think Seb always liked Kimi. They are good friends – as much as you can be in this sort of environment. “The thing about Kimi is that he is not political at all, so I think to be a team-mate of, he is actually very easy as he doesn’t stir up any shit in the background – he is very transparent. Harmony in the team is something that is massively underrated. It makes a huge difference.”Paired alongside Vettel, Raikkonen’s own performances have steadily improved too, to the point where he has earned three contract extensions, which will keep him in F1 until after his 39th birthday.Questions about his ultimate speed and consistency remain, though, stoked further by occasional criticism from Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne, who has described Raikkonen as an occasional “laggard” in races. But Raikkonen’s pole position in Monaco proves he can still be faster than anyone when things are right, and his pernickety obsession with car set-up and tyre behaviour, plus the deep levels of valuable experience from F1’s tyre war era he can bring to bear in an age of severely limited testing, make him a valuable commodity, even if the price is the odd lacklustre performance.“I think Kimi is one of those guys that if he thought, ‘I just can’t drive one of these cars as quick as I used to’, he would stop,” reckons Arnall. “Kimi brings a shit load of experience,he’s very good with the development of the car, very non-political, an easy team-mate for people to have, so I think as an overall package,he is [still] very good.“I think his belief is that he can still compete near the top. He is very honest with himself – if he didn’t think that was the case, he’d stop.”Many would argue that he should have stopped a while ago, that his continuing presence on the grid, in such a coveted seat, is baffling when you consider he hasn’t been definitively quicker than any of his last four team-mates in F1. But what does Raikkonen himself think – does he believe he is as good a driver now as he ever was? “That’s so hard to say,” he replies. “I feel that I can drive as well as 2007 and 2001, or whatever people think has been my best ever [year]. For me, if I didn’t feel that I can drive well, or couldn’t win races or championships, I wouldn’t be here, because I don’t have interest to waste my own time and everyone else’s time. “I value my own time too much to use it on something that I wouldn’t be happy with, or that I wouldn’t think that I can actually do well. Plus, all the other people who would waste their time and money or on something that I just want to be part of. It’s not the most friendly place to be if you don’t really want to be…” That Ferrari continues to place its faith in Raikkonen suggests it feels, beyond the headline results and numbers, that he is still fundamentally among the very best drivers in the world, and that it recognises those deeper layers of style, character, substance and ability that make Raikkonen something more than the sum of his parts. He is enigmatic and mercurial, hasn’t been world champion for a decade, but clearly possesses extra qualities that F1’s biggest team finds are still worth investing in. He may lack the single-minded dedication of some of his peers,he may not be the out-and-out fastest driver on the grid anymore, he may well be too Button-esque in his over-reliance on particular car characteristics to drive quickly. He may not be as adaptable as some of his rivals, and F1 may only be a job to him, rather than an all-consuming obsession – but what’s wrong with being naturally gifted enough at your job that you don’t feel the need to take your work home with you every day?His critics will argue that’s not good enough, that Raikkonen has long outstayed his welcome. If Ferrari hands him another contract extension, they will no doubt be outraged if this enigma is given yet another lease of life. But one thing is for sure, Raikkonen will not care what they think. “I can live my life very happy,” Raikkonen says. “Obviously, my aim is to win races and I’m not happy when I’m not doing well. My biggest issue when I’m getting older is that I care too much. In the past, I didn’t care much. Now, when I have a bad weekend it’s more painful because I care more. Before it was still painful, but I got over it very quickly. “I never tried to be anything else than myself. If people like it, that’s good; if people don’t like it, that’s fine. As long as I’m happy what I’m doing, that’s my only interest. I’m not trying to please people because then I don’t live my life as I should. I live my life for myself. “I always said I have a life and that F1 is just a part of that. It’s not like F1 is all your life and then you have nothing. In my mind, I have the opposite. I mean F1, yes I love it and I enjoy doing it, but it’s not my life. My life is outside of it, and that’s how it should be.”

MARK ARNALL- RAIKKONEN’S LONG-TIME PERSONAL TRAINER

How does the Kimi of now compare to the Kimi you first knew back in 2001?

He didn’t really care too much about the PR stuff, he wasn’t interested in that glamour side of it, being famous, I think he would much rather be anonymous! Every time he got in the car all he wanted to do was drive the crap out of it. When I started working with him, I could never imagine him being a father. Now seeing him with two kids is a phenomenal transformation. He is fantastic dad. I think all drivers, everyone learns, go through life and grow; experience teaches a lot. If you look at Kimi, the PR stuff he does now and what the sponsors say, everyone is super happy with him, and he’s got a global following of fans.

He doesn’t give much away in public; is he a shy character?

I think that mysterious side to him is intriguing for people. I don’t think he is particularly shy – the whole fan side of things,he obviously understands Formula 1, knows he is a popular driver, but it is not something he deliberately tries to play to, he just tries to get on with the job and what comes with it comes with it. One area he is very good is with kids. There was a guy who come up to me in Spa once, with this charity, to say this girl has cancer and she’d just love a picture with him or to say ‘hi’, and he spent 25 minutes sitting down and talking to her.

Is he quite a difficult character to work with? He polarises opinion – some people get him and say he is brilliant,others say he is completely closed off, difficult to work with…

The nicest thing I’d say about Kimi is what you see is what you get. Zero bullshit, zero politics. Kimi’s always been his own character and will always make his own decisions. He’s got a very strong head on those shoulders, so if he doesn’t want to do something, it is really difficult to get him to do it.

It sounds like he is not too demanding, quite independent and knows his own mind.

That is quite an accurate description of what he is like. I think he is probably the opposite to what most people think. If I was to describe Kimi, it would be ‘Mr 110%’. Goes into the gym and goes 110%. If he is lying on his sofa, he’ll go 110% horizontal! When he drives anything, it would be 110%, if he goes out it is 110%. I think that is just the way he lives his life.

The public persona is the ‘Iceman’: cool, disinterested, closed-off. Is he really like that?

In most situations, he is like that, but Kimi is actually a very warm, big-hearted character, and he has got a phenomenal sense of humour, but that is not really something people see. He needs to like people as well. If he doesn’t particularly like being with someone, he doesn’t do anything other than just ignore them.There is no bullshit, if he doesn’t like someone, he is quite straight about it. I think I’ve seen all the different versions of him, but I wouldn’t carry on working with him if I thought he was an arse. I actually really like him. I think he is super genuine, superkind. That is something people don’t really see so much.

[rickhorrow]

10 To Watch : Mayor’s Edition 3419

10 TO WATCH : WEEK OF MARCH 4

MAYOR’S EDITION

The MLS ball is rolling. This weekend saw Major League Soccer kick off season 24, complete with new teams, new messaging, and a new playoff format. New this year is the addition of a 24th club in FC Cincinnati, along with a new stadium in Minnesota, Allianz Field. MLS also launched the league’s new mobile app campaign – “Live Your Colors” – which will run on broadcast and digital platforms throughout the season. The league will look to top last season’s successes, which included record revenue for attendance and record TV viewership. On the sponsorship side, Sporting Kansas City and Hallmark locked in a creative new partnership designed to align the brands around “opportunities to put more care into the world by reaching fans, players and families across the soccer community.” In Indianapolis, the Indiana state senate has approved legislation that "keeps the effort alive to fund" a $150 million stadium for an MLS team, according to the Indianapolis Star. The bill would also fund a proposed 25-year lease extension for the Pacers at Bankers Life Fieldhouse and an Indiana Convention Center expansion.

To commemorate fans and players across Latin American and US Hispanic communities, the NBA is celebrating its 13th annual Noches Éne•Bé•A Latin nights program. Throughout the month of March, NBA games will feature celebratory warmup shirts and merchandise as well as 15 games with in-arena festivities. All 30 NBA teams wearing specially-designed Fanatics Branded Noches Éne•Bé•A warmup shirts during the first two weeks of March. The celebrations will be supported by unique content on the league’s English and Spanish-language social media pages. The NBA has proven time and again that it is a trend setter in cultural outreach across the globe, whether than means signing signature Eastern European players or conducting off season marketing tours in China. The annual Latin nights program is just another example of this mindset, albeit conducted here at home.

The NBA sees a big payoff for a little patch. The NBA’s jersey patch program is more than halfway through its three-season test and the results are clear: It’s a slam dunk. As the league continues to search for new revenue, the patch program has delivered. The 29 deals – the Oklahoma City Thunder remain the only club without a patch partner – generate more than $150 million per year in new revenue for the teams, while sponsors receive 25%-50% more exposure than they would have on a comparable spend, according to Navigate Research. With that in mind, the league is trying to figure out how to make more money off the program. One way is to expand where jerseys with team patches are sold. Fans want exact replicas of what players wear on-court, but those can’t be found at a department store or sporting goods website. Fans can only get those at team-controlled stores or sites, and even then they are tough to find. The patch sponsorship pilot program has far exceeded league expectations. In April, 2016, Commissioner Adam Silver projected the sponsorships would generate around $100 million in newfound revenue, so the league has exceeded its goal by more than 50%. 

Human Kinetics and Mascot Books have launched one of the most anticipated sports business chronicles ever assembled, The Sport Business Handbook: Insights From 100+ Leaders Who Shaped 50 Years of the Industry. This anthology, compiled by Rick Horrow with Rick Burton and Myles Schrag, will take fans, students and those involved in the sports and entertainment industry into the lives of more than 100 executives during the boom era of sports business and marketing. The collection features pieces from league commissioners such as Gary Bettman of the NHL, Don Garber of MLS, Paul Tagliabue of the NFL, Oliver Luck of the XFL,  and Nick Sakiewicz of The National Lacrosse League; executives such as NBC Sports president Mark Lazarus, Liverpool’s Peter Moore, the Vikings’ Kevin Warren, and Larry Lucchino of the Red Sox; administrators such as the University of Oklahoma’s Joe Castiglione, Arizona State’s Ray Anderson, and N.C. State’s Deborah Yow; and professional athletes such as the Miami Heat’s Shane Battier, Olympic champions Scott Hamilton and Angela Ruggiero, and baseball Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. These leaders tell stories in their own words about lessons learned, achieving success and overcoming failure, and ultimately inspire readers to forge their own paths in the industry.

PGA Tour now accepting gambling related sponsorships. The PGA Tour has revised its regulations toward sponsorships with gambling brands, which can now be considered for Official Marketing Partners for all six tours overseen by the PGA Tour. In addition, tournaments and players also can seek sponsored deals with such entities. “As the situation with legalized sports betting in the U.S. has evolved since the Supreme Court’s ruling last May, we’ve seen broader acceptance in sports betting and gaming involvement with pro sports,” PGA Tour Senior Vice President Andy Levinson said. “We felt it was time to look at our policies, given the public perception around gaming, and to update those policies to be consistent with public sentiment.” The PGA Tour is making major sponsorship changes by allowing certain gambling deals and broadening the liquor category for players. At a Tour meeting at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, players were briefed on the changes that now will allow sponsorships with casinos and gambling resorts, effective immediately. The Tour is also allowing official marketing partnerships and tournament title deals with certain gambling entities and daily fantasy sports concerns.

Fanatics will sell sports merchandise via South Korean site Coupang. According to SportsBusiness Journal, Fanatics is taking the wraps off a 10-year deal with Korean e-commerce site Coupang, in which Fanatics will launch a store offering hundreds of thousands of licensed sports items in May. The “marketplace” deal includes an exclusive provider designation for Fanatics, and follows a similar arrangement Fanatics made with Walmart.com, announced last month. Renowned as the “Amazon of South Korea,” nine-year-old Coupang is that country's largest online retailer, with a valuation of $9 billion. Late last year, Coupang got a $2 billion capital infusion from a fund controlled by SoftBank, which in 2017 made a $1 billion investment in Fanatics. Like the majority of America’s pro sports leagues, Fanatics is fully appreciating the growth potential in Asia; South Korea is only its latest conquest.

Epic Games laid out the road ahead for Fortnite esports, where $100 million is up for grabs this year, leading into this summer’s Fortnite World Cup. The Fortnite World Cup, where $30 million will be on the line, will take place in New York City July 26-28 with each player guaranteed a minimum of $50,000, and featuring both an individual competition (Solos) and a two-player-team event (Duos). Leading up to the championship, players can punch their ticket well as providing prize support to select third-party tournaments. These initiatives will allow the developer to award the remainder of the $100 million in prizing it committed to Fortnite’s first competitive season last year via ten weekly online qualifier tournaments beginning on April 13. Each qualifier will award $1 million in total prizing. The news was announced in an esports update from Epic Games, which also noted that the publisher will offer an additional $1 million a week in separate tournaments through the end of the year, with competitions that will “feature a wider variety of modes and formats.” In another sign of its reach, Epic also vowed to continue to offer prize support to select third-party tournaments.

MLB gives Sportradar AG its exclusive data for sports betting wagers. A multiyear contract has authorized Sportradar to sell Major League Baseball’s official data to bookmakers and media companies in the U.S. and on an international scale. According to Bloomberg, the Swiss firm will be the exclusive gatekeeper for MLB data starting at the beginning of the 2019 season and will serve as an intermediary for sports-betting operators that want to offer in-game bets on baseball games. With the deal, MLB joins the NBA as the only major sport leagues to have U.S. gambling data deals. In addition to data for sportsbooks, Sportradar will have the rights to distribute live game video to overseas gambling houses to pair alongside odds. With the naturally slower pace of baseball, gambling provides huge potential to draw in new fans around the globe who will want to place wagers throughout the 9+ innings of each 162 regular season games

Sports betting is increasing the subscriber count for Bleacher Report (B/R). Subscriptions are flowing in for B/R’s betting channel which has grown three times faster than all other general content channels. Although the B/R subscriptions are free, the company can use the channels to mine user information on programming, advertising, and marketing. According to Reuters, B/R’s app has been downloaded more than 20 million times since 2011 and has nearly five million active monthly users. B/R also announced that it will open a studio inside one of Caesars Entertainment Corp’s Las Vegas casino sometime in April. After the Supreme Court ruled to legalize, regulate, and tax sports betting last May, now roughly 63% of fans between 21-34 years of age think wagering on sports is acceptable, while 51% of all sports fans welcome sports gambling. Many companies have rushed in to be the gatekeepers of sports betting knowledge and it seems that B/R is one leading the pack.

The NFL held its third annual Women's Careers in Football Forum around the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis last week. The program is "designed to promote and increase the number of women working in NFL jobs," according to the Indianapolis Star. According to the NFL, 19 women have "landed a total of 26 jobs with nine NFL teams, six colleges" and three AAF teams in the first two years of the program, and 42 women in attendance this year are hoping to follow suit. NFL Senior Director of Football Development Samantha Rapoport said, "We're seeing progress, we're certainly seeing a lot more women enter into the pipeline, but women are still vastly underrepresented." Colts GM Chris Ballard is one of five execs in attendance at the event, along with Giants Senior VP and GM Dave Gettleman, Rams GM Les Snead, Eagles VP of Football Operations Andrew Berry, and Chargers Director of Player Personnel JoJo Wooden. Ballard is there because he "believes in the program's goal: increasing the number of women in NFL front offices." Ballard offered Colts co-owner and Vice Chair Carlie Irsay-Gordon as an "example as somebody who's brought a different perspective to the Colts organization by constantly asking the right kinds of questions.”

[gbshorttrack-blog]

Bronze for GB’s Jack Burrows at Europa Cup Final

28th March 2017

Three members of the GB Short Track Speed Skating world class programme along with five British club based skaters competed at the ISU Europa Cup Short Track Speed Skating finals in Hasselt, Belgium last weekend, 24th to 26th March 2017. The best junior skaters from Europe had qualified through either the Danubia series of competitions (East Europe) or the StarClass series (West Europe).

Aydin Djemal, Jack Burrows and Jonathan Moody from the world class programme, along with Solomon Prempeh, Theo Collins and Olivia Weedon from Aldwych Speed Skating Club, and Isabelle Roberts and Sophie Robertson from Nottingham Ice Racing Club qualified for the event based on their success at the StarClass series throughout the 2016/2017 season. At StaClass, Jack Burrows, 19, had won two gold medals in the Mens Junior A 500m,  20 year old Aydin Djemal won two bronze medals in the Men's 1,000m, whilst Jonathan Moody,18, won Bronze medals in both the 1500m and 1000m Mens Junior A event.

Day one at the Europa Cup Final was the 1500m event. Jonathan Moody reached the A final of the Mens Junior A competition, and despite leading early in the race, fell with 5 laps to go. Jasper Brunsman from the Netherlands won gold. Aydin Djemal reached the Mens final, finishing in 4th place, Leon Bloemfoh from the Netherlands took gold.

On the second day, there was Bronze medal success for Jack Burrows in the 500m, current British Record holder. The event was won by Zvejnieks of Latvia, with Desmet of Belgium in silver. Jonathan Moody finished 5th overall in the 500m after winning the B final. Olivia Weedon reached the A final in the Ladies Junior C competition finishing in 5th place. The winner was Georgie Dalrymple (Netherlands).

After his 500m bronze medal win, Jack Burrows said:

“I knew from my previous results in the 500m this season that I would be a favourite for this distance. My aim was to medal in the 500m but I knew it would be hard to reach the final with such a high standard at the event this weekend. There were five skaters that potentially could get a medal and I am grateful that I had such a good team around me to push me and help me to get this medal, it’s a positive reflection of everyone's efforts this weekend."

On the final day, it was the 1000m event. Aydin Djemal finished 1st place in the B final of the Mens event, a 5th place overall, the overall winner was Mylan Elzink (Netherlands). Meanwhile Jonathan Moody and Jack Burrows finished in 6th and 7th place respectively in the Mens Junior A event, Lorenzo Morrone (Italy) won the gold.

Team Leader for GB Short Track, Richard Shoebridge reflected on the weekend saying:

"It has been a great weekend to wrap up the StarClass series for this season. Our team, consisting of a mix of club, academy and squad skaters, created a very supportive and energetic environment. We had some great performances namely the individual medal from Jack Burrows, followed by consistent finishes from Jonathan Moody in the Junior A category.  Our team captain, Aydin Djemal, had some solid performances in the senior category,  really showing his experience and leadership qualities throughout his racing and also within the team environment. Our two Academy skaters, Isabelle Roberts and Solomon Prempeh, impressed myself and the other staff members over the weekend. Both set difficult process based goals and worked hard to achieve them. It's a great start for the Academy skaters leading into the programme’s first full year.”

“As for myself, it was a great experience being Team Leader for the first time. After coming back from a very successful European Youth Olympic Festival in Turkey it was great to be part of the StarClass team that has been successful throughout this competition season. I'm very excited for the future of all the athletes and next weekend will be another stepping stone in their developments as they battle it out for the British Champion crowns in their respective age groups."   

The full results of the Europa Cup Final can be found at:www.shorttrackonline.info

The final event of the season for the British skaters is the USANA British Short Track Speed Skating Championships which will take place at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham on 1st and 2nd April 2017. It is a free event for spectators.

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(Olympics) S. Korea's figure skater Cha Jun-hwan finishes 15th in men's singles at PyeongChang

Click here for More Olympics Updates https://www.winterolympian.com/olympics-s-koreas-figure-skater-cha-jun-hwan-finishes-15th-in-mens-singles-at-pyeongchang/

(Olympics) S. Korea's figure skater Cha Jun-hwan finishes 15th in men's singles at PyeongChang

By Kim Boram

GANGNEUNG, South Korea, Feb. 17 (Yonhap) — South Korean teenage skating star Cha Jun-hwan again set a fresh personal high both in his free skate and overall scores to finish 15th at the PyeongChang Winter Games, marking the highest Olympic ranking by a Korea-born athlete in men’s figure skating.

Skating to the original soundtrack from “The Postman,” Cha earned 165.16 points in the free program and an overall 248.59 to finish 15th in the men’s singles held at Gangneung Ice Arena. His personal best scores were 160.13 in the free skate and 242.45 overall.

The 16-year-old also gained a personal high of 83.43 points in the short program on the previous day.

His 15th-place finish was two notches higher than Jung Sung-il’s 17th at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994.

At the same time, Cha is the first South Korean male skater to compete at the Winter Olympics since Salt Lake City 2002 and also the first South Korean man to skate in the free program at the Olympics since Nagano 1998, when Lee Kyu-hyun finished 24th.

The gold medal in the men’s singles went to Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, who pulled off 317.85 points overall. His free program was 8.91 points behind Nathan Chan’s 215.08 due to some mistakes in jumps but still high enough for him to clinch the gold medal at his second Olympics.

Hanyu became the first male skater to defend the Olympic title since American Dick Button in 1952.

His compatriot Shoma Uno, the runner-up in the 2017 World Championships, won silver with an overall 306.90 points.

Spanish Javier Fernandez, who was in second place after the short program, performed a clean free program and won bronze with an overall 305.24 points. The six-time European champion brought his country its first Olympic medal on ice.

Chinese Jin Boyang came in fourth with 297.77 points, while Nathan Chen of the United States received an overall 297.35 points and soared to fifth place from a disappointing 17th place finish in the short program. He landed a record six quadruple jumps for a personal high of 215.08 points in the free skate.

Cha, the youngest men’s singles skater, had one quadruple jump and three triple combination jumps in his free skate program. He began the 4:30 long program with a clean triple lutz-triple toe loop combination jump, but he fell on a quadruple salchow.

But he nailed a double axel-double toe loop and triple axel in a clean way, and went through another combination jump. In the latter part of the program, the teenager made no mistakes in handling three remaining jumps, steps and spins.

South Korea’s Cha Jun-hwan falls on a quadruple salchow at the men’s singles figure skating free program of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Gangneung Ice Arena on Feb. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)

“Despite the high scores, I had a big mistake on a jump. I’m really sorry for that,” Cha said. “But I did my best until the end of the program. As I said yesterday, I sprang to my feet right after I fell. I’m satisfied with this Olympics.”

   For the troubling quad, he said he will do his best to tuneup the jumps in the coming years.

“I did well in landing quads last season. But this Olympic season I think I failed to keep myself in good shape,” the 16-year-old said. “In the warmup in the morning the quad salchow was good, so I was relieved a bit. But it didn’t work in the competition.”

   The enthusiastic support from the home crowd that filled the Gangneung Ice Arena helped him put on the best performance and enjoy his first ever Olympics.

“I had been so nervous about each element of the free program before I stepped on the ice,” he said. “When I heard them root for me, such worries disappeared. I really felt the music and breathed well while skating.”

   South Korea’s figure skater Cha Jun-hwan raises his arms high after finishing his free program of the men’s singles competition at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in Gangneung Ice Arena on Feb. 17, 2018. (Yonhap)

brk@yna.co.kr

(END)

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World Athletics sets date for the 2022 Athletics World Championship in the USA

reproductionThe 2022 Athletics World Championship will take place in the USA

World Athletics, the new name of the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations, in its acronym in English), announced, this Wednesday, the new date of the World Athletics Championship. The competition, scheduled to take place between the 6th and 15th of August next year, will now be from the 15th and 24th of July 2022.

What caused the change in the World Athletics calendar was the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, now from July 23 to August 8, 2021, because of the coronavirus.

The event, which attracts about 1,800 athletes from more than 200 countries, will still be held at Hayward Field, in Eugene, Oregon (USA), which was renovated and remodeled for the event that was supposed to take place in August 2021.

Instead of simply pushing the calendar forward a year, the new date for the World Athletics Championship was chosen in an attempt to coordinate with other major events scheduled for 2022. The British Commonwealth Games, which attracts athletes from more than 70 countries across a wide range variety of sports, are scheduled for July 27 to August 7, while the European Athletics Championship is set for August 11 to 21.

“This will be a major attraction for athletics fans around the world,” said Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, which will host an outdoor athletics world championship in the United States for the first time in an even year. All other competitions have been odd years since 1983.

The delay in holding the World Cup in one year fills the athletics calendar, which will follow: Tokyo Olympics (2021), two World Cups in a row (2022 and 2023, in Budapest), in addition to the Paris Olympics (2024) and another world cup in 2025, in a place to be chosen.

“We will offer the best of athletics to the public for a long time,” said Coe. “So, let's look at this moment with optimism. It will be an opportunity to give a boost to our sport in everyone's home for a period of four years ”, said the leader.

* With information from Estadão Content

The post World Athletics sets date for the 2022 Athletics World Championship in the USA appeared first on Cryptodictation.

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World Cup 2018: All that you must learn about Sweden

World Cup 2018: All that you must learn about Sweden

World Cup 2018: All that you must learn about Sweden

Highlights: Sweden 1-Zero Switzerland

England v Sweden Date: Saturday, 7 July (15:00 BST). Venue: Samara Area, Samara. Protection: Watch the sport reside on BBC One, the BBC Sport web site and app. Pay attention reside on 5 reside, with reside textual content commentary on-line.

Sweden stand between England and a spot within the semi-finals of a World Cup for the primary time since 1990.

Janne Andersson’s facet arrived in Russia and not using a win in six video games, no objective in 337 minutes and with out nationwide hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

But Sweden, 24th in Fifa’s rankings – 12 locations under England – discover themselves two wins from a primary ultimate since 1958.

We check out the Scandinavians as they put together to satisfy Gareth Southgate’s workforce in Samara on Saturday (15:00 BST) – Sweden’s first World Cup quarter-final since 1994.

How Sweden bought to the quarter-finals

That is Sweden’s first World Cup since making it to the final 16 in Germany in 2006, a marketing campaign which included a 90th-minute equaliser by Henrik Larsson in a 2-2 group draw with England.

They bought to Russia the arduous means.

Regardless of beating France, Sweden had been runners-up to Les Bleus of their qualifying group though they did end above the Netherlands.

They then beat four-time world champions Italy 1-0 over two legs within the play-offs to e-book their place on the World Cup.

In Russia, Sweden had been positioned in Group F together with world champions Germany, Mexico and South Korea but completed high with six factors earlier than overcoming Switzerland 1-Zero within the final 16.

What can England anticipate from Sweden? Evaluation by Shearer & Jenas

No Zlatan however beware Sweden’s ice-Berg

There was discuss Ibrahimovic – probably the most embellished and iconic gamers of the fashionable sport – may come out of worldwide retirement for this match.

“If I would like I’m there,” said the 36-year-old – scorer of 62 objectives in 116 video games for his nation – in March.

Ibrahimovic, who introduced his retirement after Sweden had been knocked out of Euro 2016, shouldn’t be a part of Andersson’s squad but Sweden are progressing properly with out the previous Manchester United striker.

In whole, they’ve scored 33 objectives in 16 video games in qualifying and at this match. Targets have come from all areas of the workforce. In qualifying, defenders Mikael Lustig, Victor Lindelof and Andreas Granqvist scored seven of Sweden’s 27 objective between themselves.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic – watch the complete interview

Striker Marcus Berg was Sweden’s main scorer in qualifying with eight objectives in 11 matches, together with 4 in a single sport in opposition to Luxembourg, however has but to search out the web in Russia regardless of beginning all 4 video games.

Certainly, Berg has had 13 photographs with out scoring, probably the most of any participant to fail to attain at this World Cup.

Nevertheless the 31-year-old, who performs his membership soccer within the United Arab Emirates for Al Ain, did handle to win a penalty within the 3-0 group win over Mexico on 27 June.

Spot-kick kings

Sweden have netted six instances in 4 video games at this match. Nevertheless, solely half of these have been scored in open play by a participant in a Swedish shirt.

An personal objective helped seal their win in opposition to Mexico, whereas former Wigan Athletic participant Granqvist is the primary Swede to attain two or extra objectives in a single World Cup match since Larsson in 2002 after netting two spot-kicks in opposition to South Korea and Mexico.

Sweden additionally scored an additional 4 penalties in qualifying, with Granqvist getting three of them.

Penalties taken in a shootout are much less prone to discover the again of the web than these taken in common play, in response to analysis by Ben Lyttleton, soccer author and creator of a e-book on penalties

Sweden revelling of their underdog standing

Evaluation from BBC Sport’s Paul Fletcher, who watched Sweden beat Switzerland in St Petersburg

It has not gone unnoticed that BBC Radio 5 reside pundit Pat Nevin – a Scot, it must be famous – recommended the opposite day that 99 instances out of 100 England ought to beat Sweden.

Certainly, within the Swedish camp close to Krasnodar they’re completely delighted with this type of remark.

The gamers had been discussing it the day after their win over the Swiss and see it as an indication that the message they like to unfold is as soon as once more taking maintain.

“Properly, it’s enjoyable for England to have that type of confidence,” stated captain Granqvist. “Let’s simply see how the sport goes.”

France and Italy in World Cup qualification, Mexico and Switzerland right here in Russia – all have under-estimated Sweden, all misplaced. Germany had been minutes away from the identical destiny of their group sport.

Sweden know that they lack star high quality, they know that their power is that they’re a workforce within the true sense of the phrase; a gaggle of people working in the direction of a typical objective.

World Cup 2018: Mexico 0-Three Sweden highlights

The Swedish gamers assume they’ll frustrate the English by taking part in in a defensive, type of boring means. They wish to gradual the sport down, draw its sting.

Southgate’s workforce confirmed that they may keep cool and centered in opposition to opponents who tried to spoil and worsen in seeing off Colombia on Tuesday.

Now they have to present that they’ve the intelligence to recognise the Swedish plan and the persistence to beat it.

‘Lack of tempo and in need of concepts’

Evaluation by BBC Sport’s soccer knowledgeable Mark Lawrenson

Granqvist made extra clearances than anybody else in opposition to Switzerland however he’s their largest voice in addition to their stand-out defender.

Granqvist is the person who organises every part for them on the again, and he does an excellent job. That organisation is their apparent power – they had been actually compact in opposition to the Swiss and denied them any house between their defensive strains.

However regardless of Sweden’s spectacular defensive file in Russia, I can see England inflicting them a lot of issues in a means Switzerland couldn’t do.

With the pace and mobility of England’s attacking gamers, together with their full-backs, I feel they’ll transfer Sweden round in midfield in addition to defence.

Sweden are competing of their fifth World Cup quarter-final – they’ve progressed to the semi-final in three of their earlier 4 (1938, 1958 and 1994), dropping solely in 1934 in opposition to Germany

In the event that they make the pitch as massive as doable, and get Kieran Trippier and Ashley Younger bombing ahead, then I’m certain they may discover some gaps.

I do not see Sweden inflicting England many points on the different finish, although.

Tempo is one thing that Sweden do not have after they come ahead and so they appeared in need of concepts – they solely had a handful of alternatives in opposition to Switzerland and had just a little bit of excellent fortune with the deflected objective they scored.

I do know they’ve momentum however, to be brutally sincere, they do not actually appear to be scoring objectives.

Head-to-head

England and Sweden have met one another 24 instances, and issues are very shut with eight English wins, 9 attracts and 7 Swedish successes.

Nevertheless, England received six of the primary 9 matches, and have solely received two of the latest 15 video games – with each coming within the 2011-12 season.

England received 1-0 in a Wembley friendly in November 2011 with Gareth Barry scoring the one objective, earlier than England beat Sweden 3-2 in an exciting Euro 2012 group sport.

Andy Carroll scored a beautiful header to place Roy Hodgson’s facet forward, Sweden scored twice to take a 2-1 lead, earlier than objectives from Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck gave England the three factors.

Highlights: Sweden 2-Three England

England and Sweden have twice met within the group phases of World Cup finals, drawing 1-1 of their first match of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan after which drawing 2-2 in Germany four years later.

The one different time England and Sweden have met throughout a serious match got here again on the 1992 European Championships, which had been staged in Sweden.

Once more it was a gaggle match, with the winners going into the semi-finals. David Platt put Graham Taylor’s England forward early on, Jan Eriksson equalised earlier than Tomas Brolin linked up with Martin Dahlin to attain a late winner and seal a 2-1 victory to ship the hosts by and knock England out.

That sport was additionally Gary Lineker’s final for England. He wanted one objective to equal the then-record of most England objectives, which was held by Sir Bobby Charlton on 49 objectives, however with the rating at 1-1, Lineker was taken off after 62 minutes and changed by Alan Smith.

The final assembly between the 2 nations was a world pleasant in November 2012, which included an England debut for 17-year-old Raheem Sterling. Nevertheless, the sport noticed Ibrahimovic produce a shocking particular person efficiency as he scored 4 instances in a 4-2 Sweden win, together with a spectacular 30-yard bicycle kick.

‘England is England, now they assume they’re going to win the World Cup’ – Eriksson

Former England supervisor Sven Goran Eriksson expects his residence nation to win the match. He informed Swedish newspaper Expressen: “England will wrestle to attain objectives in opposition to Sweden. I feel will probably be a Swedish victory.”

In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Eriksson stated he thought the tie would at the very least go to additional time. “You may’t declare that both of the 2 groups line-ups have a lot of objective probabilities in open play,” stated the Swede, who was answerable for England from 2001 to 2006.

“There will likely be few objectives and a few element that determines the result of the sport. I will say draw after 90 minutes after which we’ll see how many individuals have cramps in every workforce.”

With Sweden’s Sven Goran Eriksson in cost, England reached the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002 and 2006 earlier than dropping to Brazil and Portugal respectively

Regardless of the England gamers being dubbed ‘The Golden Era’ when Eriksson was in cost, England went out within the quarter-finals of each the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

“England is England, now they assume they’re going to win the World Cup once more,” added Eriksson. “Frankly, they’ve crushed Tunisia and Panama. It takes just a little extra to win the World Cup. They won’t get so many alternatives in opposition to Sweden.”

Former Sweden midfielder Hakan Delicate thought England will underestimate the Scandinavians. “England is simple to attain in opposition to”, Delicate stated in Goteborgs-Posten. “They assume they’re so rattling good. They aren’t.

“You hardly get terrified once you see the workforce. They’re spoilt youths who earn tens of millions. They do not have the full desperation required.”

Kennet Andersson, who helped Sweden end third within the 1994 World Cup, thought Sweden’s higher defence could be essential. “Sweden has renewed their defensive sport in such a means that the opponents cannot unpick it,” he told SVT.

“I feel there are various groups who do not wish to meet Sweden, as a result of they can not make their sport work in opposition to us. I do not perceive how England will have the ability to rating any objectives in opposition to Sweden.”

How they evaluate

Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen has saved three clear sheets on the 2018 World Cup, whereas England have conceded one objective in every of their 4 video games.

Nevertheless, England have extra objectives, extra photographs and corners than the Scandinavians.

Apparently, England’s ball possession at this World Cup is 53% in comparison with Sweden’s 38% whereas the Three Lions have tried 2,140 passes to their opponents’ 1,113.

England have additionally had 55 objective alternatives and coated 455.23 kilometres – that is 282 miles. Sweden haven’t coated as a lot floor. They’ve clocked up 419 kilometres or 260 miles.

Getting shirty – what the media is saying

Swedish paper Svenska Dagblade (SvD), stories that Sweden followers are discovering it troublesome to search out nationwide reproduction soccer shirts at residence because of the workforce’s World Cup success.

“Issues have gone a bit too nicely for Sweden”, a spokesman for Adidas informed SvD.

“We’ve been informed right here at customer support to inform the shoppers that there is no such thing as a level going to the retailers. The shirts are virtually fully gone,” a employee at Adidas’ buyer companies was quoted saying.

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Happy underdogs, no stars & a mean defence - lowdown on England's quarter-final opponents Sweden

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England v Sweden Date: Saturday, 7 July (15:00 BST). Venue: Samara Arena, Samara. Coverage: Watch the game live on BBC One, the BBC Sport website and app. Listen live on 5 live, with live text commentary online.

Sweden stand between England and a place in the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time since 1990.

Janne Andersson’s side arrived in Russia without a win in six games, no goal in 337 minutes and without national hero Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Yet Sweden, 24th in Fifa’s rankings – 12 places below England – find themselves two wins from a first final since 1958.

We take a look at the Scandinavians as they prepare to meet Gareth Southgate’s team in Samara on Saturday (15:00 BST) – Sweden’s first World Cup quarter-final since 1994.

Can England go one step further? Lawro’s World Cup quarter-final predictions[1]

How does England’s potential route to the World Cup final look?[2]

‘England’s best chance to reach World Cup semi-finals since 1990’[3]

How Sweden got to the quarter-finals

This is Sweden’s first World Cup since making it to the last 16 in Germany in 2006, a campaign which included a 90th-minute equaliser by Henrik Larsson in a 2-2 group draw with England.

They got to Russia the hard way.

Despite beating France, Sweden were runners-up to Les Bleus in their qualifying group although they did finish above the Netherlands.

They then beat four-time world champions Italy 1-0 over two legs[4] in the play-offs to book their place at the World Cup.

In Russia, Sweden were placed in Group F along with world champions Germany, Mexico and South Korea yet finished top with six points before overcoming Switzerland[5] 1-0 in the last 16.

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No Zlatan but beware Sweden’s ice-Berg

There was talk Ibrahimovic – one of the most decorated and iconic players of the modern game – could come out of international retirement for this tournament.

“If I want I am there,” said the 36-year-old[6] – scorer of 62 goals in 116 games for his country – in March.

Ibrahimovic, who announced his retirement after Sweden were knocked out of Euro 2016, is not part of Andersson’s squad yet Sweden are progressing nicely without the former Manchester United striker.

In total, they have scored 33 goals in 16 games in qualifying and at this tournament. Goals have come from all areas of the team. In qualifying, defenders Mikael Lustig, Victor Lindelof and Andreas Granqvist scored seven of Sweden’s 27 goal between themselves.

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Striker Marcus Berg was Sweden’s leading scorer in qualifying with eight goals in 11 matches, including four in one game against Luxembourg, but has yet to find the net in Russia despite starting all four games.

Indeed, Berg has had 13 shots without scoring, the most of any player to fail to score at this World Cup.

However the 31-year-old, who plays his club football in the United Arab Emirates for Al Ain, did manage to win a penalty in the 3-0 group win[7] over Mexico on 27 June.

‘England have shown why we can win this World Cup’[8]

England-Sweden quarter-final live on BBC[9]

Sweden’s Lustig to miss quarter-final[10]

Spot-kick kings

Sweden have netted six times in four games at this tournament. However, only half of those have been scored in open play by a player in a Swedish shirt.

An own goal helped seal their win against Mexico, while former Wigan Athletic player Granqvist is the first Swede to score two or more goals in a single World Cup tournament since Larsson in 2002 after netting two spot-kicks against South Korea and Mexico.

Sweden also scored a further four penalties in qualifying, with Granqvist getting three of them.

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Sweden revelling in their underdog status

Analysis from BBC Sport’s Paul Fletcher, who watched Sweden beat Switzerland in St Petersburg

It has not gone unnoticed that BBC Radio 5 live pundit Pat Nevin – a Scot, it should be noted – suggested the other day that 99 times out of 100 England should beat Sweden.

Indeed, in the Swedish camp near Krasnodar they are absolutely delighted with this kind of comment.

The players were discussing it the day after their win over the Swiss and see it as a sign that the message they love to spread is once again taking hold.

“Well, it is fun for England to have that sort of confidence,” said captain Granqvist. “Let’s just see how the game goes.”

France and Italy in World Cup qualification, Mexico and Switzerland here in Russia – all have under-estimated Sweden, all lost. Germany were minutes away from the same fate in their group game.

Sweden know that they lack star quality, they know that their strength is that they are a team in the true sense of the word; a group of individuals working towards a common goal.

Media playback is not supported on this device

The Swedish players think they can frustrate the English by playing in a defensive, kind of boring way. They want to slow the game down, draw its sting.

Southgate’s team showed that they could stay cool and focused against opponents who tried to spoil and aggravate in seeing off Colombia on Tuesday.

Now they must show that they have the intelligence to recognise the Swedish plan and the patience to overcome it.

‘Lack of pace and short of ideas’

Analysis by BBC Sport’s football expert Mark Lawrenson

Granqvist made more clearances than anyone else against Switzerland but he is their biggest voice as well as their stand-out defender.

Granqvist is the man who organises everything for them at the back, and he does a very good job. That organisation is their obvious strength – they were really compact against the Swiss and denied them any space between their defensive lines.

But despite Sweden’s impressive defensive record in Russia, I can see England causing them lots of problems in a way Switzerland could not do.

With the speed and mobility of England’s attacking players, including their full-backs, I think they can move Sweden around in midfield as well as defence.

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If they make the pitch as big as possible, and get Kieran Trippier and Ashley Young bombing forward, then I am sure they will find some gaps.

I don’t see Sweden causing England many issues at the other end, though.

Pace is something that Sweden don’t have when they come forward and they seemed short of ideas – they only had a handful of opportunities against Switzerland and had a little bit of good fortune with the deflected goal they scored.

I know they have momentum but, to be brutally honest, they don’t really look like scoring goals.

Head-to-head

England and Sweden have met each other 24 times, and things are very close with eight English wins, nine draws and seven Swedish successes.

However, England won six of the first nine matches, and have only won two of the most recent 15 games – with both coming in the 2011-12 season.

England won 1-0 in a Wembley friendly[11] in November 2011 with Gareth Barry scoring the only goal, before England beat Sweden 3-2[12] in a thrilling Euro 2012 group game.

Andy Carroll scored a wonderful header to put Roy Hodgson’s side ahead, Sweden scored twice to take a 2-1 lead, before goals from Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck gave England the three points.

Media playback is not supported on this device

England and Sweden have twice met in the group stages of World Cup finals, drawing 1-1 in their first match of the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan and then drawing 2-2 in Germany four years later.[13][14]

The only other time England and Sweden have met during a major tournament came back at the 1992 European Championships, which were staged in Sweden.

Again it was a group match, with the winners going into the semi-finals. David Platt put Graham Taylor’s England ahead early on, Jan Eriksson equalised before Tomas Brolin linked up with Martin Dahlin to score a late winner and seal a 2-1 victory to send the hosts through and knock England out.

That game was also Gary Lineker’s last for England. He needed one goal to equal the then-record of most England goals, which was held by Sir Bobby Charlton on 49 goals, but with the score at 1-1, Lineker was taken off after 62 minutes and replaced by Alan Smith.

The last meeting between the two nations was an international friendly in November 2012, which included an England debut for 17-year-old Raheem Sterling. However, the game saw Ibrahimovic produce a stunning individual performance as he scored four times in a 4-2 Sweden win,[15] including a spectacular 30-yard bicycle kick.

‘England is England, now they think they’ll win the World Cup’ – Eriksson

Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson expects his home country to win the match. He told Swedish newspaper Expressen:[16] “England will struggle to score goals against Sweden. I think it will be a Swedish victory.”

In a later interview with Aftonbladet, Eriksson said he thought the tie would at least go to extra time. “You can’t claim that either of the two teams line-ups have lots of goal chances in open play,” said the Swede, who was in charge of England from 2001 to 2006.

“There will be few goals and some detail that determines the outcome of the game. I’ll say draw after 90 minutes and then we’ll see how many people have cramps in each team.”

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Despite the England players being dubbed ‘The Golden Generation’ when Eriksson was in charge, England went out in the quarter-finals of both the 2002 and 2006 World Cups.

“England is England, now they think they’ll win the World Cup again,” added Eriksson. “Frankly, they have beaten Tunisia and Panama. It takes a little more to win the World Cup. They will not get so many opportunities against Sweden.”

Former Sweden midfielder Hakan Mild thought England will underestimate the Scandinavians. “England is easy to score against”, Mild said in Goteborgs-Posten.[17] “They think they are so damn good. They are not.

“You hardly get terrified when you see the team. They are spoilt youths who earn millions. They don’t have the total desperation required.”

Kennet Andersson, who helped Sweden finish third in the 1994 World Cup, thought Sweden’s better defence would be crucial. “Sweden has renewed their defensive game in such a way that the opponents can’t unpick it,” he told SVT.[18]

“I think there are many teams who don’t want to meet Sweden, because they can’t make their game work against us. I don’t understand how England will be able to score any goals against Sweden.”

How they compare

Sweden goalkeeper Robin Olsen has kept three clean sheets at the 2018 World Cup, while England have conceded one goal in each of their four games.

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However, England have more goals, more shots and corners than the Scandinavians.

Interestingly, England’s ball possession at this World Cup is 53% compared to Sweden’s 38% while the Three Lions have attempted 2,140 passes to their opponents’ 1,113.

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England have also had 55 goal opportunities and covered 455.23 kilometres – that’s 282 miles. Sweden have not covered as much ground. They’ve clocked up 419 kilometres or 260 miles.

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Getting shirty – what the media is saying

Swedish paper Svenska Dagblade (SvD), reports that Sweden fans are finding it difficult to find national replica football shirts at home thanks to the team’s World Cup success.

“Things have gone a bit too well for Sweden”, a spokesman for Adidas told SvD. [19]

“We have been told here at customer service to tell the customers that there is no point going to the shops. The shirts are almost completely gone,” a worker at Adidas’ customer services was quoted saying.

References

^ Can England go one step further? Lawro’s World Cup quarter-final predictions (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ How does England’s potential route to the World Cup final look? (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ ‘England’s best chance to reach World Cup semi-finals since 1990’ (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ 1-0 over two legs (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ overcoming Switzerland (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ said the 36-year-old (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ 3-0 group win (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ ‘England have shown why we can win this World Cup’ (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ England-Sweden quarter-final live on BBC (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ Sweden’s Lustig to miss quarter-final (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ 1-0 in a Wembley friendly (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ England beat Sweden 3-2 (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ first match of the 2002 World Cup (news.bbc.co.uk)

^ 2-2 in Germany four years later. (news.bbc.co.uk)

^ 4-2 Sweden win, (www.bbc.co.uk)

^ Swedish newspaper Expressen: (www.expressen.se)

^ Goteborgs-Posten. (www.gp.se)

^ he told SVT. (www.svt.se)

^ SvD. (www.svd.se)

BBC Sport – Football

Happy underdogs, no stars & a mean defence – lowdown on England's quarter-final opponents Sweden was originally published on 365 Football

[gbshorttracknews-blog]

Two-time Olympian Charlotte Gilmartin announces her retirement from GB Short Track

24th May 2018

Charlotte Gilmartin, 28, has announced her retirement from GB Short Track Speed Skating after 13 years on the national team.

2018 British Champion Charlotte, from Redditch, was talent spotted aged 12 at an ice skating birthday party. Already a competent roller hockey player, Charlotte’s speed and confidence on the ice was noticed and she was invited to a trial at her local club, the Solihull Mohawks.

“I just instantly felt at home within the club. My first coach, Caron New (a former GB skater), was an inspiration, and her passion brought the sport alive for me. I’ve always been super competitive and within three years I made the national team.”

By 17, Charlotte’s hard work with the GB team based at the National Ice Centre in Nottingham began to pay off and she started winning competitions on the European Star Class circuit. A turning point in Charlotte’s career, was in 2012 when she started working with Seung Jae Lee, a former Korean Olympic Skater who joined the GB Short Track coaching team.

“SJ had a big influence on me and has been fantastic to work with. He really built up my self-belief and along with his great technical and tactical coaching we started to create a winning formula. He taught me how to be patient and keep building up to those goals one step at a time.”

Aged 23, Charlotte qualified to represent Great Britain at her first Olympic Games, Sochi 2014, alongside teammate and friend Elise Christie, and subsequently went on to make her mark in major international competitions.

During the 2015-16 season, Charlotte won a 1,500m bronze medal at the ISU World Cup in Shanghai before being crowned silver overall medallist at the European Championships. There was further World Cup medal success in the next two years. Not only focused on her individual events, Charlotte has also played a key role within the Ladies relay team, leading them to a British record time in 2016.

“I feel incredibly proud to have been able to represent my country and stay at the top of my sport for many years. Winning my first World Cup medal was a highlight for me. I vividly remember the final three laps trying to hold off the Chinese skater, giving everything I had, then automatically glancing at SJ for approval. It was the final confirmation that I had made it to be one of the best in the world. I skated over to my teammates who were jumping over the barrier and high fiving. I couldn’t have done it without them, from the weekly grind of pushing each other to hit targets, to the sense of home on tour. It would have been really special to qualify the ladies relay team for the Olympics as we worked so hard together, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

Charlotte qualified for her second Olympics, PyeongChang, aged 27 but fell in the 1,500m semi-final meaning she was unable to fulfil her Olympic medal ambitions.

“I was really confident going into my final season with medals behind me and feeling stronger than ever, however this began to unravel with cracking my coccyx in the first warm up competition of the season.  Then an injury to the labrum of my hip in the final Olympic qualifier disrupted my preparation even more. These things are unfortunately a part of sport, but I was determined that I would walk away happy knowing I had given all I had, and I was not able to control if that was going to be enough”.

“Now is the right time for me to retire, I’ve finished on a high winning the British Championships and I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life. I definitely want to stay close to the sport I love, it’s given me so many opportunities, skills and enjoyment. I hope to see the sport continue to grow, and more young girls getting involved. Both Elise Christie and Kat Thomson are fantastic role models for the sport. I will enjoy watching closely from the barrier from now on.”

“I’d like to thank all the GB Short Track team and staff for helping me to reach my potential. As well as my family and friends, particularly my husband and former GB skater Ian, who have all been the greatest supporters, you guys have been so patient and understanding with my journey as an athlete - I am looking forward to being able to make all the life events without having to face time in!”

“UK Sport and the National Lottery funding has allowed me to compete at the top of my sport and I would not have been able to achieve what I have without it. I will be forever grateful.”

GB Short Track Speed Skating Performance Director Stewart Laing said,

“Charlotte has been an absolute pleasure to work with in my time as Performance Director. She is a fantastic athlete with high standards and a really great work ethic. She has been an ambassador for Short Track Speed Skating over the years, representing the country at multiple senior international events including two Olympic Games. Charlotte has seen success on the world stage during her time at GB Short Track and I am sure she will take all of the leanings from her time on the world class programme and those experiences into her future and we wish her all the best in her new journey ahead.”

GB Short Track senior coach Nicky Gooch was the national development coach when Charlotte first joined the national team at 15. He  said,

“It was a privilege to coach Charlotte when she first joined the team, and I am proud to have seen her develop as a skater, person, team player and leader over the 13 years, and winning international medals. She has always given 100% and has been a great role model for the other athletes on the team. I wish her all the success for the future and am confident she will be a fantastic asset in her new role”.

-ENDS-

[squaredcirclesirens]

Ringbelles Roundup (4/5/18) –

Here are some title changes, nuances, big developments and retainments that occurred over this last weekend…

Jessicka Havok retained the AAW Women’s Championship against Ivelisse on Saturday night in LaSalle, Illinois, picking up her fourth title defense… Candyfloss and Chakara have made it through the semifinals of the Apollo Championship Wrestling title tournament after going over on Sammi Baynz and Livvii Grace respectively at Saturday’s show in Bermondsey. The tournament final matchup for the title should be announced in the upcoming weeks… Katarina Leigh picked up another title defense of the Maverick Pro Women’s Championship on Saturday in Burbank, California, as she retained the belt against Deonna Purrazzo in her debut for the promotion… Leva Bates lost out on winning the FEST Wrestling Championship on Saturday in Gainesville, Florida, as the current titleholder, Effy Gibbes, walked away with his first defense over Bates… Shax lucked out in the first round of Southside’s 2018 Speed King tournament on Saturday, as she lost to the eventual winner, Robbie X in Bedford… Raze defeated Tyler Bateman in the Three Stages Of Hell match during Friday night’s Santino Bros. Wrestling show in Bells Gardens, California. She beat Bateman two falls to his one, which happened in a No Disqualification matchup as part of the main event. She gained the first victory after submitting Bateman in a Submission match and broke their tie winning the final fall in a Last Body Standing match…

Madison Eagles (far left), Shazza McKenzie, Indi Hartwell (middle, right) and Harley Wonderland head into the finals of the Queen of the Castle Tournament – Newcastle Pro Wrestling ©

The final standings in Newcastle Pro’s Queen of the Castle tournament have been determined, as Indi Hartwell, Madison Eagles, Shazza McKenzie and Harley Wonderland face off to become the inaugural women’s champion on May 5th. Eagles and Wonderland’s qualifying matchups were held as part of Saturday’s show in Charlestown, New South Wales. Without a doubt, the former SHIMMER Champion managed to best Bel Pierce while Harley, a ten-year veteran in her own right, defeated newcomer, Azalea. Hartwell defeated Jessica Troy in their qualifier back in Janaury; Shazza followed suit the next month and beat FaceBrooke in their matchup at the tail-end of February… Meiko Satomura is the brand new Fight Club: PRO Champion after successfully unseating Chris Brookes in the main event of Friday’s show in Wolverhampton… La Vaquerita used a double underhook piledriver on Metálica during their matchup on Saturday and its reported that Metálica needed medical attention afterward… Mayu Iwatani lucked out in regaining the World of STARDOM Championship from Toni Storm at Sunday’s show in Nagoya, as the titleholder picked up the win after two Strong Zeros to retain in her third title defense. The finale of Dream Slam also featured Tam Nakano and Io Shirai beating Tam’s former teammates, Kagetsu and Sumire Natsu in an Explosion Death Match. Xia Brookside retained her IPW: UK Women’s Title against Konami in the second of championship matches on the card. Starlight Kid managed to hang onto the Future of STARDOM belt through her first title defense, defeating AZM with the Frog Splash. Viper also retained; she remains the new SWA United Champion after beating Jungle Kyona… Sammii Jayne has claimed another title for her championship collection. She became the brand new OTT Women’s Champion after beating Martina in the main event of Sunday’s show in Dublin. The promotion, Over The Top Wrestling, organized it’s first female-card that afternoon at the Tivoli Theatre, with names like Katey Harvey, Nina Samuels and the latest European booking for Jordynne Grace, Kris Wolf, and DASH Chisako. Three qualifying matches were held as part of the lineup, as the winners, Sammii (bested Samuels), Raven Creed (defeated Debbie Keitel) and Harvey (defeated Valkyrie) with names like Katey Harvey, Nina Samuels and Raven Creed making up their three qualifying matches advanced to the four-way final where they faced now-former titleholder, Martina, for the championship. Jayne won the match and is now a holder of five separate titles, including the EVE Championship, the Discovery Wrestling Women’s belt, the Revolution Championship Wrestling women’s title and the Main Event Wrestling Women’s strap

Here’s a look at what’s going this weekend on the North American indies, overseas in Europe and elsewhere…

More than a month ahead of their scheduled title matchup, Toni Storm and Jinny will square off in Kenner, Louisianna on Friday for PROGRESS’ show at the Pontchartrain Center. However, the rules will not permit for this matchup to be a straight up, one-on-one contest, as instead, Storm will be teaming up with Shazza McKenzie in one corner while Jinny has recruited Mercedes Martinez to be her partner. Regardless of who prevails in this matchup, Storm has three titles defenses to knock down in Australia before finally getting to face Jinny on May 20th in Manchester… Charlie takes on Aria in Launceston, Tasmania on Saturday… Beyond Wrestling has a full-on, intergender wrestling card booked for Thursday’s show inside the same building. Deonna Purrazzo will be getting a shot at one of the indies’ top prospects in Matt Riddle when the two face off. Jordynne Grace and LuFisto will be taking on Mike Draztik and Angel Ortiz (EYFBO), while Thunder Rosa and Holidead challenge Chris Dickinson and Jaka in another matchup. Mia Yim will be taking on three opponents, as she faces Maxwell Jacob Friedman, Wheeler Yuta, and Tessa Blanchard. Toni Storm will also be apart of this card, as she goes up against Timothy Thatcher. Penelope Ford and Joey Janela will also be in action, as they face Orange Cassidy and Martina. Jessicka Havok and her opponent, Jimmy Havoc will finally meet in a matchup that seems to have been in the making forever…

In one of the few shows happening outside of the Louisianna state lines, Terra Calaway, Mickie Knuckles, and Maria Manic will all face off for H20 Wrestling’s event up in Williamstown, New Jersey… Barbi Hayden teams up with Joey Ryan to take on the teams of Lacey Lane and Black Danger, Christi Jaynes and Oráculo, and Diamante and Douglas James at The Crash’s event in New Orleans on Friday… Xia Brookside, Millie McKenzie, Kat Von Kaige, Jayde and Candyfloss square off for Shropshire Wrestling Alliance’s show in Telford on Saturday… LuFisto is set to defend the SHINE Championship at WWN Live’s Super Show in New Orleans on Friday… Meiko Satomura is probably going to kick Jessicka Havok’s head off at Pro Wrestling Revolver’s show on Saturday in Kenner, Louisianna. Martina will also be apart of that show, as she teams up with Joey Ryan to take on Colt Cabana and Marty DeRosa… Candyfloss, Kat Von Kaige and Jayde’s additional opponents for Shropshire Wrestling Alliance’s show on Saturday in Telford have been revealed and it will be Millie McKenzie and Xia Brookside joining the mix… Savanna Stone defends the ZERO 1 USA Women’s Title against Kara Noia on Saturday in Mattoon, Illinois…

– SHIMMER Women Athletes ©

SHIMMER presents their one-hundredth show to date on Saturday as part of the weekend’s crowded environment, which witnesses an entire city being encompassed by professional wrestling fans from various walks of life. Mercedes Martinez’s anticipated rematch for the title headlines the card, with Nicole Savoy making her second defense of the belt since retaining against Jungle Kyona over in Japan. Shazza McKenzie defends the Heart of SHIMMER Championship against Tessa Blanchard in her seventh title defense. Cheerleader Melissa was previously set to take on Madison Rayne, however, the matchup has gotten changed over the last couple of weeks and she’ll face Shotzi Blackheart instead. LuFisto and Hudson Envy will be challenging Leva Bates and Delilah Doom for the SHIMMER Tag Team Titles and after picking a loss to Madison Eagles in Penrith, Deonna Purrazzo is going to be looking to pull out a victory in their matchup. Toni Storm enters the Pontchartrain building once more for the first-time clash with Nicole Matthews, a competitor that’s as traveled as Storm and holds a bit more in the experience department. Kimber Lee’s return to the promotion will see her taking on Samantha Heights

North America

Queens of Combat’s next show date has been announced for May 19th at the Hebron Hall in Charlotte, North Carolina… A rematch has been announced – Raze and Jessicka Havok will be getting the chance to duke it out once again for Alternative Wrestling Show on July 21st after their collision ended in a double count-out… Shotzi Blackheart and Kikyo have been entered as a team into IWA Mid-South’s 2018 Chris Candido Cup, to be held on April 20th in Memphis, Indiana… Chelsea Green and Tessa Blanchard will fight one-on-one to become the inaugural Pacific Coast Wrestling Ultra Women’s Champion on May 4th in Wilmington, California… Santana Garrett will be making her House Of Glory debut on May 18th… Reality Of Wrestling will present another women’s show on May 19th in Texas City, as the sequel to “Ladies Night Out” will be streamed live via here… Roni Nicole and Holidead will face off in a stipulated match at The Resistance’s May 4th show in Summitt, Illinois… Allie Kat takes on the debuting Shazza McKenzie for Black Label Pro on April 21st. Christi Jaynes and FaceBrooke join McKenzie as part of the debutees; they go one-on-one… Su Yung is the first competitor announced for this year’s American Joshi Queen of Queens tournament, which takes place on June 24th in Austin… Maria James will be competing in her first King of the Deathmatch tournament on Friday, May 18th through Saturday, May 19th… Sierra is one of the latest competitors announced to be taking part in next weekend’s SHIMMER tapings in Berwyn… IWA Mid-South has announced the official matches for their upcoming Women’s Championship tournament on May 19th, which you can see here… Terra Calaway, Solo Darling, Faye Jackson, Katred and Maria Manic are five of the competing women announced for Pro Wrestling Magic’s fourth-annual Donald Casamento Cup on May 19th in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. It will be an eight-woman tournament, held at the Knights of Columbus… The brackets for the Making Towns Classic are almost complete. The latest match additions see Faye Jackson taking on Angelus Layne and Hudon Envy going up against Penelope Ford

Japan

Cherry will be opting out of a career as a contractually bound wrestler. It was announced earlier this week that Cherry would be leaving DDT following the April 29th show in Tokyo to become a full-time freelancer after fourteen years of working for the promotion. Her final matchup has been added to the Korakuen Hall lineup, as she teams up with Françoise ☆ Takagi and Makoto Oishi to take on Danshoku Dieno, KUDO and Masahiro Takanashi… PURE-J has also announced the debut of a new rookie, Mari Manji at their April 15th show at Korakuen Hall, as she faces Yako Fujigasaki at the show

Europe

Lana Austin’s belt will be on the line in a gauntlet match at TNT Extreme’s May 3rd show in Liverpool… Little Miss Roxxy takes on Chakara for Tidal Championship Wrestling on April 29th in Leeds… Jinny makes her third title defense of the Maiden Of Chaos Championship against Tenille Dashwood on April 28th… Sierra Loxton gets a second shot at Jetta’s Celtic Crown Women’s Championship in Newport on April 15th… Kris Wolf is scheduled to work Shanna at Kamikaze Pro Wrestling’s April 27th show in Coventry. Another contest added to the event is the one between Charli Evans and Millie McKenzie… Pro Wrestling: EVE has announced that they will be back at the Resistance Gallery on May 12th a week after their big show, “Wrestle Queendom”… Jinny gets her shot at the PROGRESS Women’s Title at Chapter 69

Mexico

Skadi recently explained her absence that seen her sidelined with an injury since last September. She revealed that she had broken her ankle in four places… Princesa Sugehit and Kaho Kobayashi take on Dalys and Zeuxis on Monday at Arena Puebla

Australia & New Zealand

New Horizons Pro Wrestling has confirmed six of eight competitors for this year’s Global Conflict, taking place on Friday, May 25th in Kwinana and Saturday, May 26th in Byford, Western Australia, which you can read about here… Adelaide Championship Wrestling has announced Riley as the first entrant into their eight-person tournament for the Evolve Championship on April 21st… Facebrooke is one the latest competitors entered in Wrestling GO’s upcoming GOlympic Rumble on May 12th in Marayoung, New South Wales. The promotion has also added a matchup between her and Lisa Marie Varon for their April 28th show

Results (March 28th – April 4th)

Natsumi, the daughter of Mari Apache, is giving Io Shirai a run for her money at night one of Dream Slam – @kozilock3 ©

March 28: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan) – Viper(c) d Toni Storm(c); Nao Yamaguchi & Ruaka d Hanan & Leo Onozaki; Faby Apache & Mary Apache d Bea Priestley & Xia Brookside, Kaori Yoneyama & Keneisha Moon, AZM & HZK, Hiroyo Matsumoto & Natsuko Tora; Starlight Kid d Shiki Shibusawa; Io Shirai d Natsumi; Jungle Kyona & Momo Watanabe d Hiromi Mimura & Konami; Hana Kimura, Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire d Mayu Iwatani, Saki Kashima & Tam Nakano

March 28: Ice Ribbon (Saitama, Japan) – Tequila Saya d Ibuki Hoshi; Maruko Nagasaki & Tsukushi d Aoki Itsuki & Satsuki Totoro; Mika Iida d Giulia

March 28: Rockstar Pro Wrestling (Dayton, OH) – Suge D d Darius Lockhart, Ace Austin, Charlie Tiger, Jordan Oliver & Samantha Heights

March 29: NXT Live (Cocoa, FL) – Taynara Conti d Jessie Elaban; Billie Kay & Peyton Royce d Candice LeRae & Dakota Kai

March 30: Santino Bros. Wrestling (Bell Gardens, CA) – Delilah Doom & Eli Everfly d Heather Monroe & Laura James; Raze d Tyler Bateman

March 30: WWE Live (Boston, MA) – Alexa Bliss (c) d Sasha Banks; Asuka d Sonya Deville

March 30: NXT Live (St. Augustine, FL) – Dakota Kai & Jessie Elaban d Aliyah & Vanessa Borne; Kairi Sane d Taynara Conti

March 30: Fight Club: PRO (Wolverhampton, West Midlands) – Meiko Satomura d Chris Brookes(c); Jordan Devlin d El Phantasmo, Mark Haskins & Millie McKenzie

March 30: Tortas Super Astro (Ciudad Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico) – Cynthia Moreno, El Oriental Jr. & Soldado d Diosa Quetzal, Jalapena Lopez & Yoruba

March 30: CMLL (Mexico City, Mexico) – Dalys la Caribena, La Seductora & Zeuxis d Kaho Kobayashi, Marcela & Princesa Sugehit

March 30: PURE-J (Kanagawa, Japan) – Rydeen Hagane vs. Yako Fujigasaki – Time Limit Draw; KAZUKI vs. Manami Katsu – Time Limit Draw; Command Bolshoi & Leon d Hanako Nakamori & Manami Katsu

March 30: Battle Championship Wrestling (East Burwood, Victoria) – Indi Hartwell d Avary; Kellyanne d Madison Eagles & Shazza McKenzie

March 30: Limitless Wrestling (Westbrook, ME) – Penelope Ford vs Allie vs Kris Stadtlander vs Ashley Vox

March 30: Southern Hemisphere Wrestling Alliance (Maddington, Western Australia) – Pegasus d Roxy Ryot

Rhia O’Reilly and Nina Samuels mixing it up at Pro Wrestling: EVE’s show on Friday in London – Head Drop (@RobBrazierPhoto) ©

March 30: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London) – Rhia O’Reilly d Nina Samuels; Charlie Morgan d Killer Kelly; Jordynne Grace d Livvii Grace; Jetta d Mischa East; Sammii Jayne d Kris Wolf; Kay Lee Ray d DASH Chisako

March 31: FEST Wrestling (Gainesville, FL) – Darby Allin & Priscilla Kelly d Karleena Gore & Saieve Al Sabah; Effy Gibbes (c) d Leva Bates; Veda Scott d Angel Rose, CJ O’Doyle, Jamie Senegal, Jimmy Lloyd, Jonny Vandal, Kiera Hogan & Su Yung

March 31: STARDOM’s Dream Slam Night II (Osaka, Japan) – Hanan, Natsumi & Starlight Kid d Leo Onozaki, Nao Yamaguchi & Ruaka; Saki Kashima d Natsu Sumire & Shiki Shibusawa; AZM, HZK, Momo Watanabe & Viper d Konami, Jungle Kyona, Kaori Yoneyama & Natsuko Tora; Mayu Iwatani & Tam Nakano d Toni Storm & Xia Brookside; Io Shirai (c) d Bea Priestley; Hana Kimura & Kagetsu (c) d Faby Apache & Mary Apache

March 31: Ground Zero Pro (Imperial Beach, CA) – Delilah Doom d Heather Monroe

March 31: WWE Live (Huntington, WV) – Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Naomi d Carmella, Lana & Natalya, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan

March 31: AAW (LaSalle, IN) – Jessicka Havok(c) d Ivelisse; Scarlett Bordeaux d Kylie Rae

March 31: NXT Live (Crystal River, FL) – Alexander Wolfe & Nikki Cross d Chad Lail & Vanessa Borne; Ember Moon, Jessie Elaban & Kairi Sane d Billie Kay, Peyton Royce & Shayna Baszler

March 31: Newcastle Pro Wrestling (Charlestown, New South Wales) – Madison Eagles d Bel Pierce

March 31: Southside Wrestling Entertainment (Bedford, Bedfordshire) – Robbie X d Shax

March 31: Ice Ribbon (Saitama, Japan) – Nao DATE & Satsuki Totoro d Giulia & Maya Yukihi; Risa Sera d Matsuya Uno; Mochi Miyagi d Maruko Nagasaki; Ibuki Hoshi, Karen DATE & Kyuri f Hamuko Hoshi, Miyako Matsumoto & Tsukasa Fujimoto

March 31: Dynamo Pro Wrestling (St. Louis, MO) – Savanna Stone d Ace Hawkins; Lynn Ramsey d Rahne Victoria

March 31: CMLL (Mexico City, Mexico) – La Vaquerita d Metalica

March 31: CHIKARA (Philadelphia, PA) – Cornelius Crummels, Sonny Defarge, Merlok & Oceanea d Green Ant, Solo Darling, Travis Huckabee & Thief Ant

March 31: Fight Club: PRO (Manchester, England) – Kyle Fletcher, Mark Davis & Travis Banks d Meiko Satomura, Dezmond Xavier & Zachary Wentz; DASH Chisako d Kay Lee Ray, Kris Wolf & Millie McKenzie

March 31: Turkish Power Wrestling (Istanbul, Turkey) – Shanna d Natalia Markova

March 31: Maverick Pro Wrestling (Burbank, CA) – Katarina Leigh (c) d Deonna Purrazzo; Brian Jace & Laynie Luck d Salina de la Renta & Stan Styles; Keita Murray d Shotzi Blackheart

March 31: WWE Live (North Charleston, SC) – Alexa Bliss (c) d Sasha Banks; Asuka d Sonya Deville

March 31: Tokyo Joshi Pro (Tokyo, Japan) – Yuka Sakazaki d Raku; Rika Tatsumi d Miu; Isami Kodaka vs. SAGAT – Double Count Out; Ryuichi Sekine vs. Takato Nakano – No Contest; SAGAT d Isami Kodaka, Ryuichi Sekine & Takato Nakano; Marika Kobashi & Miyu Yamashita d Hyper Misao & Shoko Nakajima

March 31: Apollo Championship Wrestling (Bermondsey, London) – Chakara d Livvii Grace; Candyfloss d Sammi Baynz

March 31: Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (Coquitlam, British Columbia) – Christina Von Eerie, Scotty Mac, Air Adonis, Drexl & Schaff d Jacky Lee, Shareef Morrow, Erik Strange, Mitch Mulligan & Shreddz

March 31: Tokyo Joshi Pro (Tokyo, Japan) – Miyu Yamashita d Nodoka-Oneesan; Maho Kurone vs. Marika Kobashi – Time Limit Draw; Ryuichi Sekine d SAGAT; Isami Kodaka d Takato Nakano; Shoko Nakajima & Yuka Sakazaki d Hikari & Yuu

April 1: Revolution Pro (Marylebone, Greater London) – Bobbi Tyler d Killer Kelly

April 1: STARDOM’s Dream Slam Night III (Nagoya, Aichi, Japan) – Leo Onozaki & Ruaka d Hanan & Nao Yamaguchi; Xia Brookside (c) d Konami; Starlight Kid (c) d AZM; Bea Priestley d Momo Watanabe; Hana Kimura d HZK; Faby Apache, Mary Apache & Natsumi d Natsuko Tora, Saki Kashima & Shiki Shibusawa; Viper (c) d Jungle Kyona; Toni Storm (c) defeats Mayu Iwatani; Io Shirai & Tam Nakano d Kagetsu & Natsu Sumire

Meiko Satomura faced Pete Dunne under non-title contention at Sunday’s Fight Club: PRO event in Birmingham – Ringside Perspective ©

April 1: Fight Club: PRO (Birmingham, West Midlands) – Pete Dunne d Meiko Satomura

April 1: K-DOJO (Chiba, Japan) – Shiori Asahi d Bambi & Yuma

April 1: K-DOJO (Chiba, Japan) – Saori Anou d Ayame Sasamura

April 1: Alianza Universal De Lucha Libre (Tlalnepantla, Mexico) – La Bomberita & Lilith Dark Reina del Sur d Galaxia, Keneisha Moon & Lady Drago

April 1: Over The Top Wrestling (Wimborne Minster, Dorset) – Sammii Jayne d Nina Samuels; Raven Creed d Debbie Keitel; Katey Harvey d Valkyrie; Kris Wolf & Laura Di Matteo d Charlie Morgan & Charli Evans; DASH Chisako d Jordynne Grace; Sammii Jayne d Katey Harvey, Martina (c) & Raven Creed

April 1: OZ Academy (Osaka, Japan) – Aja Kong d Yako Fujigasaki; Hiroyo Matsumoto vs. Rina Yamashita – Time Limit Draw; Hikaru Shida & Tsubasa Kuragaki d Aoi Kizuki & Yoshiko; Kaori Yoneyama d Mayumi Ozaki; Alex Lee, Maya Yukihi & Yumi Ohka d AKINO, Kakeru Sekiguchi & Sonoko Kato

April 2: CMLL (Puebla, Mexico) – La Comandante, Tiffany & Zeuxis d Kaho Kobayashi, Princesa Sugehit & Sanely

April 2: WWE Live (Knoxville, TN) – Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair & Naomi d Carmella, Lana & Natalya, Liv Morgan, Ruby Riott & Sarah Logan

April 2: Monday Night RAW (Atlanta, GA) – Bayley d Sonya Deville; Asuka & Dana Brooke d Alexa Bliss & Mickie James

April 3: CMLL (Mexico City, Mexico) – Amapola, Dalys & Tiffany d Kaho Kobayashi, La Vaquerita & Marcela

April 3: Smackdown Live (Nashville, TN) – Charlotte d Natalya

April 3: Mixed Match Challenge (Nashville, TN) – Asuka & The Miz d Bobby Roode & Charlotte Flair

Upcoming (April 4th – December 24th)

April 4: International Wrestling Revolution Group (Naucalpan de Juarez, Mexico) –Dulce Luna & Reina del Sur vs Galaxia & Lili Dark

April 5: Wildkat Sports (New Orleans, LA) – Rachael Ellering; Savannah Evans

April 5: WrestleCon SuperShow (New Orleans, LA)

April 5: Beyond Wrestling (Kenner, LA) – Thunder Rosa & Holidead vs Chris Dickinson & Jaka; Jordynne Grace & LuFisto vs EYFBO; Mia Yim vs Wheeler Yuta vs Tessa Blanchard vs Maxwell Jacob Friedman; Deonna Purrazzo vs Matt Riddle; Toni Storm vs Timothy Thatcher; Martina & Orange Cassidy vs Joey Janela & Penelope Ford; Jessicka Havok vs Jimmy Havoc

April 5: IWA Mid-South (Memphis, IN) – Faye Jackson vs Roni Nicole

April 6: Impact Wrestling (New Orleans, LA) – Rosemary; Taya Valkyrie

April 6: H20 Wrestling (Williamstown, NJ) – Terra Calaway vs Mickie Knuckles vs Maria Manic

April 6: PROGRESS (Kenner, LA) – Toni Storm & Shazza McKenzie vs Jinny & Mercedes Martinez

April 6: WWN Live Super Show (New Orleans, LA) – LuFisto(c) vs TBD

April 6: The Crash (New Orleans, LA) – Black Danger & Lacey Lane vs Christi Jaynes & Oráculo, Barbie Hayden & Joey Ryan, Diamante & Douglas James

April 7: Pro Wrestling Revolver (Kenner, LA) – Meiko Satomura vs Jessicka Havok; Martina & Joey Ryan vs Colt Cabana & Marty DeRosa

April 7: Shropshire Wrestling Alliance (Telford, Shropshire) – Kat Von Kaige vs Candyfloss vs Jayde vs Xia Brookside vs Millie McKenzie

April 7: PROGRESS (Kenner, LA)

April 7: Tasmanian Championship Wrestling (Launceston, Tasmania) – Charlie vs Aria

April 7: Welcome to the Combat Zone (New Orleans, LA) – Laura James & Joey Ryan vs Penelope Ford & Joey Janela

April 7: ZERO 1 USA (Mattoon, IL) – Savanna Stone(c) vs Kara Noia

April 7: SHIMMER 100 (Kenner, LA) – LuFisto & Hudson Envy vs Leva Bates(c) & Delilah Doom(c); Mercedes Martinez vs Nicole Savoy(c); Shazza McKenzie(c) vs Tessa Blanchard; Deonna Purrazzo vs Madison Eagles; Toni Storm vs Nicole Matthews; Cheerleader Melissa vs Shotzi Blackheart; Zoe Lucas; Kimber Lee vs Samantha Heights

April 7: Ultimate Wrestling Corporation (Ludgershall, Buckinghamshire) – Bobbi Tyler

April 8: WrestleCircus (New Orleans, LA)

April 8: CMLL (Mexico City, Mexico) – Estrellita, Maligna & Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys, La Seductora & Metálica

April 9: CMLL (Puebla, Mexico) – Kaho Kobayashi & Princesa Sugehit vs Dalys & Zeuxis

April 12: Major League Wrestling (Orlando, FL) – Santana Garrett vs Aerial Monroe

April 13: AAW (Merrionette Park, IL) – Jessicka Havok & Su Yung vs Hudson Envy & Tenille Dashwood

April 13: RISE 7: Sensation (Berwyn, IL) – Britt Baker & Chelsea Green vs Charli Evans & Jessica Troy; Delilah Doom(c) vs Deonna Purrazzo; Nicole Savoy & Aerial Monroe vs Karen Q & Ray Lyn; Mercedes Martinez vs Taya Valkyrie; Shotzi Blackheart, Cheerleader Melissa & TBA vs Kris Wolf, Dynamite DiDi & Kikyo; Rosemary & Dust vs TBA; Kylie Rae & Miranda vs TBA; Thunder Rosa; Zoe Lucas; Saraya Knight vs Joey Ryan

April 14: Warriors Of Wrestling (Brooklyn, NY) – Tasha Steelz vs Riley Shepard; Nikki Addams(c) vs Christina Marie; Nyla Rose; Allie Recks; Katred & Thumper vs Jillian Hall & C-Bunny; Antionette Marie vs Faye Jackson; Ariela Nyx vs Corinne Mink

April 14: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London) – Xia Brookside vs Jinny

April 14: Adrenaline Professional Wrestling (Cranbourne, Victoria) – Aria; Erika Reid

April 14: Combat Zone Wrestling (Voorhees, NJ) – Tessa Blanchard vs David Starr vs Peter Avalon

April 14: SHIMMER 101-102 (Berwyn, IL)

April 14: Maverick Pro Wrestling (Burbank, CA) – Jordynne Grace vs Katarina Leigh(c)

April 15: PURE-J (Tokyo, Japan) – Hanako Nakamori(c) vs Aoi Kizuki; Ayako Hamada vs Manami Katsu; Mari Manji vs Yako Fujigasaki

April 15: SMASH Wrestling (Toronto, Ontario) – Allie vs Joey Ryan vs Xandra Bale

April 15: SHIMMER 103-104 (Berwyn, IL)

April 15: OZ Academy (Tokyo, Japan)

– Dragon Pro Wrestling ©

April 15: Dragon Pro Wrestling (Newport, England) – Jetta(c) vs Sierra Loxton

April 18: PROGRESS / Explosive Pro Wrestling (Balcatta, Perth) – Allyson Cruz vs Toni Storm(c)

April 19: IWA Mid-South (Memphis, IN) – Shazza McKenzie vs Rain; Hudson Envy vs Su Yung vs Shotzi Blackheart; Nevaeh vs Delilah Doom vs Christi Jaynes; FaceBrooke vs Amazing Maria vs Allie Kat; Kikyo vs Dementia D’Rose vs Raze

April 20: Atomic Championship Wrestling (Cocoa, FL) – Leva Bates(c) vs TBD

April 20: Pro Wrestling Explosion (Philadelphia, PA) – Jenny Rose vs Holidead

April 20: PROGRESS / Melbourne Championship Wrestling (Northcote, Melbourne) – Kellyanne vs Toni Storm(c)

April 20: Northeast Wrestling (Waterbury, CT) – Tenille Dashwood vs Mandy Leon

April 20: NOVA Pro Wrestling (Fairfax, VA) – Skylar vs Jordan Blade vs Veda Scott vs Facebrooke; Isla Dawn vs Angelus Layne; Jordynne Grace vs Shazza McKenzie

April 20: IWA Mid-South (Memphis, IN) – Shotzi Blackheart & Kikyo vs TBA

April 21: Remix Pro Wrestling (Marietta, OH) – Roni Nicole vs Alexia Nicole; Tenille Dashwood vs Britt Baker

April 21: XWA Wrestling (Bethnal Green, London)

April 21: 3 Count Wrestling (Northallerton, North Yorkshire) – Jamie Hayter vs Erin Angel; Jetta vs Rhia O’Reilly

April 21: WrestleCircus (Austin, TX)

April 21: Adelaide Championship Wrestling (Prospect, Southern Australia) – Riley

April 21: Black Label Pro (Crown Point, IN) – Christi Jaynes vs FaceBrooke; Allie Kat vs Shazza McKenzie

April 23: PROGRESS / Pro Wrestling Australia (Pyrmont, Sydney) – Toni Storm(c) vs Jessica Troy

April 27: GRL Wrestling (Canterbury, Kent) – Xia Brookside(c); Livvii Grace; Ayesha Raymond

April 27: Freelance Wrestling (Chicago, IL) – Kylie Rae(c) & GPA(c) vs Thunder Rosa & Holidead

April 27: Kamikaze Pro Wrestling (Coventry, West Midlands) – Kris Wolf vs Shanna; Millie McKenzie vs Charli Evans

April 28: Revolution Championship Wrestling (Barcelona, Spain) – Bobbi Tyler vs Chakara; Viper vs Sammii Jayne(c); Jetta; Livvii Grace; Laura Di Matteo; Tracy; Kleo Mallette; Flo Riley; Killer Kelly; Kris Wolf

April 28: Pro Wrestling Chaos (Yate, South Gloucestershire) – Tenille Dashwood vs Jinny

April 28: Sabotage Wrestling (Austin, TX) – Lacey Lane vs Isla Dawn; Alex Gracia vs Rockelle Vaughn vs Nikki Knight vs Hyan; Delilah Doom vs Erica Torres(c); Rachael Ellering vs Thunder Rosa; Baby D & Phoebe vs Myka & Rob Love; Leva Bates vs Angel Blue; J. Serious vs Robyn Reid

April 28: Wrestling GO (Marayoung, New South Wales) – Shazza McKenzie vs TBA; Lisa Marie Varon vs FaceBrooke

April 29: IPW United Kingdom (Rochester, Kent) – Xia Brookside vs Tenille Dashwood

April 29: Tidal Championship Wrestling (Leeds, West Yorkshire) – Little Miss Roxxy vs Chakara

April 30: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

May 3: Ice Ribbon (Kanagawa, Japan)

May 3: TNT Extreme Wrestling (Liverpool, England) – Lana Austin(c) vs TBA

May 3: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

May 3: Tokyo Joshi Pro (Tokyo, Japan)

May 3: K-DOJO (Chiba, Japan)

May 3: Marvelous (Nagoya, Aichi, Japan)

May 3: SEAdLINNNG (Kanagawa, Japan)

May 4: German Wrestling Federation (Berlin, Germany) – Katey Harvey(c); Blue Nikita; Wesna Busic; Valkyrie; Nicole Matthews; Killer Kelly; Laura Di Matteo

May 4: Pro Wrestling WAVE (Tokyo, Japan)

May 4: The Resistance (Summitt, IL) – Roni Nicole vs Holidead

May 4: K-DOJO (Chiba, Japan)

May 4: Gatoh Move (Tokyo, Japan)

May 4: Pacific Coast Wrestling Ultra (Wilmington, CA) – Tessa Blanchard vs Chelsea Green

May 4: PURE-J (Tokyo, Japan)

May 5: Westside Xtreme Wrestling (Oberhausen, Germany) – Tenille Dashwood vs Toni Storm

May 5: DIANA (Tokyo, Japan)

May 5: Newcastle Pro Wrestling (Charlestown, New South Wales) – Indi Hartwell vs Madison Eagles vs Shazza McKenzie vs Harley Wonderland

May 5: PURE-J (Tokyo, Japan)

May 5: Marvelous (Kanagawa, Japan)

May 5: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London) – Kay Lee Ray vs Meiko Satomura; Charlie Morgan vs Sammii Jayne(c); Millie McKenzie vs Leah Owens vs Nina Samuels vs Kasey Owens vs Livvii Grace; Aja Kong vs Viper; Jetta vs Nicole Matthews; Erin Angel; Emi Sakura; Jamie Hayter; Laura Di Matteo; Rhia O’Reilly

May 5: Ice Ribbon (Kanagawa, Japan)

May 5: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

May 5: Tokyo Joshi Pro (Tokyo, Japan)

May 6: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

May 6: PURE-J (Tokyo, Japan)

May 6: Pro Wrestling WAVE (Shizuoka, Japan)

May 11: NOVA Pro Wrestling (Annandale, VA) – Shotzi Blackheart; Angelus Layne; Veda Scott; Allie Kat; Jordynne Grace; Penelope Ford

May 11: Southside Wrestling Entertainment (Stevenage, Hertfordshire) – LuFisto vs Kasey Owens; Rosemary

May 12: Wrestling GO (Marayoung, New South Wales) – Facebrooke

May 12: Making Towns Classic (Nashville, TN) – Isla Dawn vs Harlow O’Hara; Savanna Stone vs Jordynne Grace; Layie Luck vs Aja Perera; Kylie Rae vs Veda Scott; Samantha Heights; Allie Kat; Faye Jackson vs Angelus Layne; Priscilla Kelly; Su Yung; Hudson Envy vs Penelope Ford

May 12: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

May 12: RISE/ International Wrestling Cartel (Pittsburgh, PA) – Mercedes Martinez vs Deonna Purrazzo; Delilah Doom(c) vs Jessicka Havok; Tessa Blanchard vs Britt Baker(c); Kimber Lee vs Shotzi Blackheart

May 12: Ice Ribbon (Saitama, Japan)

May 13: Revolution Pro (London, England)

May 13: Ice Ribbon (Tokyo, Japan)

May 13: Marvelous (Tokyo, Japan)

May 13: SENDAI Girls (Osaka, Japan)

May 15: Pro Wrestling WAVE (Tokyo, Japan)

May 16: SEAdLINNNG (Tokyo, Japan)

May 18-19: IWA Mid-South (Memphis, IN) – Amazing Maria

May 18: House Of Glory (Elmhurst, NY) – Santana Garrett vs TBA

May 19: Reality Of Wrestling (Texas City, TX)

May 19: WrestleCircus (Austin, TX)

May 19: Queens of Combat (Charlotte, NC)

May 19: Pro Wrestling Magic (Ridgefield Park, NJ) – Faye Jackson; Solo Darling; Terra Calaway; Maria Manic; Katred

May 19: Ice Ribbon (Saitama, Japan)

– British Empire Wrestling ©

May 20: British Empire Wrestling (Mitcham, London) – KC Spinelli vs Jetta; Kirsty Love vs Shanna; Jayde vs Little Miss Roxxy; Laura Di Matteo; LuFisto; Kat Von Kaige

May 20: PROGRESS (Manchester, England) – Toni Storm(c) vs Jinny

May 20: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

May 23: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

May 25: New Horizons Pro Wrestling (Kwinana, Western Australia) – Madison Eagles; Lena Kross; Facebrooke; Azalea; Avary; Desi Derata

May 26: New Horizons Pro Wrestling (Byford, Western Australia) – Madison Eagles; Lena Kross; Facebrooke; Azalea; Avary; Desi Derata

May 26: SENDAI Girls (Sendai, Japan)

May 26: Battle Club Pro (Ridgefield Park, NJ) – Tessa Blanchard vs Mia Yim; Jessicka Havok vs Harlow O’Hara; Su Yung vs Diamante; Kiera Hogan vs Willow Nightingale; Jordynne Grace; Rachael Ellering; Leva Bates; Maria Manic; Aja Perera; Savannah Evans; Hellen Vale; Karen Q; Tasha Steelz

May 26: Ice Ribbon (Saitama, Japan)

May 26: Pro Wrestling WAVE (Tokyo, Japan)

May 28: Defiant Wrestling (Sheffield, South Yorkshire)

June 8: Prestige Wrestling (Hermiston, OR) – Leva Bates vs Kikyo

June 9: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

June 9: NOVA Pro Wrestling presents 2018 Women’s Commonwealth Cup (Annandale, VA)

June 9: DEFY Wrestling (Seattle, WA) – Kimber Lee

June 16: WrestleCircus (Austin, TX)

June 17: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

June 23: Southside Wrestling Entertainment (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) – Martina; Mia Yim; Xia Brookside; Katey Harvey; Sammii Jayne; Shanna; Charli Evans; Millie McKenzie; Kay Lee Ray; Kasey Owens

June 23: Southside Wrestling Entertainment (Sheffield, South Yorkshire) – Kasey Owens vs Mia Yim

June 24: Anarchy Championship Wrestling (Austin, TX) – Su Yung

– RISE Wrestling ©

June 29: RISE 8: Outback (South Gate, CA) – Madison Eagles & Nicole Matthews vs Kylie Rae & Miranda; Britt Baker vs Kris Wolf; Mia Yim vs Andrew Everett; Shazza McKenzie; Delilah Doom; Shotzi Blackheart; Taya Valkyrie & Rachael Ellering vs TBA; Laura James & Heather Monroe vs TBA; Jessica Troy & Charli Evans vs TBA

June 29: Sabotage Wrestling (Austin, TX)

June 30: Alternative Wrestling Show (South Gate, CA) – Mia Yim vs Nicole Savoy; Shotzi Blackheart vs Nicole Matthews; Jordynne Grace vs Willow Nightingale; Aerial Monroe vs Miranda; Shazza McKenzie vs Madison Eagles; Delilah Doom, Raze, Heather Monroe, Kylie Rae & TBA vs Suede Thompson, B.Boy, Douglas James, Eli Everfly & Andy Brown

July 8: Revolution Pro (London, England)

July 12: Wrestling GO! (Marayong, New South Wales) – Tenille Dashwood

July 14: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

July 16: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

July 21: Alternative Wrestling Show (South Gate, CA) – Jessicka Havok vs Raze

August 5: Revolution Pro (London, England)

August 11: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

August 12: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

August 25: Sabotage Wrestling (Austin, TX)

September 1: Sabotage Wrestling (Las Vegas, NV)

September 2: Revolution Pro (London, England)

September 8: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

September 24: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

October 7: Revolution Pro (London, England)

October 13: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

October 13: German Wrestling Promotion (Schwabach, Germany) – Millie McKenzie

October 23: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

November 4: Revolution Pro (London, England)

November 10: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

November 10: Sabotage Wrestling (Austin, TX)

November 23: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

December 2: Revolution Pro (London, England)

December 8: Pro Wrestling: EVE (Bethnal Green, London)

December 24: STARDOM (Tokyo, Japan)

Data collected from but not limited to: Cagematch, Puroresu Spirit, Hashtag Wrestling, WrestleRopes UK, Battle-News, EnzuigiriPuro

@Ciara92189

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[jamesmitchell5]

Kings & Queens of Kona 2017 Series - Maja Stage Nielsen (DK) . . .................................................. This will be the first time Maja will be competing in Kona, after qualifying with a 2nd at IM Mallorca and a 3rd at IM Texas... Danish pro triathlete, Maja, has been following her dreams since she was 10 paying Golf through her younger and teenage years, eventually playing for the national team at 16 and moving through the ranks. At 21 she packed it all in and moved to Lanzarote where she discovered triathlon alongside studying to be a Physio. She says her swim isn't the strongest, so stuck with half distance tri's and duathlons- winning a few European Champs medals along the way - eventually competing in her first ever Ironman distance race this year and coming second (IM Mallorca). . #majastagenielsen #cervelo #skechersperformance #2xu .................................................. Race Number: 124 Country: DK Division: Pro Last year in Kona: Didn't qualify. Notable results in 2017: 2nd IM Mallorca, 3rd IM Texas, 2nd 70.3 Estonia Seeded 24th by @trirating ................................................. Download & donate for the full & comprehensive #imwc2017 stats from Thorsten Radde - Includes all athlete bio's, seedings and past performance. ⏬ www.bit.ly/trirating .................................................. Shot at IM 70.3 Elsinore with #Canonespana & #Sigmacanarias .................................................. #roadtokona #roadtokona2017 #imwc #ironmanworldchampionships #IMHawaii #thetrihood #ironmantriathlon #3athlonlife #ironmantri #trilife #tri365 #IMKona2017#nadapedalacorre #top_triathletes #triathlonlife #sportphotography #mitchellsportsphoto #mitchellphoto #womenintriathlon #witsup (at IRONMAN World Championship)

[imperial-waterboy]

[arsenalhistory]

May 11th In Arsenal’s History

On this day in 1912 Woolwich Arsenal were in Europe again playing friendlies. The first was in Germany against Hertha BSC. Leslie Calder and Alex Graham both scored twice and John Flanagan added a goal for a 0-5 victory.

It was Arsenal's last post match friendly of the season today in 1921 and they had invited Clapton Orient to Highbury. Billy Blyth and Henry White both scored in a 2-0 win.

Back in Germany in 1924 and today Arsenal were up against Preussen in another friendly which they won 1-6.

On this day in 1925 after sacking Leslie Knighton, Arsenal owner Henry Norris placed an advertisment in Athletic News for a replacement, it read; "Arsenal Football Club is open to receive applications for the position of TEAM MANAGER. He must be experienced and possess the highest qualifications for the post, both as to ability and personal character. Gentlemen whose sole ability to build up a good side depends on the payment of heavy and exorbitant transfer fees need not apply".

Today in 1927 Arsenal's Joe Hulme was at the Edmond Machtens Stadium, Brussels to play for England in an international friendly against Belgium. He scored England's second in a 1-9 mauling of their hosts.

In Belgium today in 1948 Arsenal took on a Liege Selection team. Jimmy Logie and Ronnie Rooke both scored in a 1-2 victory. It was the very last time that George Male would wear an Arsenal shirt on a pitch. This was yet another appearance to add to his wartime matches and his 318 official matches in his 19 years service to the club.

Queen Elizabeth II was now on the throne of Great Britain and in deference to that fact Arsenal went to Ibrox to play Glasgow Rangers for the Coronation Cup today in 1953. The Gunners' failed to score and Rangers nicked it 1-0.

Another one of the regular friendlies with Grasshoppers in Switzerland today in 1955. Alex Forbes got two goals and Don Roper grabbed a hat trick in what turned out to be thrilling 5-5 draw.

In 1959 on this date Northern Irish right back Eddie Magill signed for the club from Portadown. He played 131 times before leaving Arsenal in 1965 and signing for Brighton & Hove Albion.

Continuing the tradition of friendlies against Racing Club de Paris (originally started to commemorate the Armistice of the First World War) Arsenal were once again in France today in 1960 where despite David Herd, Jimmy Bloomfield and Jackie Henderson all scoring the Gunners lost 4-3.

Defeat for Arsenal in Division 1 today in 1963 when Burnley turned up at Highbury. Joe Baker and Alan Skirton both scored in a 2-3 defeat.

In Switzerland today in 1965 Arsenal took on Grasshoppers. Don Howe popped up with a goal as did Jon Sammels and David Court and that culminated in a 0-3 victory.

It was the final match of the season today in 1968. Bobby Gould and Frank Mclintock scored the goals that gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion at Highbury. The Gunners may have finished on a victory but they could only manage ninth in the league and George Graham topped the scoring rankings for the club with 21.

Quite amazingly for the third year running Arsenal finished the league season playing the noisy north London neighbours today in 1972. This one at Highbury disappointingly finished in a 0-2 defeat for the Gunners. Ray Kennedy scored the most goals with 19 as Arsenal finished in fifth position.

Arsenal's Alan Ball was in Limassol today in 1975 as he captained England in a European Championships match against Cyprus (to date the last time the two teams met each other). He skippered the side to a 0-1 victory.

British Home Championships action today in 1976 as England took on Northern Ireland at Wembley. Irish Gunners Pat Rice and Sammy Nelson could not hold back the tide and England won the match 4-0.

Alan Sunderland got the goal in Islington today in 1982 that made the final score 1-1 between Arsenal and Liverpool.

A 2-2 draw at home to West Bromwich Albion in Divison 1 today in 1985 was the last match of the season and the last appearance in an Arsenal shirt by Brian Talbot. It took a goal from Ian Allinson and a Baggies own goal to muster the draw. The highest goalscorer was Tony Woodcock as the club ended the season in 7th. Talbot played in his final and 327th match in which he scored 49 goals and the England international left for Watford in the summer.

Today in 1986, Paris, France was the birth date and place of Vassiriki Abou Diaby. After joining Arsenal in January 2006 he made 180 appearances (43 as substitute) and scored 19 goals. Those totals would surely have been more were it not for his constant injuries. Despite Arsene Wenger's faith in his fellow Frenchman he was eventually released at the end of his contract in July 2015 and shortly afterwards joined Olympique Marseille.

Another trip to Greece for a couple of friendlies in 1987 and today the opponents were APOEL Nicosia. Paul Davis and Martin Hayes scored in a 2-2 draw.

It was Bob Pearson's Testimonial today in 1988 and old rivals Millwall had invited Arsenal to the Dell. Martin Hayes and Alan Smith both scored as Graham Rix played his final Arsenal match in the 2-2 draw.

Coventry City came to Highbury on this date in 1991, only to be defeated 6-1 and leave empty handed on the final day of the season. An own goal from the Sky Blues added to goals from Perry Groves and Alan Smith and a hat trick by Anders Limpar. A great win to celebrate winning the league and Alan Smith to be the highest goalscorer in the First Division with 29 goals. See all the goals here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIR2t5XsTXE

Into the Premiership era and today in 1993 it was a 1-3 defeat at home to the shitty Middlesex club with Paul Dickov getting the Arsenal goal in the final match of the season. The Gunners came a demoralising 10th despite Ian Wright scoring a good 30 goals to be highest scorer. It was Norwegian Pal Lydersens last of his 16 appearances for the Gunners. He returned to IK Start after his four year, reasonably uneventful stay in north London. You don't want to look at the match but it's here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvyZV0BZ1pY

Paul Merson also played his last game for Arsenal on this date in 1997 after 425 matches played and a goal tally of 99, he signed off after helping the club to a 1-3 win in the Premiership against Derby County. It was the last ever match at the Baseball Ground before Derby's move to Pride Park. Ian Wright scored twice and Dennis Bergkamp scored on the season's last day. Ian Wright topped the scoring again with 30 goals and in Arsene Wenger's first season in charge Arsenal finished in 3rd on goal difference to Newcastle United in 2nd and Liverpool in 4th. Catch the action here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1OsTwjS79k

Before Arsenal had achieved the double, on this date in 1998 Arsene Wenger was awarded the Manager of the Year Award.

At Elland Road on this day in 1999 Arsenal failed to score and were beaten 1-0 by Leeds United. Highlights are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIWf9G_MZts

In 2002 on this date goals from Dennis Bergkamp 4, Thierry Henry 33, 72, and Francis Jeffers 83 gave Arsenal a 4-3 Premiership win over Everton. Richard Wright was given a substitute appearance so he could claim his league winners medal. It was a another double winning season and Thierry Henry won the Golden Boot for his 32 goals, Robert Pires received Football Writers' Player of the Year and Dennis Bergkamp received Goal of the Season. Lee Dixon was given the honour of skippering the side in his final match for Arsenal. You can see all the action and trophy presentation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rZXiF8Ar6c

Arsenal made the long trip to Sunderland in the Premiership today in 2003 and a goal from Theirry Henry 7 and a hat trick by Freddie Ljungberg 39, 78, 88 saw Arsenal win 4-0 and take three points back to London. With the season over Arsenal finished in 2nd with Henry once again scoring 32 goals to be the club's top scorer. All the goals from the match are here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uR-7HPYkXM

Everton visited Arsenal on this date again in 2005 and once again there were seven goals in the match. This time however they were all scored past Arsenal old boy Richard Wright in the Everton goal. Goals scored by Robin van Persie 8, Robert Pires 12, 50, Patrick Vieira 37, Edu 70 (pen), Dennis Bergkamp 77, Mathieu Flamini 85 contributed to a 7-0 win. For the goals click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PboL6hSIb9M

When in 2008 we travelled to the Stadium of Light again on May 11th a single 24th minute strike by Theo Walcott was enough for victory over Sunderland. After this last match of the season Arsenal finished in 3rd position thanks to four successive wins with Emmanuel Adebayor ending as top scorer with 30 goals.

On this date in 2009 the Under 21 side took on West Bromwich Albion in the Premier Reserve League. Goals from Jay Emmanuel-Thomas and Mark Randall gave the Young Gunners a 2-0 victory.

The Under 18 side were in the Premier Academy League Play Off final today in 2010. The opponents were Nottingham Forest. Eight goals in the match and with Benik Afobe scoring a hat trick and Luke Freeman netting twice, it was a 5-3 victory for the young Gunners and they lifted the trophy as champions.

Arsenal's last Premiership match of the season today in 2014 was at Carrow Road against Norwich City. Aaron Ramsey and Carl Jenkinson (for the first time in an Arsenal shirt) scored the goals that gave the Gunners the 0-2 win. That made it five straight wins scoring 12 and letting in 2 to finish 4th in the league. The unbeaten run continued through to the cup final and into the next season. Arsenal won the FA Cup 6 days later to break the trophy drought. Olivier Giroud finished the highest club scorer in the league with 22 goals.

Finally, on this day in 2015 Swansea City were at the Emirates. The Swans had beaten Arsenal in Wales and from the off they sought to frustrate the Gunner's style and passing and put everything behind the ball. After a goalless first half the Welsh side came out with a little more intent and after substitutions were made by both teams after the hour mark it was Swansea that got the only goal of the match to do the double over Arsene Wenger's side. The highlights are here: http://www.arsenal.com/juniorgunners/news/55677/highlights-arsenal-v-swansea-city

[imperial-waterboy]

[imperial-waterboy]