1. Kipchoge and Kosgei reign in London
It was a Kenyan double in the elite men’s and women’s races at the London Marathon on Sunday.
Eliud Kipchoge won in London for a fourth time as he set the second fastest time in marathon history (2:02:37). Britain’s Mo Farah and Callum Hawkins were fifth and tenth respectively.
In the women’s elite race 25-year-old Brigid Kosgei became the youngster female winner in London while Britain’s Charlotte Purdue was tenth.
A record 42,905 competitors took part in the London Marathon. Organisers said afterwards that the annual event has raised a total of £1bn for charities since its inception in 1981.
2. Mercedes march on
Mercedes have set a Formula 1 record after securing their fourth consecutive 1-2 in the opening four races of the 2019 season. In Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas beat team-mate Lewis Hamilton to the win in Baku and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was third.
3. Van Dijk wins PFA award
Liverpool centre-half Virgil van Dijk was named the PFA Players’ Player of the Year at the 2019 PFA Awards in London on Sunday. He is just the fourth defender to win the award. Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was named PFA Young Player of the Year and Arsenal Women forward Vivianne Miedema was crowned the PFA Players’ Player of the Year.
4. Czech striker dies after bus crash in Turkey
A minibus carrying several players from the Aytemiz Alanyaspor football squad crashed in Turkey on Sunday. The BBC reports that Czech international striker Josef Sural died at the hospital where six of his team-mates were also taken.
5. Arsenal are WSL champions
Arsenal have been crowned as the FA Women’s Super League (WSL) champions following their 4-0 win against Brighton. The match at the Amex Stadium was played in front of a record WSL crown of 5,265. It is Arsenal’s first title since 2012.
6. Second WTA title in 2019 for Kvitova
Petra Kvitova beat Anett Kontaveit in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final to become the first player to win two WTA titles in 2019. The Czech tennis star won 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) in the Stuttgart final.
7. Worcester staying up
Worcester will play Premiership rugby again next season after beating Gloucester 27-20. Worcester are now 11 points clear of bottom side Newcastle with just ten points left to play for this season.
8. McIlroy Irish Open snub ‘a sign of the times’
Rory McIlroy will not play at the Irish Open in July – a decision that host Paul McGinley has called “a sign of the times”. Speaking to the BBC McGinley said: “It was [a disappointment] but this is something we’re going to see more of going forward. The challenges the players have on the world schedule are huge. The amount of money they play for around the world is huge and the focus is very much going to be on major championships. I think it’s just a sign of the times.”
9. No sympathy for Hales
Former England cricket captain Michael Atherton has little sympathy for Alex Hales after the 30-year-old batsman was reportedly suspended for 21 days for a second recreational drug use infringement. Sky Sports pundit Atherton said: “My own view is quite an unsympathetic one. Although I am a generally sympathetic person and compassionate observer on Alex Hales’ case, if what we read is true then I am broadly unsympathetic because of the context of the situation.” On Monday the England & Wales Cricket Board confirmed that Hales had been withdrawn from England’s preliminary World Cup squad.
10. Vardy’s dig at TV host Morgan
After scoring twice for Leicester City in their 3-0 win against Arsenal on Sunday striker Jamie Vardy could not resist saying hello on Twitter to Gunners supporter Piers Morgan. As of 9am on Monday Vardy’s tweet had more than 23,000 retweets and 142,000 likes.
