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From Super Bowl hero Nick Foles to women’s soccer pioneer Alex Morgan, athlete retirement news has been on the rise this week. But despite the thrill of retiring from your sport, it’s important for athletes to understand that their careers don’t end when they hang up their jerseys or step off the field.

Athletes who aren’t prepared for retirement can find themselves struggling to balance life off the field with the demands of their sport. For example, a professional athlete’s paycheck may not cover the cost of elite training and equipment, leading some to go broke in their early post-athletic years. And without the right financial planning, athletes can find themselves on food stamps or in credit card debt as they attempt to make ends meet.

This week, Alex Morgan announced that she’s retiring from soccer at the age of 28. The two-time Olympic gold medalist, who scored 123 goals with the US Women’s National Team, is known for her leadership role in pushing women’s sports forward. She recently took her message to a new audience as a founding member of the gender equality advocacy organization Togethxr, and she’s also taking her talents into the business world with a partnership with the London City Lionesses.

Athletes who are prepared for retirement can make a successful transition to the next phase of their lives. One strategy is to keep in touch with their former sports peers while balancing time with friends and family. This can help them figure out their identity outside of the sports world and avoid feeling like a fish out of water after retiring.

Whether they’re actors starring in sports movies, musicians reppin’ their favorite teams or athletes launching viral pop culture moments, celebrities can bring a much-needed boost to sport enthusiasm. But when they get carried away with their celebrity status, they can become a source of frustration and even angst. That’s where this page comes in — keep up with the latest sports celebrity gossip.

This week TMZ Sports has the story of a professional boxer who wants to wipe the floor with his polarizing opponent, the NBA star and his girlfriend make their relationship official and more. Plus MMA fighter Chase DeMoor discusses his upcoming fight with Andrew Tate.

For two weeks late in summer, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens transforms into the epicenter of the tennis world. With the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon in the books, the world’s top players are gearing up for the US Open — the final Grand Slam of the year.

The tournament begins on Aug. 24 with qualifying matches and ends on Sept. 7 with the men’s and women’s finals. This year, prize money has reached a record $90 million, with each singles champion winning $5 million.

Fans are encouraged to bring water bottles to the event, but glass containers are not allowed on the grounds (except inside the main stadiums). To avoid overcrowded concession stands, fans can bring their own food and drinks to eat in the park or buy items from local vendors. The Grandstand food court near Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong Stadiums offers a range of cuisine, including American classics like hot dogs and hamburgers, as well as pizza from San Matteo and Greek favorites from King Souvlaki.

The onsite hotel, the connected Kimpton Theta New York – Times Square, has a rooftop bar that streams matches throughout the two-week tournament and serves up Honey Deuce cocktails in official U.S. Open cups. The hotel is also offering a Grand Slam Getaway package through finals weekend, Sept. 6-7, which includes a bottle of Grey Goose Honey Deuce per stay and table tennis access.

The Asian Games, the continent’s second largest multi-sport event following the Olympics, is held every four years among athletes from Asia. The 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games will be held from 19 September to 4 October 2026 in Japan’s Aichi prefecture, with the city of Nagoya as the heart of the events. It will be a very important event for all of Japan as it provides an opportunity to further deepen growing exchange with Asia.

New selection criteria to be followed

The Sports Ministry has announced stringent new selection criteria for Asian Games 2026, saying that only athletes with a “real chance” of winning medals will be considered for inclusion in the national contingent. The new policy also bars additional coaches and support staff, even if they are willing to pay their own costs. It is a marked change from the previous selection process, which was criticised as unclear and haphazard.

Esports to make its debut at Aichi-Nagoya 2026

A total of 11 esports titles will be contested at the Asian Games in 2026, including those that made their debut as medal events at Hangzhou 2023. The esports list was approved by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) during its 93rd executive board meeting in Harbin, China earlier this month. Indian esports players Pavan Kampelli and S8UL have shown promise in these events, with the latter finishing in the top four at the PUBG Asian Championships last December. The inclusion of esports is expected to boost India’s medal prospects at the Games.

Whether they are hometown heroes or global icons, athletes have a unique bond with their fans. They inspire lifelong loyalty and transform the ordinary into the extraordinary — from highlights reels to team news, and from games to social media posts. But to connect with fans on the most meaningful level, sports organizations need more than hype: They need a clear strategy that balances fan passion with the right tools and insights.

The benefits of social media for sports teams include increased visibility and reach, new revenue streams, and the ability to engage with fans directly. But there are also a number of challenges that can impact the health and wellbeing of athletes and their families.

Athletes are constantly under public scrutiny, and social media provides a platform for criticism and negativity. This can have a negative impact on an athlete’s identity, especially in young people. Athletes need access to a supportive community, and they must learn to manage their online activity and understand what parts of it are serving them.

Colleges and universities are increasingly educating student athletes on how to use social media responsibly. This includes training sessions that emphasize the importance of promoting their school and its athletic programs. But these education efforts must go further to ensure that student athletes understand how to manage their online identities responsibly and avoid negative content, trolls, or cyberbullying. They must also be able to recognize the signs of problematic social media usage and know where to find resources for help.

Known as the best club soccer competition in the world, Champions League features some of the most elite clubs on the planet. It takes more than talent to win it, though — you also need luck and heart. That’s why the prestigious tournament has only been won by 15 teams.

During the modern era of the competition, Real Madrid dominated with a record 15 titles, followed by AC Milan and Ajax. Only a handful of other clubs have managed to capture the trophy at least twice, including Liverpool (England), Bayern Munich (Germany), Barcelona (Spain) and Manchester United (England).

With the start of the 2024-25 season, UEFA changed the format of the competition to abandon the group stage and instead introduce an expanded league phase. In this version, each team plays eight games — four home and four away — against eight different opponents. Teams are ranked in a table based on their UEFA coefficient, and the league phase draw determines and lays out how they will play each other.

From the league phase, teams are then paired up for the knockout round, or playoffs. The ties are decided by two legs, just like in the past. Ties are broken by a computerized algorithm, and the team that scores more goals over the course of the two games, or aggregate goals, advances.

Good afternoon from Augusta as we bring you live coverage of The Masters leaderboard. Rory McIlroy has a two-shot lead on 12 under with Bryson DeChambeau next in line but there is an esteemed pack of golfers in hot pursuit at the front.

The Masters has a number of traditions, including that it invites winners of the most prestigious amateur tournaments to play in the tournament as well as professional players from other events. The tournament also allows competitors to use their children as caddies, which has helped create a family atmosphere and made the event popular with spectators.

After a slow start, McIlroy sprinted into the lead with a flurry of birdies in the middle part of his round. A double bogey at the 13th followed by a bogey at the 16th saw him fall back to even par, but he made a birdie at the 18th and claimed his second straight birdie to reclaim the lead on seven under.

McIlroy has been one of the most consistent golfers in this year’s tournament and is ranked first in the field for approach shots, but his short game remains an area to improve on. He has only converted one of his nine birdie chances from the greenside this week and will have to be better over the weekend if he wants to claim his first green jacket.

Bryson DeChambeau’s third-round 69 has him in the final group with Rose on Saturday. The US Open champion is the only player in the field to have shot two rounds in the 60s and will need to be even better this weekend if he wants to win his first major title.

World Test Championship is a biennial competition for the sport of Test cricket organised by the International Cricket Council. The ICC Test Mace is awarded to the winner of the championship.

South Africa ripped the champion tag from Australia’s callused hands and consigned it to history on Saturday, claiming the first major trophy for the Proteas in 27 years with victory in an epic final at Lord’s. The South Africans, led by talisman Temba Bavuma and ace bowler Kagiso Rabada, reached the final with a stellar campaign that included series wins in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, plus a draw against India.

Despite losing the final, Australia remain top of the table and favourites to win this year’s championship. Their fine season has been built on a strong home record, a 3-0 triumph against the West Indies and a 3-2 triumph in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy against Sri Lanka.

A big draw at Lord’s – which drew almost 80,000 spectators – was a fitting backdrop for the final as South Africa and Australia met in an epic battle between underdogs and heavyweights. It was a game of colossal proportions, and one that shook the foundations of a sport that had become accustomed to seeing its best teams win everything on offer.

Rare is the major tournament that doesn’t have some aggrieved sides contemplating what might have been, but it was especially unsettling to see the champions so comprehensively routed in a fixture that smacked of a shambles masquerading as a showpiece. That’s what Wisden’s Lawrence Booth called it, at any rate.

The Formula 1 standings are updated after every Grand Prix. Max Verstappen is the current World Drivers Champion driving for Red Bull Racing-Honda RBPT, while McLaren-Mercedes won their tenth Constructors Championship, their second in a row. This season Oscar Piastri, Kimi Antonelli, Jack Doohan, Gabriel Bortoleto, and Isack Hadjar made their full-time F1 debuts at Haas, Sauber, Mercedes, and Alpine, respectively. They are fighting for a place in the drivers’ championship with their teammates. To find out more about the teammate battles head to the team performance section where you can see head-to-head comparisons between teammates on race, points and quali for each GP.

See how the teams and drivers have progressed this season, and check out the season progression graph. Also, don’t miss the animations for a more visual representation of each GP’s outcome.

The sports technology ecosystem has never been more diverse, innovative or essential. Rather than being seen as a sideshow to the main event or a sunk cost that must be tolerated by executives, coaches and players, tech is an intrinsic part of sport and a powerful driver of commercial revenue and on-field performance. This transformation is fuelled by a new wave of vendors developing products, platforms and applications that solve sports-specific challenges and opportunities across everything from athletic performance, injury prevention and recruitment through to business operations, ecommerce and fan engagement.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are becoming increasingly prevalent for spectators, as broadcasters and teams look to increase viewer engagement by providing immersive experiences. For example, fans can use AR to superimpose real-time stats and other information over the action on a live match.

Wearables and video analysis tools are increasingly accessible, a major trend that is likely to drive change across the sport as clubs at all levels gain access to high-level performance insights previously reserved for professional athletes. This allows them to train harder, mitigate the risk of injuries and develop strategies akin to elite teams.

Finally, stadiums are transforming into year-round hubs that deliver economic activity in the venue and surrounding “mixed-use” areas. They are investing in technologies like immersive LED displays, augmented and virtual reality experiences, advanced camera systems with unique broadcast angles, and real-time data analytics to power personalised content and offers.