afpf-conference-Latest News About the World Test Championship

Whether it’s the precise technique of boxing, the powerful strikes of Muay Thai, or the grappling mastery of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, combat sports are a thrilling blend of athleticism and strategy. Explore the dynamic world of these sports, where each style draws inspiration from a rich heritage of culture and tradition.

The high-intensity nature of these sports offers a powerful, full-body workout that enhances strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular endurance. The physical demands of many combat sports also improve coordination, balance, and agility. In addition, training in these sports is often accompanied by psychosocial benefits such as self-discipline and resilience.

These sports involve using hands and legs for striking and kicking in a stand-up position. They include Boxing, Savate, kickboxing, and Muay Thai. This category also includes judo, which focuses on throws and grip strengths, and wrestling, which uses leverage and techniques to control opponents on the ground.

Increasingly popular, these sports are known for their brutality and technical depth, while promoting values of respect and fairness in competition. They also serve as a window into the complex interplay between sports and society, where participants challenge conventions, advocate for social justice, and inspire change. Many people begin their journey in these sports for personal achievement, mental toughness, stress relief, self-defense, or to connect with a community of like-minded individuals. Many find that, despite the violent nature of these sports, they are a source of pride and honor. As such, they strive to help their peers achieve their goals and aspirations through hard work, commitment, and dedication.

World Athletics Championship is the IAAF’s flagship event, taking place every two years and usually a month and a half after the Olympics. It was started in 1976 after the IOC dropped the men’s 50 km walk from the Olympic programme for Montreal’s 1976 Summer Games, and in response to calls from the sport’s athletes for an international event separate from the Olympics.

During this year’s championships in Tokyo, a number of American athletes excelled and brought home medals, including sprinter Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who became only the second female to complete a sprint treble and save her dad’s life. Teammate Noah Lyles won a 200m and 4x100m gold to earn the Male Track Athlete of the Year award, while Cordell Tinch finished his stellar season with another 110m hurdles win.

In the marathon, Clayton Young stuck with the lead pack until the final 2km (1.25 miles), and pushed his way up to 3rd, just behind Amanal Petros (Germany) and Julia Paternain (Uruguay). In the women’s 10km, Beatrice Chebet unleashed her signature kick in the last 200m and won the title for Kenya, ahead of Nadia Battocletti (Italy) and Guduf Tsegay (Ethiopia).

Good afternoon from Augusta and welcome to our live coverage of The Masters leaderboard, where we’ll track all the latest updates as this most extraordinary tournament winds to a close. Rory McIlroy is in a superb position to become the first man since Jack Nicklaus to complete a career grand slam, as he holds an impressive two-shot lead over Bryson DeChambeau going into Sunday’s final round.

Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood are on four under, with the Englishman getting off to a flyer with birdies at holes 1 and 2.

A decent crowd is watching as Brian Campbell hits his drive down the right-hand side of the fairway on hole 1. He overcooks his second shot into a bunker to the left of the green but makes the seven-foot putt for par.

The former Australian Open champion takes the honours at the fifth, birdieing the par-five to move up to a joint-fourth on three under. He is joined by the Scottish duo of Marc Warren and Martin Laird who are both on two under.

Patrick Reed is still on course for a fourth Masters title, but the American must improve over the weekend to challenge at the top of the leaderboard. Bryson DeChambeau is on the cusp of his first green jacket, and the Northern Irishman will need to be extra strong in Amen Corner on Sunday to fend off the young American’s threat.

From a dog saving a soccer goal to a mascot’s funny antics and an NFL player’s troll-tastic handshake, viral sports moments captivate fans across the globe and create indelible memories. From heartwarming tributes to pranks gone wrong, these micro-moments go beyond the box score and help leagues and athletes connect with fans in real time and build loyalty across teams.

When writing content, remember Berger’s mantra “built to show, built to grow.” To increase the chances of your article going viral, keep in mind that it should elicit a reaction from readers and make them want to share. A stale, clunky narrative that doesn’t capture the spirit of the moment will likely fail to resonate. Read your article aloud to catch awkward phrasing and unnatural rhythms, and ask friends to read it as well.

These campaigns went viral because they tapped into universal emotions that everyone can relate to, especially motherhood and sports. The ad brought tears to viewers’ eyes as it showcased many athletes’ relationships with their mothers and highlighted the role that their moms played in their athletic success.

Esports tournaments take video games to the next level – it’s like the gamer version of an athletic championship. These global competitions attract millions of in-person and online spectators and are hosted by some of the world’s most famous video game companies. Top gamers compete in a variety of tournaments and leagues to win prize money and brand sponsorships.

First-person shooters, real-time strategy games and sports simulations are some of the most popular types of esports. These competitions allow gamers to play as their characters, view all the action from their character’s perspective and hunt down and kill opponents to earn a cash prize.

The esports calendar is jam-packed with events in 2025. From a blockbuster FPS like Counter-Strike to the acclaimed strategy game Dota 2, players and fans are excited for big events that will showcase their skill. 2025’s esports calendar includes the League of Legends Worlds, Capcom Cup 11, Street Fighter 6’s biggest event and Rocket League’s RLCS 2025 Birmingham Major.

As the eSports industry continues to grow, it’s important to understand how the eSports tournament system works. The structure of team-based eSports follows patterns similar to professional sports in European and Asian countries, with promotions and relegation in order to balance the competition and keep it fair for all teams. Sponsored teams will play a number of games over the course of a season, and depending on how they do at each event, they may be promoted or relegated to a different league.

There’s no better way to immerse yourself in a new culture than by kicking back and cheering on the local team. Even if you aren’t super into sports, attending a match can still give you a taste of the local spirit. This is especially true when you’re studying or interning abroad in a city with a strong culture surrounding its sporting teams.

In its earliest form, international sport was a means of diplomacy. When the city states of Ancient Greece competed at the Olympia Games, they were expected to put all internal struggles on hold until the competition was over. This helped bring about peace between rivals, and set the stage for what would become a global event.

As travel and communication became more readily available, international sporting events grew in popularity and scope. The first official international match took place in 1882 between England and Australia, followed the next year by the first FIFA World Cup. The spread of television and radio only enhanced the impact of these events.

The governing body of association football in the world is the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA), which was founded in 1904. FIFA now oversees the international governance of the game, while national federations govern specific local rules and regulations.

Another major multi-sport international event is the Olympic Games, which was first held in 1900. This is the world’s premier multi-sport and multi-country sporting event. The Winter Olympic Games are similar to the Summer Olympics, except that they focus on winter sports. The Paralympic Games are also a multi-sport event, though they are limited to athletes with disabilities.

Using the power of sport, women can teach girls and young women teamwork, self-reliance and resilience. But to break down barriers that disproportionately affect women in sports, all stakeholders need to collaborate to make gender equality a lived reality.

The research shows that a whole range of policies is needed to promote more participation in sports and to break down gender stereotypes. These include training athletes, encouraging more women to take on technical and management roles in sport, ensuring that coaching and management teams are gender-equitable, supporting dual careers for women and prioritizing the needs of athletes with respect to their physiological characteristics.

In addition, tackling the gendered nature of violence and discrimination in sport should also be high on the agenda, along with prioritizing trauma-informed and survivor-focused responses. Finally, addressing the gender inequalities in funding, investment and media coverage is vital to ensure that more women and girls can find the joy and lifelong benefits of sport.

Overall, the findings of this study confirm and extend those of previous research. The high ATGEQS scores of Nordic countries – Finland and Sweden in particular – are in line with the literature, which associates these results with strong welfare policies, progressive gender norms and good representation of women in leadership positions (80-84). By contrast, Austria, the Czech Republic and Romania show much lower ATGEQS scores, suggesting that these countries are more resistant to progress towards gender equality in sports. This resistance is likely to be related to the legacy of traditional gender roles, conservative religiosity and older socio-political structures (85-87). The ATGEQS approach is a valuable tool for monitoring attitudes towards the equality of men and women in sport. However, it should be supplemented by individual unstructured interviews to explore the complex and multifaceted experiences of women in sport.

The 2025 NFL draft took place April 24–26 at Lambeau Field and its Titletown District in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The draft featured 257 players hearing their names called during the three-day event.

We tracked every selection by team. Find all of our coverage in the NFL app, where you can also enable news alerts to get the latest updates as they happen. You can enable them by tapping the alerts bell in the top right corner of the app.

Why they picked him: The Saints lost right tackle Terrance Penning and cycled through left guards last year, so Banks fills a need for the offense. He has experience starting at both spots and should be a plug-and-play player this season.

Why they pick him: The Vikings’ coaching staff was unusually blunt in its assessment of the offensive line following their wild-card playoff loss to the Rams, and coach Kevin O’Connell made it clear he wanted to add depth at both guard positions. Jackson has experience playing both left guard and left tackle in college, and he offers the versatility to play either position for the Vikings.

The Eagles lost a number of starters on their defense this offseason, including edge rushers Josh Sweat and Brandon Graham. Campbell brings size, speed and a versatile skill set to Philadelphia’s front seven.

International qualifiers are the stage for a battle of national pride that can sometimes be as much about mental and physical strength as it is about football. They take place in a variety of conditions, from freezing winters in Europe to the sweltering heat of the Middle East. They often feature long distance travel and intense playing schedules, as well as a vast disparity in quality that can make for lopsided matches, but they also give smaller nations invaluable international experience.

Qualification tournaments are divided into groups or knock-out ties, with teams playing each other home and away. The winners of each group automatically qualify for the next World Cup, while runners-up enter a play-off round to determine the final two places. The process can be long and drawn-out, but it is an important way to develop footballing talent while giving fans worldwide the opportunity to see their favourite nations compete for a spot at soccer’s biggest stage.

The race for the final places in 2026 is wide open. Italy, under new coach Gennaro Gattuso, need to win both of their remaining games if they are to overhaul Norway and secure a first World Cup appearance since 2014. They begin their campaign at Nagyerdei Stadium in the Hungarian city of Debrecen on Friday.

Athlete endorsements leverage personal credibility and influence to foster consumer trust, elevate brand visibility, and build differentiation. When done well, athlete marketing can be a game-changer for lifestyle and beauty brands that are looking to reach new audiences in an authentic and dynamic way.

The key to success is ensuring that the athlete you choose for your campaign truly aligns with your company values and goals, establishing an authentic connection with your target audience. For example, an athlete like Kylian Mbappe who represents a fashion and lifestyle brand can drive engagement through personal stories and behind-the-scenes content that evokes an emotional connection with the consumer.

In contrast, an athlete with a reputation for controversial behavior is less likely to generate a positive response from their audience and may be negatively impacted by the association. For this reason, athlete endorsement agreements often include a morals clause, which can be triggered if the athlete behaves in a way that compromises their image or negatively reflects on the brand.

Long-term sponsorships provide an opportunity for deeper integration between athletes and brands, allowing them to craft an ongoing storyline that is consistent with the athlete’s career goals and personal identity. This type of storytelling can also be facilitated through the use of digital platforms that allow for real-time interaction between athletes and their audiences, fostering authenticity and driving conversions. Additionally, tracking conversion rates and measuring audience sentiment can help to understand the enduring impact of your endorsement campaigns on consumer behavior and cultural trends.