His body 'totally depleted' by distance running, Ryan Hall became reenergized after turning to weightlifting
By George Ramsay, CNN
Hong Kong Sport News
Navid Afkari: Executed Iranian wrestling star's voice is 'everywhere now'
By Don Riddell, CNNUpdated 1011 GMT (1811 HKT) September 12, 2021Wrestler Navid Afkari was executed by the Iranian government on September 12, 2020. The story of his life and the movement he has inspired is being republished by CNN International to mark the anniversary of his death. This article was first published on June 28, 2021.(CNN)It was the worst news that anybody could have woken up to; as Sardar Pashaei reached for his phone one morning in September, he knew immediately that something terrible had happened. «When I woke at about six or seven o'clock in the morning,» he told CNN Sport, «I see a lot of phone calls from Persian television. And when I listened to the voicemail of my journalist friend, I just cried. I
Here's what's next after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit failed a postrace drug test
By Dakin Andone, Kevin Dotson, Cesar Marin, and Kelly McCleary, CNN
Bodybuilder Rene Campbell wants to change the view of what women should look like
By Noura Abou Zeinab, for CNNUpdated 1143 GMT (1943 HKT) December 2, 2020(CNN)Counterpointed by a number of striking tattoos, hers is a body defined by muscle. She is a mother of two who embodies power and strength.Rene Campbell has dedicated most of her life to sculpting her once diminutive frame into one that, she says, goes «completely against what society thinks a woman should look like.»The bodybuilder's dedication has brought plenty of awards but building her dream body — gaining over 85 pounds, going from a UK size 8 to 14 — has had its challenges, too, both physically and mentally. «I was very insecure about my body image, very insecure about myself as a person,»
Australia's first international cricket team found fame in the UK. At home, they were betrayed
By Ben Westcott, CNNUpdated 1032 GMT (1832 HKT) April 5, 2021Harrow, Australia (CNN)Growing up in the small community of Harrow in southern Australia, 86-year-old Lachie Turner spent his childhood hearing legends of the great Aboriginal cricketer Johnny Mullagh.«The story used to be that he could win a match, batting with just the handle of a pickaxe,» said Turner, with a smile. Mullagh was a hero in Harrow, and the surrounding livestock communities, where homesteads dot the landscape along miles of single-lane dirt roads.At a time when being Indigenous meant you could be thrown off your land, forced into Christian missions or even shot, Mullagh — of the Jardwadjali people from
Pita Taufatofua: GoFundMe set up by Tonga's Olympic flagbearer raises over $310,000
By Alex Stambaugh and Ben Morse, CNN
Japan's sumo wrestlers: Meet the women changing the face of the sport
By Emiko Jozuka, Don Riddell and Daniel Campisi, CNNUpdated 0913 GMT (1713 HKT) January 5, 2022Nagoya, Japan (CNN)With a steely look, Senna Kajiwara charges headlong into her opponent.The two pre-teen girls grapple for a dozen seconds before Kajiwara ousts her rival from the ring.At this sumo tournament, no loincloth-clad men are competing for the title of «grand champion.» Instead, girls aged between 8 and 12 are going head-to-head and step-by-step changing the future of Japan's male-dominated national sport.«Some people are surprised and even shocked when they find out I do sumo. They tend to think that sumo is just for boys and men,» Kajiwara told CNN Sport.«I think if we get more girls and women in sumo then we'll be able to level the