Sports

After years of fleeing, fighting, advocating and training, Afghanistan's women have won the right to compete for football's biggest prizes as their country's official national team. An unprecedented decision made by world football's governing body, FIFA, in Toronto on Tuesday paves the way for the current squad to try to qualify for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and then future World Cups and Asian Cups. It is another huge step for a team who have had to fight for their right to play, with the Taliban-run football association refusing to sanction an Afghanistan national women's team. "It's something really huge for us, to show the world that Afghan women and girls are capable of doing amazing things," national team goalkeeper Elaha Safdari told DW.  "It's a hard slap to the face of t...

While the impact of last week's new "Policy on the Protection of the Female (Women's) Category in Olympic Sport" has focused largely on trans athletes, medical experts and Olympians say the impact of the ban will be felt more keenly by those with differences in sexual development (DSD).  New Zealander Laurel Hubbard is the only recorded trans athlete in Olympic history. The weightlifter failed to record a successful lift in the women's +87 kilograms weightlifting in the delayed 2020 Olympics and crashed out early. South Africa's Caster Semenya was not at those Games in Tokyo to defend her 800-meter title from Rio in 2016 and London 2012. She fell foul of a tweaked World Athletics (then the IAAF) policy that female athletes must lower their testosterone levels below the prescribed 5 nmol/...

The outcome was decided in the penultimate round. A draw against his closest rival, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, was enough for Javokhir Sindarov to win the World Chess Candidates Tournament in Cyprus. "Every round was very, very tough, and the past week was the hardest of my life," the new chess superstar said after his breakthrough victory. "I slept really badly and I'm glad it's over." Winning the Candidates Tournament means Sindarov, 20, will now face the reigning world champion Dommaraju Gukesh of India for the World Chess Championship title in late 2026. With Gukesh just 19, it will be a duel between two young stars from the emerging chess nations of India and Uzbekistan. Chess stars reaching peak earlier Sindarov, who became a grandmaster at the age of 12 and has been in impre...

A little tired but with a smile on her face, Kathrin Marchand arrives for her first training session of the day. Together with her rowing partner Valentin Luz, the para-athlete will spend the first few hours of the day on the water in a double scull. A few quick stretches, and then they're off. "Five years ago, I never would have thought I'd be rowing this much again," Marchand told DW. "I consider it a privilege that I can still compete at the elite level." Now 35, Marchand made her Olympic debut in 2012 in London as part of the German women's eight. Four years later, she competed for the second time at the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Marchand made her Olympic debut at the London Games in 2012 (seen here) and also competed in Rio de Janeiro in 2016Image: Rainer Jensen/dpa/picture a...

A humanoid robot has been declared champion at a half-marathon running race held in Beijing, China, on Sunday, far outpacing human participants and beating the world record. The autonomously navigated robot Shandian was presented with the laurels after a remote-controlled robot, Lightning, who technically finished first, was denied the prize under the event's weighted scoring rules. Big robotic improvement Shandian completed the 21-kilometer (around 13-mile) course in Beijing's Yizhuang district with a time of 50:26, while Lightning achieved a time of 48:19. Both times were faster than the human record for the distance set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo, who ran a time of 57:20 at the Lisbon Half Marathon in March.   In the inaugural event in Beijing last year, the fastest robot needed a l...

Kenya's Sabastian Sawe has become the first person to run a marathon in under two hours. The 31-year-old set the milestone by winning the London Marathon in 1 hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds on Sunday, breaking the previous record. The time for the 26.2 miles (42.2km) distance was 65 seconds faster than the mark set by fellow Kenyan Kelvin Kiptum in Chicago in 2023. It was also 10 seconds quicker than Eliud Kipchoge's time from 2019 in Vienna. That finish was not recognized as an official record because it was not in open competition and the Kenyan was assisted by pacemakers.  "I think I’ve made history today in London, and for the new generation (it shows) to run a record is possible," said Sawe. Sawe keen to prove he is running clean "It depends on the preparation you had and the d...

Bayern Munich secured yet another Bundesliga title after beating Stuttgart 4-2 at home on Sunday. Top scorer Harry Kane scored his 32nd goal of the season after coming on as a second-half substitute as the Bavarians won their 35th German league title — 34 of them coming in the Bundesliga era. "To finish the league off in ​the way we have with the goals we scored... credit to the lads... we still have a lot to ​play for... but all the hard work, this makes it all worth it," said Kane. Bayern Munich cruise to title  The win moved the Bavarian giants an unassailable 15 points clear of second-placed Borussia Dortmund with four games to spare. Germany captain Joshua Kimmich, who won his 10th league title with Bayern, called the victory "very special." "The way we did it, we were very cons...

Bayern Munich sealing a 13th out of the last 14 men's Bundesliga titles was one of the least surprising storylines to come out of German football this weekend. Another was the misogynistic reaction online to Marie-Louise Eta becoming the first woman to coach a match in the top five European men's leagues. Eta's Union Berlin side fell to an unfortunate 2-1 defeat to fellow strugglers Wolfsburg but the social media discourse was marred by the usual comments, with Union's social media admins taking several users to task. The German football association (DFB), in the form of vice-president Celia Sasic, said this style of community management was "absolutely the right thing". In an interview with the t-online portal, Sasic added that: "The comments are unacceptable. They're not directed solel...

Even by Bayern Munich's standards, wrapping up men's and women's Bundesliga titles with a week remaining in April is impressive. The women's football team sealed their fifth title in the last six seasons with a 3-2 win at Union Berlin on Wednesday, having won 21 and drawn one of their 22 league games so far. Later that evening, the men reached the German Cup final with a 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen having made it 12 out of 13 Bundesliga titles a few days before that. "It was a really great evening that leaves us wanting more," said women's captain Giulia Gwinn after scoring the goal that sealed the title. "I think we've seen throughout the season that we've really left our mark on every game in a dominant way. That speaks volumes about our team and the hard work we've put in this year....