Getty ImagesDan RoanSports editor@danroan46 minutes agoA “troubling decline” in the number of hours England’s secondary school pupils spend doing physical education (PE) “should be a wake-up call to society”, according to children’s exercise charity the Youth Sport Trust (YST).The organisation says figures show “nearly 4,000 PE hours lost in the last year alone” in state-funded schools, and calls for “urgent action to protect and prioritise” the subject.The YST also claims that since the London 2012 Olympics “almost 45,000 PE hours have disappeared from secondary school timetables”, and that the number of PE teachers in England has also dropped by 7%.In response, the government said it is “determined to break down barriers to accessing PE and school sports for young people”.In its annual report, the YST says that 2.2 million children in England are now doing less than 30 minutes of activity a day, and less than half (48%) are meeting the UK’s Chief Medical Officers’ recommendation of at least 60 minutes of physical activity a day.It says the steepest decline has hit 11-14-year-olds, with more than 2,800 hours cut and 347 teachers lost for this age group in the past year, at a time of rising childhood obesity rates.YST also adds that girls, children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), and those from disadvantaged backgrounds “continue to face the greatest barriers to being active”.However, the study also found that 93% of young people believe PE is important, 71% want to be more active at school, and 96% of teachers agree that sport and play benefit mental wellbeing.’We risk failing a generation’While PE is a mandatory subject in schools, the recommended amount of two hours a week is not enforced.YST chief executive Ali Oliver said: “Our children are moving less, feeling unhappier, and losing access to the transformative power of PE, contributing to stagnant physical activity levels.”The fall in PE hours is sadly an exacerbation of a longer-term trend and should be a wake-up call to society, from policymakers to schools and parents.”Unless we take action to reverse these damaging trends and increase activity levels to improve wellbeing, we risk failing a generation.”In a statement, the government said: “These figures highlight the government’s dire inheritance, but we’re determined to break down barriers to accessing PE and school sports for young people through our Plan for Change, helping to improve their mental and physical wellbeing.”We are working across the government and with our partners including Youth Sport Trust and Sport England to boost participation and have already invested £100m to upgrade sports facilities and launched a programme to improve access to sports for pupils with special education needs and disabilities.”Our ongoing curriculum and assessment review seeks to deliver a broader curriculum, so that children do not miss out on subjects including PE and sport.”

Paddle UK47 minutes agoGreat Britain’s Adam Burgess claimed a first C1 World Cup silver since 2019 after a “pretty special” run in the heats.The 32-year-old saw off competition from Olympic champion Nicolas Gestin to finish in second, behind Slovenia’s Luka Bozic.Burgess produced a stunning run during the heats in north-east Spain to move to the top of the standings. The Stoke-born paddler was last to compete in the finals, but produced a penalty-free run to the start the season in emphatic fashion. Burgess won Olympic silver in the individual canoe at the Paris Games, having agonisingly missed out on a medal by 0.16 seconds in Tokyo in 2020.”I’m always there or thereabouts, and we have done a lot of work to try and bring out those runs in the final, and I guess today, my worst run was the final, but that heat was something pretty special,” said Burgess. “It was great to come close to it again there.”Related topicsCanoeing

Getty ImagesPaul BattisonBBC Sport Journalist42 minutes agoKayla Harrison put in a dominant performance as she submitted Julianna Pena to win the bantamweight title at UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey.Harrison out-grappled fellow American Pena and controlled the action throughout before finishing the fight with a kimura at the end of the second round.Victory adds a first UFC championship to her two Olympic judo gold medals and PFL world titles.In her post-fight interview, Harrison said she almost quit on Thursday after struggling during her weight cut.The 34-year-old’s two PFL titles, in 2021 and 2022, were won at 155lb (11st 1lb) but she has fought at 135lb (9st 9lb) since joining the UFC last year.”This is for anyone who’s ever felt hopeless, who’s wanted to quit, who’s wanted to give up. On Thursday I wanted to quit, I wanted to give up,” said Harrison.”I’m referring to 135lb – only God can get that last pound off me, I’m not strong enough. You have to go to a bad place and the only way through is to have surrender and have faith.”After the bout Harrison faced-off with former double champion Amanda Nunes, who confirmed she would be coming out of retirement to challenge for the belt.The 37-year-old Brazilian, who retired in 2023, is a former training partner of Harrison and is widely considered the greatest women’s mixed martial artist of all time.She is the only woman to become a two-division UFC champion and exited the sport with 23 wins from 28 bouts.UFC commentator Joe Rogan described a potential match-up with Harrison as “the biggest women’s title bout in UFC history”. “Yes definitely. We knew this is going to happen. Now we’re going to do it,” said Nunes.Getty Images’This is for all the single mums’Harrison said before the bout she was ready to become the “face of women’s MMA” and came into the bout with Pena as a big favourite with oddsmakers.Pena, meanwhile, was making the first defence of her second bantamweight title after beating Raquel Pennington by split decision in October.Harrison’s world-class judo background has been the foundation to her success since transitioning to MMA in 2018 and it was on display as she took Pena down in both rounds.Harrison controlled the action on the ground in the latter half of the first, Pena being deducted a point for two illegal up-kicks, before securing another takedown in the second.After Pena avoided an arm triangle, Harrison switched to a kimura with seconds remaining in the round before securing the finish.Following victory, Harrison dropped to her knees in tears in the centre of the octagon before sharing a prayer with Pena and paying tribute to single mothers.In 2020, Harrison adopted her niece and nephew when her stepdad, who was looking after the children at the time, died suddenly.”This is for my family, my two beautiful children I love you unconditionally,” said Harrison.”This is for all the mums, especially the single mums. I know it’s hard, I know what it feels like to be punished but you’re not – you’re being positioned. You have a place in those children’s lives.”Impressive Dvalishvili beats O’Malley againGetty ImagesIn the main event, Georgia’s Merab Dvalishvili submitted American Sean O’Malley in the third round to retain his bantamweight title.Dvalishvili beat O’Malley for the belt last year with a typically relentless display of grappling and mirrored the performance in the rematch.Although O’Malley defended well in the second round, he was taken down early in the third and Dvalishvili never looked back, controlling the action on the ground before securing a north-south choke.Victory was Dvalishvili’s second defence of his belt and extended his winning streak to 13, the second-longest in the UFC among active fighters.Russia’s Islam Makhachev holds the longest with 15.”I’m on top of the world. I came from nothing, I’m so grateful to inspire so many generations. It doesn’t matter what you have if you know where you’re going and you have a goal,” said Dvalishvili.On the undercard, former Bellator bantamweight champion Patchy Mix suffered a unanimous decision defeat on his UFC debut by fellow American Mario Bautista.Mix, who left the PFL in May after venting frustrations over a lack of fights, suffered his second defeat in 22 bouts while Bautista extended his winning streak to eight. Related topicsMixed Martial Arts

Getty ImagesSean KearnsBBC Sport12 minutes agoUnited States head coach Mauricio Pochettino has ruled himself out the running to replace Ange Postecoglou, saying a return to Tottenham at this point is “not realistic”. Postecoglou, 59, was sacked on Friday, despite leading the club to their first piece of silverware in 17 years with victory in the Europa League.Pochettino, whose five-year stay at the club came to an end in November 2019, has been linked with a return to Tottenham.But the Argentine, who was appointed US manager in October 2024, says he is happy in his new role. “Today it’s not realistic,” said Pochettino, 53. “Look where I am. Look where we (his backroom staff) are. The answer is so clear.”I think, since I left in 2019, my name has always been on the list [of rumours].”I’ve seen the rumours, we are 100 coaches on the list. Don’t be worried about that. “If something happens [in the future], you for sure will see, but I am so happy in this moment and we cannot talk about this type of thing.”Pochettino was speaking after the United States were beaten 2-1 by Turkey in Connecticut. It was the side’s third straight defeat, leaving Pochettino with five wins and four losses from nine matches in charge.During his time in north London, Pochettino helped Spurs reach the final of the Champions League in 2019, as well as to a second-place finish in the Premier League in 2017. Brentford manager Thomas Frank is a leading contender to replace Postecoglou, while there is interest in Fulham coach Marco Silva.Related topicsUSAPremier LeagueTottenham HotspurFootball

Getty ImagesCharlotte CoatesBBC Sport journalist32 minutes agoSuper-middleweight Callum Simpson picked himself up off the canvas twice before securing a stunning stoppage victory over Ivan Zucco in his home town of Barnsley.Simpson, 28, made history as he maintained his unbeaten record (18-0) to become the town’s first European champion when he stopped Italy’s Zucco in the 10th round at Barnsley FC’s Oakwell Stadium. The Englishman dedicated the win to his sister, Lily-Rae Simpson, who died aged 19 in a car accident in Greece last year.”Not once did I give up, in those last few rounds I’ll be honest I started thinking about my little sister Lily,” Simpson said.”I’ll be honest, I just thought I had to push for her and for everybody. This time last year, Lily was sat up here cheering me on and she was there with me tonight when it got tough, when it got hard.”From round eight, I thought, ‘I’ve got to dig deep, I’ve got to keep pushing, I’ve got to do it for her’. She was with me tonight.”With the win, Simpson puts himself in prime contention for a step up to world level by the end of the year.But the raucous Oakwell crowd feared the worse with only eight seconds on the clock in in the opening round when Zucco downed Simpson with a hard left hand.Simpson shook off the early knockdown and buzzed Zucco with some fine punching of his own, but the home favourite was caught too square in the third round, dropped for the second time by a left hand.Spurred on by 23,000 inside the football ground, Simpson was not to be deterred and he continued to advance – taking a number of risks along the way.Simpson sensed an opening in the 10th round as he stalked Zucco before launching a stunning left uppercut on the chin of his opponent – who then sank to his knees before beating the 10-count.Zucco was subjected to another punishing uppercut and slumped to his knees but he bravely rose on the count of eight, until a third knockdown meant the Italian’s corner pulled their man out of the fight. Getty ImagesGetty ImagesGetty ImagesRelated topicsBoxing

Getty ImagesKal SajadBBC Sport at Portman Road, Ipswich8 June 2025, 00:09 BSTUpdated 1 hour agoBritish heavyweight Fabio Wardley delivered a stunning, one-punch 10th-round knockout to stop Justis Huni in Ipswich.The dramatic, unforgettable finish sent a rain-soaked Portman Road crowd into raptures.Backed by a vocal home crowd of around 20,000 at Ipswich Town’s ground, Wardley struggled to find his rhythm and pin down the slicker, sharper Huni.Behind on the scorecards and facing defeat by the Australian, all it took was a single punch to turn things around for the 30-year-old.Wardley landed a thunderous right hand on the chin to send Huni, 26, crashing to the canvas.”Eat your heart out Deontay Wilder, that was a Deontay Wilder moment,” Wardley’s promoter Frank Warren said afterwards.The victory marked Wardley’s 18th knockout in 19 professional wins and moved him one step closer to a world title shot.”I don’t profess to being any [Oleksandr] Usyk or Justis Huni who has all the skills, but I know how to win fights and that’s one thing I knew I had to do tonight,” said Wardley.”Justis Huni is a great operator. We’d drilled everything over and over again. I should’ve performed better in some of those rounds.With champions Usyk and Daniel Dubois set to meet for the undisputed title in July, Wardley – now ranked number one by the WBA – is well-positioned for a shot at global honours.Huni, who replaced American Jarrell Miller on short notice, suffered his first professional defeat after 12 consecutive wins.”That’s my curse. I even said before this fight it only takes one second to switch off, it happened tonight,” he said.Dramatic turnaround provides perfect homecomingGetty ImagesAn outdoor fight in the United Kingdom is never without its risks. Fans wore ponchos and reporters scrambled for shelter as heavy rain fell throughout the evening.The downpour eased when Brisbane native Huni made his ring walk to a predictably hostile reception, before the mood shifted as a steely-faced and focused Wardley emerged.Bathed in the golden glow of the floodlight, the Ipswich-born boxer soaked in the moment he had been dreaming of since turning professional.The opening rounds saw both fighters cautiously size each other up.Huni – well-schooled and boasting serious amateur pedigree – landed a thudding left hook followed by a sharp right in the third.Wardley, who only took up boxing at 19 and turned pro after just four white-collar bouts, was known for his raw power and ability to dig deep.But it was Huni landing the cleaner shots, especially with that left hook.With only two contests beyond six rounds in his career, Wardley began to feel the pace. His timing was off and a grimace in the seventh said it all after Huni whipped in a punishing right hook.Just when it seemed the homecoming would turn into a nightmare, Wardley achieved one of the biggest turnarounds in recent times to send the crowd into a frenzy.After his beloved football team’s recent relegation from the Premier League, with the Tractor Boys failing to register a single home league win in 2025, Wardley brought the good times back to Ipswich.What next for Wardley?Getty ImagesWardley’s meteoric rise is nothing short of remarkable, especially for someone who only laced up the gloves a decade ago.That said, there is room for caution. He struggled for large parts of the fight, raising the question of whether he is ready to mix it with Usyk, Dubois or Joseph Parker – three of the division’s most in-form fighters.Still, Wardley has cleared every hurdle put in front of him in the pro ranks. He stopped domestic rival David Adeleye, beat Olympic medallist Frazer Clarke in a thriller, and has now added a respected international name in Huni with a dramatic, highlight-reel ending.And when he has that sort of equaliser in his locker, he is a dangerous proposition for any heavyweight rival.He will now take some well-earned time to enjoy a more personal milestone, with his partner due to give birth to their first child in a matter of days. Related topicsBoxing