Roger Federer is coming back to US Open four years after retirement, set for two blockbuster matches US Open confirmed Roger Federer's return on Sunday, and he will be joined by three other tennis greats Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:25:16 IST Written by Aratrick Mondal Prefer HTon Google Share
Nerves cost us against Australia, but I'm proud of the team: women's hockey coach: Marijne Nerves cost us against Australia, but I'm proud of the team: women's hockey coach: Marijne Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 13:09:14 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Amstelveen
After seventh seed Victor Lai fell in three games to ninth seed Alex Lanier at the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi, the former described the Frenchman as a ‘beast’, lauding his physical fitness and tenacity to go the distance and play the long game
India men’s football team will face Panama in a FIFA international friendly in September, ahead of another friendly against five-time FIFA World Cup winners Brazil in Kolkata on October 3. According to a report by The Times of India, the match between India and the North American side is
Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has ruled himself out of the running to replace Gianni Infantino, but says he expects a candidate to challenge the Fifa president's leadership in March. Infantino has faced calls to step down after he scrapped a controversial plan to sell off stakes in Fifa's
'I knew the risks, I'd do it again' - Moody opens up in new BBC documentary
'I knew the risks, I'd do it again' - Moody opens up in new BBC documentary
Nine seconds of silence.
After Ben Youngs asks whether Lewis Moody ever saw a risk to playing rugby, his former team-mate takes his time before beginning his answer.
There is a lot to consider.
Moody played alongside Youngs at the highest level. He won 71 caps for England. He toured with the British and Irish Lions. He won domestic and European titles as part of a notoriously hard-edged Leicester team.
Through it all, Moody was famed for his full-throttle commitment. His disregard for pain and his endless appetite for collisions and close-quarters combat earned him the nickname 'Mad Dog'.
In his playing days, the only risk Moody seemed to be concerned with was that some ounce of effort would be left unspent in pursuit of victory.
Looking back, the 47-year-old says it wasn't that simple.
"I do think I was very aware of the risks rugby presented, when you go and smash yourself into another human being week in week out, day in day out," Moody tells a new BBC documentary - Ben Youngs Investigates: How Safe Is Rugby?
"I think I was acutely aware of the risks that come with injury and concussion, but I was happy that the reward and the joy of playing the sport far outweighed any of those.
I enjoyed what I did so much that I was prepared to put up with that, and I would do again. I loved it... I absolutely loved it.
Last year, Moody was diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) - a degenerative muscle-wasting condition.
Several rugby players have had the same news.
Rugby league legend Rob Burrow died in June 2024. Scotland international Doddie Weir and former Springbok Joost van der Westhuizen also died with the condition.
Ed Slater, whose career at Leicester overlapped with Moody's by a season, retired from playing in July 2022 after tests showed he too had MND.
There is no proven link between rugby of either code and MND, though elite athletes in general are disproportionally affected by the condition.
It is thought low levels of oxygen in the body during intense exercise damage motor neurone cells, triggering the disease in those who are susceptible either though genetics or environmental factors.
Despite that, Moody recognises rugby has become linked with MND in much of the public's mind.
"I don't get frustrated by it," he says.
"It is an easy assumption to make, because you have had a couple of high-profile rugby players with MND, that playing rugby makes you more likely to get MND. But that is not the truth.
The only link and connection to MND and sport is around extreme exertion. There are research papers out there that talk about the connections. If you speak to the scientists or clinicians in this space, there are multiple reasons MND occurs. It's not one thing.
Moody retired from rugby 14 years ago. It was a very different game then.
In September 2007, Moody faced Tonga in a must-win Rugby World Cup pool-stage match for England.
Less than two minutes in, attempting to charge down a kick, his head was rocked back by the opposition fly-half's knee. Moody sprawled still on the turf, his arms limp by his side.
A medic ran on, helped Moody into a sitting position, gave him a sip of water, a sponge to the back of the neck and a pat on the back before the flanker gingerly got to his feet to cheers from the crowd.
Shortly after half-time, Moody was caught heavy and high as opposite number Nili Latu jumped into a tackle. The slow-motion big-screen replay, showed Moody's head rocked back by the impact, drawing winces and groans from fans inside Parc des Princes in Paris.
Moody lay on his side, eyes shut, slumped on the turf. The referee awarded a penalty and gave Latu a gentle ticking-off. Moody eventually got up and played on once again.
A day later, England had a day off. Against the advice of the team doctor, Moody joined his team-mates on a day out at EuroDisney.
"I went on some ride - I think it was called the Black Hole - and as soon as it started, my head was ringing," remembers Moody.
I wanted to get off straight away. I spent the rest of the day looking after the bags and coats and stuff. That was the first realisation that I needed to take concussion more seriously.
It was a realisation the game was waking up to, as well.
Unlike with MND, there is a proven link between repeated blows to the head and brain injury.
Five years after Moody's match against Tonga, American Football's National Football League agreed a compensation settlement with former players for concussion-related brain injuries., external
Payments in the years since have exceeded a billion dollars.
A group of former rugby players are in the process of taking their own legal action against the game's authorities, claiming more should have been done to protect them.
Elite rugby now has arguably the most stringent measures around concussion.
Head contact is rigorously policed. The tackle height has been lowered. Players are sent off for tackles that would barely have raised an eyebrow, never mind a red card, a generation ago.
High-tech mouthguards measure the impact of each collision, triggering touchline alerts if thresholds are exceeded. Independent matchday doctors review collisions on monitors. Stand-down periods for any player with a concussion are mandatory and guided by medical experts.
"I think the game now is safer than it's ever been," adds Moody, who was cleared of early onset dementia when he took part in a study at University of Edinburgh.
But he has seen close up what his fellow World Cup winner Steve Thompson has gone through. Thompson, 47, has early onset dementia and is part of that legal action against the game's authorities.
"I roomed with 'Thommo' for years, and I've seen him and spent time with him since, and he's genuinely struggling," says Moody.
"I'm glad those studies exist because there are plenty of lads that are struggling and do need support.
"The whole concussion campaign and movement at the time was really important in highlighting that there is a challenge and a problem that we have been ignoring for a long time.
Hopefully, off the back of that, we're now slightly more open-minded as a sport in embracing change and discomfort and challenging conversations, and we won't be in a position where we're sort of hiding from it again.
Moody says, since going public with his diagnosis in an interview with BBC Breakfast in October, he has been learning to live with the uncertainty over his future and the development of his own case of MND
"Without getting too 'woo woo', there is a Buddhist saying on a podcast that 'yesterday's dead, tomorrow isn't born, there is only today'," he says.
"That helped me simplify how life with MND continues because there is no certainty around what the future looks like.
"I've met people that have been living with it for 12 years, 15 years and I've also met people who have it for six months and it's really aggressive.
"Everything that I've experienced so far and have been told is that mine is slow-progressing. For me, it's about being as normal as possible until things aren't normal. And then it's readjusting to that new normal.
That may sound really difficult for people to understand, but it's how I simplify living with it. It's how I deal with it now and it's good now, so that's all that matters.
Moody is also ready to start using his platform to raise awareness of MND, like Burrow, Weir and Slater have done, though has yet to announce what shape that might take.
"Doddie and Rob came into the MND world with far less information and not much hope," Moody said. "I come in now because of those guys and I have almost been handed the baton, almost like 'here you go'.
"I have been in conversation with Ed. With the messaging and awareness, I feel in a unique position where I can piggyback off the work they have all done and impact going forward in that MND space.
"I want to use my platform for as big an impact as I can.
Details of organisations offering help and support with MND are available at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Source: BBC
Related Posts: Sports
Barcelona began their La Liga title defence with a commanding 5-0 victory over Elche on Sunday, with Raphinha and Fermin Lopez scoring twice each and Anthony Gordon setting up two goals on his debut. The result comea a day after Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid defeated Espanyol 2-1 with a late winner
11 hours ago
GCT Grand Finale: Praggnanandhaa beats Keymer to stake his claim for finals GCT Grand Finale: Praggnanandhaa beats Keymer to stake his claim for finals Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 09:43:17 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link St. Louis
11 hours ago
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin may have been vocal in his demand for the current FIFA president Gianni Infantino to step down but he has no interest in replacing the under-fire Swiss. Infantino continues to face pressure to leave his position as world football’s governing body chief following
11 hours ago
The French are known for a lot of things but badminton isn’t one of them. Till Sunday, when the country that has never been considered among the top nations even in Europe created history at the 2026 World championships, in more ways than one
11 hours ago
AITA picked them, the government cut them: Why has India’s Asian Games tennis squad been slashed from 12 to 7? The AITA had originally proposed a 12-member squad for for the Asian Games, which included six women. But the list was slashed down to just seven players. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026
11 hours ago
Ashton Jeanty injury update: Is the Raiders RB out for the season? Doctor reveals possible diagnoses; ‘best case…’ Ashton Jeanty was injured after attempting a catch, prompting a tense silence at the Raiders’ facility before his teammates gathered and knelt in prayer. Updated on: Aug 24
14 hours ago
When Liverpool came to Newcastle last August, there was utter jubilation as Rio Ngumoha scored a remarkable 100th-minute winner. They scored late again this time around, through Dominik Szoboszlai's 99th-minute penalty, but it felt more like a sense of relief than joy as they rescued a point
14 hours ago
'Is Sydney Taylor playing tonight?' Chicago Sky guard's slow start vs Fever sparks injury concerns Sydney Taylor was in Chicago’s starting lineup when the Sky hosted the Indiana Fever on Sunday night. Updated on: Aug 24, 2026, 07:32:12 IST By Ojas Jaiswal Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link
14 hours ago
Yet again, the England men's cricket team is picking through the wreckage of a late-night misdemeanour. The latest stain on the game's reputation is a result of pictures of fast bowler Brydon Carse in handcuffs and surrounded by police officers outside a nightspot in Derby
14 hours ago
Jean-Philippe Mateta is arguing the remainder of his Crystal Palace contract is invalid and has taken his case to Fifa. Multiple sources have told BBC Sport the France international has launched an official challenge over the validity of the final 10 months on his Selhurst Park deal
1 days ago
Bangladesh 64: Starc 6-12 & 95: Shanto 31; Starc 4-39, Cummins 3-10, Lyon 3-25 Mitchell Starc took 10 wickets in the match as Australia bounced back from last week's shock defeat by Bangladesh to win the second Test by an innings and 51 runs and draw the series 1-1. Second Test
1 days ago
Jannik Sinner's absence benefits Carlos Alcaraz: What to expect from the US Open champion after his long injury layoff Jannik Sinner is out, but is it premature to call Carlos Alcaraz the US Open favourite after four months away? Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
US Open leaves Stan Wawrinka out in the cold, denying former champion a wild card for his final Grand Slam The US Open has surprisingly denied Stan Wawrinka a wild card for what could be his final appearance at a Grand Slam. Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
India faced the Netherlands in their Pool E match of the ongoing FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2026 on Saturday (August 22) at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen but suffered a 1-3 defeat. India conceded one goal in the third quarter and two in the fourth quarter to go down against the hosts
1 days ago
There is an uncanny resemblance between Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa’s bronze-medal run at the 2011 BWF World Championships and Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand’s campaign at the 2026 edition. Jwala and Ashwini faced the second-seeded Cheng Wen-hsing and Chien Yu-chin as early as the
1 days ago
Runs on the board and rival wickets, is the template that Dhananjaya de Silva will chase when the second Test commences at the SSC Ground on Sunday (August 23, 2026). “It’s about putting runs on the board. That’s what India did [at Galle]. For the first two days they batted and got 460 runs
1 days ago
Serena Williams returns to US Open after four years, joins Carlos Alcaraz for mixed doubles Serena Williams will return to the US Open for the first time since 2022, partnering Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles after receiving a wildcard. Published on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
Roberto De Zerbi may have spent close to £400m by the time his Tottenham Hotspur rebuild is complete – but it took just his side's first Premier League game of the season to prove all the money in the world is no guaranteed cure for a losing mentality
1 days ago
Manchester United's fans had endured a bad enough day on the banks of the River Humber when Hull City's stadium announcer gleefully piped up midway through the second half. Two trains back to Manchester from the city centre station had been cancelled
1 days ago
From a shy girl to team mentor, Savita Punia says hockey changed her life From a shy girl to team mentor, Savita Punia says hockey changed her life Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 12:08:49 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Amstelveen
2 days ago
Shubhankar makes cut after spectacular ace at Nexo Championship Shubhankar makes cut after spectacular ace at Nexo Championship Published on: Aug 22, 2026, 12:17:58 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Aberdeenshire , Shubhankar Sharma ended his streak of four missed cuts as he made the
2 days ago
Inter Miami's Lionel Messi has been fined for slapping Philadelphia Union's Quinn Sullivan during their side's Major League Soccer (MLS) 2-2 draw on Wednesday. Messi, 39, slapped Sullivan around the back of the head towards the end of the game as he complained the Union player had elbowed him after
2 days ago
Premier League champions Arsenal will start the new season with some of the nightmares of the previous two as their marquee signing, midfielder Bruno Guimarães, is not part of the squad due to an injury. Guimarães signed for £75 million (Rs. 979 crore) from Newcastle United and suffered a knock
2 days ago
Nostalgia may have enveloped Sairaj Bahutule when he entered the SSC Ground. He would have remembered his last Test played at the same venue in 2001, a game India lost. The Indian spin-bowling coach, though, quickly immersed himself in the nets here Friday (August 21, 2026)
2 days ago
Lionel Messi fined for slapping opponent on the head as Inter Miami-Philadelphia clash erupts into late red-card chaos Lionel Messi was fined by MLS after slapping Philadelphia's Quinn Sullivan on the head as Inter Miami's 2-2 draw desecended into stoppage-time chaos. Updated on: Aug 22, 2026
2 days ago
Double Olympic medallist Neeraj Chopra managed to deliver his season’s best performance at the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday but fell agonisingly short of the top spot, as Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Pathirage finished first with a throw just nine centimetres more than his
2 days ago
Why did Nick Chubb retire? Net worth in focus as NFL player ends career at 30 Nick Chubb played for eight seasons in NFL that included seven years with the Cleveland Browns and one with the Houston Texans. Updated on: Aug 22, 2026, 09:25:09 IST By Shirin Gupta Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link
2 days ago
