Sports

By Dana O’Neil, CNN Buffalo, New York (CNN) — It looked like something out of a Harlem Globetrotters routine, a fake-out so complete that it drew equal parts awe and chuckles from Michigan pep band members who were watching. Standing on the baseline, the ball raised above his head, Aday Mara made like he was

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN (CNN) — The chaos of the opening round of the men’s NCAA tournament is behind us and spots in the Sweet 16 are starting to be booked. The women’s NCAA tournament is still rolling strong in the opening round after a slate of games that went heavily in favor of the

By Kyle Feldscher, Kevin Dotson, Jacob Lev, CNN (CNN) — The second full day of the men’s NCAA tournament was pretty chalky and the upsets were limited, in contrast to the chaos that was the opening day of the round of 64. But the day may have had the most iconic game of the tournament

CNN By Don Riddell, CNN (CNN) — Shiva Amini says that the lives of Iranian athletes can change with the snap of a finger. Amini was a soccer player on Iran’s national futsal team until 2017, when she was pictured casually playing soccer with some male friends in Switzerland – a crime, she was told

By Dana O’Neil, CNN East Lansing, Michigan (CNN) — Seconds after getting crossed up by Jase Richardson during an October 2024 practice, Jeremy Fears, Jr. responded by dishing a hard foul to the then-freshman Michigan State guard. Watching at the half-court line, Tom Izzo lost his marbles. Spewing invectives at Fears, he pointed to the

By Kyle Feldscher, Jacob Lev, CNN (CNN) — The first day of the men’s NCAA Tournament is over and boy did it deliver. A few upsets, a top seed being pushed to its limits by a 16-seed and a few other close games marked a fantastic opening day of the Big Dance. The night ended

CNN By Aleks Klosok, Amanda Davies, CNN (CNN) — Iranian-born judoka Saeid Mollaei believes members of Iran’s women’s soccer team could be killed or put in prison when they return home after declining to sing the country’s national anthem at the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia. As an athlete who faced a similar decision in

By Aleks Klosok, Amanda Davies, CNN (CNN) — Iranian-born judoka Saeid Mollaei believes members of Iran’s women’s soccer team could be killed or put in prison when they return home after declining to sing the country’s national anthem at the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia. As an athlete who faced a similar decision in 2019

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN (CNN) — Venezuela held off a star-powered Team USA offense to win the nation’s first World Baseball Classic on Tuesday to end a thrilling edition of the international baseball showcase with a worthy final. The Venezuelan win represents a moment of catharsis for a nation that has been racked by political

By Hannah Keyser, CNN (CNN) — Team Italy pitcher Dylan DeLucia threw four shutout innings in the World Baseball Classic quarterfinal game against Puerto Rico – purportedly the first baseball game to be broadcast on national Italian television. When he was done, the prospect in the Cleveland Guardians system who hails from Florida had an

By Don Riddell, CNN (CNN) — Shiva Amini says that the lives of Iranian athletes can change with the snap of a finger. Amini was a soccer player on Iran’s national futsal team until 2017, when she was pictured casually playing soccer with some male friends in Switzerland – a crime, she was told by

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN (CNN) — Team USA and Venezuela are set to meet Tuesday night in the final of the World Baseball Classic, a fitting showdown between two of the top teams on the field from nations that have a long and tense history off it. Venezuela booked its trip to the final with

By CNN Staff (CNN) — In too many bracket pools to count? Trying to keep on top of how you’re doing in brackets across three or four different apps? Just like the feeling of crossing out incorrect picks on your busted bracket with a pen instead of watching a computer tell you how wrong you

CNN By Dana O’Neil, CNN (CNN) — Just as the CBS music is the call to gather for all basketball worshipers on the high holy day of Selection Sunday, the wounded are required to wail about the unrighteous committee members who wronged them. Or this year, let Bruce Pearl do it for them. Let’s just

By Dana O’Neil, CNN (CNN) — Just as the CBS music is the call to gather for all basketball worshipers on the high holy day of Selection Sunday, the wounded are required to wail about the unrighteous committee members who wronged them. Or this year, let Bruce Pearl do it for them. Let’s just not,

By Dana O’Neil, CNN New York (CNN) — “Dormant.’’ That’s the word Steve Masiello used to describe the St. John’s program he walked into three seasons ago as Rick Pitino’s associate head coach. He said this while, behind him, the Red Storm players picked their way through the confetti strewn across the Madison Square Garden

By Associated Press Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (AP) — A man shot and killed two people in a drug store parking lot near the TPC Sawgrass and then escaped by going onto TPC Sawgrass, leading The Players Championship to delay opening gates as a precaution before the third round Saturday morning, authorities said. St. Johns

By Dana O’Neil, CNN (CNN) — Sam Hoiberg sat at the far end of the Nebraska bench and watched one dismal loss beget the next. Between December 1, 2021, and February 5, 2022, the Cornhuskers lost 15 of 16, only claiming victory against lowly Kennesaw State. The Huskers took a brief pause from their doldrums

By Dana O’Neil, CNN (CNN) — The blaring alarm startled Malik Hall out of his sleep in the early morning of February 28. Months earlier, when he first arrived to play for Ironi Kiryat Ata B.C., a team in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, the former Michigan State basketball player was told to download an

By Dana O’Neil, CNN (CNN) — Steve Prohm lets out a deep exhale and Bryce Drew sighs an extended, “Oohhhh.’’ Josh Schertz kind of tsk-tsks, before muttering, “It’s a tough one.’’ Independent of one another, each has been asked the same question: “What does it feel like to be Travis Steele this week?” They have

By Rashard Rose, Kevin Dotson, CNN (CNN) — New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch is requesting his ownership stake in the team be transferred to his children, according to an internal NFL memo. Tisch – along with his siblings Jonathan and Laurie Tisch – notified NFL chief executives and club presidents on Wednesday of their

By Kyle Feldscher, CNN (CNN) — Team USA is on the verge of one of the most embarrassing exits in World Baseball Classic history and, at this point, there’s nothing the Americans can do about it. After a shocking 8-6 defeat to Italy on Tuesday, a game that saw the Americans fall behind 8-0 before

By Hannah Keyser, CNN Miami (CNN) — With Team Venezuela leading 6-2 in the seventh inning of their first World Baseball Classic game, a dance party erupted on the concourse behind third base. A small drumline – one of several in the stands, even for a noon game on a weekday – had attracted a

By Hilary Whiteman, Christina Macfarlane, Ben Church, CNN Brisbane (CNN) — One of the seven members of the Iranian soccer team granted refuge in Australia has changed her mind, forcing Australian officials to hurriedly move the other six women after she divulged their secret location to the Iranian embassy, the government in Canberra said. Home

By Associated Press Miami (AP) — It’s Wilt, then Bam. Bam Adebayo had a night for all time on Tuesday, with a point total second to only Wilt Chamberlain in the NBA record books. Adebayo scored 83 points, setting league marks for free throws made and attempted in a game for the Miami Heat in

By Christina Macfarlane, Ben Church, Hilary Whiteman, CNN Brisbane (CNN) — Two more members of the Iranian soccer team were granted humanitarian visas in Australia before the rest of the team departed Sydney late Tuesday, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed Wednesday. That takes the total number of visas granted to seven – six players

CNN By Don Riddell, CNN (CNN) — Iraq’s men’s national soccer team is just 90 minutes away from qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 40 years – in theory. Events far beyond the team’s control have reinforced the adage that the last mile is often the hardest. On March 31,

By Don Riddell, CNN (CNN) — Iraq’s men’s national soccer team is just 90 minutes away from qualifying for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 40 years – in theory. Events far beyond the team’s control have reinforced the adage that the last mile is often the hardest. On March 31, the

By Thomas Schlachter, CNN (CNN) — The NBA has scrapped the Atlanta Hawks’ “Magic City Monday” event following “significant concerns” from league stakeholders. The promotion was intended to honor the renowned Atlanta strip club, Magic City. The Hawks had planned to “celebrate the city’s iconic cultural institution” during next Monday’s home game against the Orlando

CNN By Hilary Whiteman, Christina Macfarlane, Ben Church, Michael Rios, CNN Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team competing in the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia have been granted humanitarian visas, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday, confirming he took an early-morning call from US President Donald Trump about

By Hilary Whiteman, Christina Macfarlane, Ben Church, Michael Rios, CNN Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Five members of the Iranian women’s soccer team competing in the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia have been granted humanitarian visas, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday, confirming he took an early-morning call from US President Donald Trump about the

By Patrick Sung Cuadrado, Christina Macfarlane, CNN (CNN) — The Iran women’s national soccer team was forced to salute and sing its anthem on Thursday ahead of its Women’s Asian Cup group stage match against host Australia, sources close to the team tell CNN Sports, just days after the squad refused to do so in

By Kevin Dotson, CNN Atlanta (CNN) — North Carolina runner Molly Born won the USA Track & Field (USATF) women’s half marathon championship by a slim margin of just over four seconds on Sunday in Atlanta – but the result is only half the story. To say Born’s win was mired in controversy would be

By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — It’s now 100 days until the FIFA World Cup is set to begin in North America, and the intensifying war in the Middle East has raised further questions around what is already a controversial tournament. Chief among those questions right now: Will Iran participate in the tournament now that

By Sarah Dewberry, CNN (CNN) — In 1938, the Owls Club, a group of talented Black women in Seattle, Washington, won the first-ever Black women’s professional softball championship. The next year, behind left-handed pitcher Lillian Brown’s dominant performance — where she struck out 12 Manette batters — the team, then renamed the Brown Bombers, won

By Aleks Klosok, Amanda Davies, CNN London (CNN) — Arsenal star Bukayo Saka has exclusively told CNN Sports that his side has “the opportunity to make history” after the 24-year-old committed his long-term future to the current Premier League leaders. The forward, who joined the club’s academy at the age of eight, recently signed a

By Mia Fishman, CNN (CNN) — United States Olympic women’s hockey team captain Hilary Knight called President Trump’s invitation to the White House “a distasteful joke” on Wednesday during an appearance on ESPN’s SportsCenter. The invite came after Trump extended a welcome to the men’s team via a phone call on Sunday, as celebration ensued

By Mia Fishman, CNN (CNN) — Lindsey Vonn credited her doctor with saving her leg from amputation in an Instagram video posted Monday, going in-depth on the severity of the injury she suffered in her devastating crash at the Milan Cortina Olympics. In the video, Vonn explained the details of the leg injury she sustained

By Andy Scholes, CNN (CNN) — Growing up in Houston, Texas, I would beg my parents all the time to take me to my local card shop. If I got birthday money from an aunt, “Please, can we go to the card shop? I’ll do extra chores if we can go Friday.” Opening packs of

By Dana O’Neil, CNN Milan (CNN) — Outside the arena here, it felt like all of Canada had arrived, not so much for a hockey game but for a statement. This, this sport played on ice, belongs to us. You Americans may keep your football; we get hockey. And so, they sipped their beer, using

By Don Riddell, CNN (CNN) — Norway’s director of elite sport sounded a little hoarse when he answered the phone to CNN Sports. Tore Øvebrø said he had just caught a cold, but he admitted that his raspy voice might also have something to do with his cheering over the last two weeks. “It didn’t

By Patrick Snell, CNN (CNN) — If Team USA is looking for inspiration ahead of the men’s Olympic hockey final Sunday against fierce rivals Canada, it need look no further than the iconic exploits of the “Miracle on Ice” heroes from 1980. It’s been 46 years since the last time the United States won gold

By Dana O’Neil, CNN Milan, Italy (CNN) — As Jordan Stolz hung in the pack of speedskaters, the distance between them and two daring breakaway skaters stretching further and further, Stolz found himself sort of fighting with himself. He could sense, without being told, that everyone was waiting for him – the guy with two

By Don Riddell, Glen Levy, CNN (CNN) — On the eve of the new Major League Soccer (MLS) season, MLS Commissioner Don Garber has expressed his interest in Real Madrid superstars Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé eventually becoming part of the league and playing their club soccer in North America. The 31st season of MLS

By Ben Church, CNN Milan, Italy (CNN) — Two minutes and four seconds. That’s all that stood between Team USA and a gutting loss in the women’s hockey final on Thursday. For much of the game, the US players had huffed and puffed but failed to find a way past Canada’s stubborn defense – more

By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — Dressed in his all-white tuxedo and matching skates, camera operator Jordan Cowan has become an accidental star at this year’s Olympic figure skating events in Milan. Videos of the 35-year-old filming skaters as they leave the ice have gone viral, in part due to his attire but also the

By Hannah Keyser, CNN (CNN) — The Major League Baseball Players Association has elected a new executive director following the sudden departure of Tony Clark, who had led the union for over a decade. Bruce Meyer will serve as the sixth executive director in the history of the MLBPA, the union announced. Player leadership –

CNN By Dana O’Neil, CNN Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy (CNN) — When she finally crossed the finish line a second-and-a-half faster than anyone else, Mikaela Shiffrin did the strangest thing. Nothing. She did nothing. As the memory of eight races, four years and whatever other numbers that people used to reduce a lifetime of achievement into

By Dana O’Neil, CNN Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy (CNN) — When she finally crossed the finish line a second-and-a-half faster than anyone else, Mikaela Shiffrin did the strangest thing. Nothing. She did nothing. As the memory of eight races, four years and whatever other numbers that people used to reduce a lifetime of achievement into a

By Ben Church, CNN (CNN) — There was a welcome addition to the end of Wednesday’s Olympic women’s cross-country skiing team sprint free race, when a dog joined some of the athletes for the final sprint to the line. Footage from the broadcast showed the happy-looking pup running behind two skiers, with the crowd cheering

By Ben Church, CNN Milan, Italy (CNN) — It’s around 102 years since the very first Winter Olympics were held in the French resort of Chamonix, but this year’s Games will be the first to feature the sport of skimo. Short for ski mountaineering, skimo is the only sport making its debut at Milan Cortina

By Patrick Snell, CNN (CNN) — When Benfica and Ukraine goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin comes to one day look back on his playing career, there’s one moment he’ll likely never ever forget. The time he was sent forward by As Águias manager José Mourinho to score a crucial 98th minute header against the mighty, 15-time European

By Hannah Keyser, CNN (CNN) — Tony Clark resigned abruptly this week as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association after allegations of personal misconduct came to light. After an outside firm was retained in response to federal investigations, Clark was discovered to have had an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate who

CNN By Don Riddell, CNN (CNN) — From the age of just nine, Bruna Moura vowed that she would make something of her life. She can vividly remember being pulled to the front of the classroom in Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil so that her teacher could belittle her for not answering a question 100%

By Don Riddell, CNN (CNN) — From the age of just nine, Bruna Moura vowed that she would make something of her life. She can vividly remember being pulled to the front of the classroom in Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil so that her teacher could belittle her for not answering a question 100% correctly.

By Dana O’Neil, CNN Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy (CNN) — The gold medal that long eluded her finally hanging around her neck, Elana Meyers Taylor immediately laughed off any notion that she was in the middle of a life-changing moment. “In six days, I’ve got school pick up and drop offs in the middle of Texas,”

By Ben Church, CNN Milan, Italy (CNN) — Much has been made of the weight of expectation at this year’s Winter Games, especially when it comes to American athletes. But where the likes of Ilia Mailinin and Mikaela Shiffrin have seemingly struggled to live with the pressure, Team USA’s speed skating sensation Jordan Stolz has

By Patrick Snell, CNN (CNN) — There’s a reason people so often talk about the magic and romance of the Cup, and given recent events, it’s all still very much alive and well. Dating all the way back to the early 1870s, England’s iconic FA Cup is the oldest national soccer competition in the world.

By Hannah Ryan, CNN (CNN) — On the ice, they’re sworn enemies. At the 2026 Winter Olympics, they’re on opposing sides of a historic and storied rivalry between two proud nations and both will be fighting tooth and nail throughout the competition to emerge victorious. Off the ice, though, they’re a very happy couple and

By Dana O’Neil, CNN (CNN) — The great ones make it look so easy that we forget how hard it is to be exceptional. Secretariat running like a machine in the Belmont and Michael Phelps gobbling up gold medals in 2008; Tom Brady engineering seven Super Bowl victories and Simone Biles coming back for more