His body 'totally depleted' by distance running, Ryan Hall became reenergized after turning to weightlifting
By George Ramsay, CNN
Iran 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
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
International Olympic Committee is coming under pressure over the alleged torture and arrest of Iranian athletes
By Don Riddell, CNNUpdated 0816 GMT (1616 HKT) July 1, 2021(CNN)Athletes are trained to be tough; they've learned to push through the pain barrier and find courage when all hope might seem to be lost.But athletes in Iran have to be braver than most. For them, the battle isn't just on the field of play, it's also away from the arenas, where the consequences of their actions could be painful, even deadly.«I am 100% fearful,» judoka Vahid Sarlak tells CNN Sport. He knows fighting for his beliefs could end badly in a country where political activists and their families are routinely intimidated, arrested and can even be executed. «Every day, my mom asks me not to do this, she is worried daily. But I say, 'I was