sport

For AFL recruiters, scouting future footy stars is tough at the best of times. Now coronavirus has made the usual game of speculation and conjecture that much trickier.

While many sporting bodies have begun actively promoting LGBTQIA+ inclusion, queer youth are still dropping out of sport at a higher rate than their straight peers and openly out male elite athletes remain a rarity.

Australian basketballer Ezi Magbegor rolled with the punches of a tumultuous 2020 and emerged as one of her sport’s biggest stars. Now, as the WNBA champion embarks on the WNBL season, her sights are firmly set on the Tokyo Olympics.

For footy fans struggling under lockdown in Melbourne, the 2020 AFL season has been both a welcome distraction and a reminder of what has been lost. Now it’s set to culminate with the previously unthinkable – a grand final under lights at the Gabba.

As the Melbourne Vixens compete for the Super Netball premiership this weekend, quirky defender Jo Weston will trade the jokes for a serious role in wearing down the opposition.

In 1988, a brash new club turned rugby league on its head and went on to become a dominant force in the NRL. But this year the Brisbane Broncos parted with the coach, left fans dispirited and finished bottom of the ladder. Where did the club lose its way?

Experiences of racism are not new to Lin Jong. But after years of trying to shrug them off, the Western Bulldogs midfielder is now determined to call out vilification and see the perpetrators held to account.

A tumultuous dispute at Equestrian Australia has seen the government revoke its funding and the Australian Olympic Committee withdraw recognition. With a postponed Tokyo Games looming in July 2021, where to now for the sport’s peak body?

Grand slam tennis has returned with Australian players including James Duckworth having headed into the US Open ‘bubble’. Journeyman Matt Reid, however, opted to sit out the tournament at home, swapping his racquet for a hammer and chisel at a Sydney quarry.