Guardian Sport

UNC says Bill Belichick’s girlfriend still welcome at school despite reports

  • School says Jordon Hudson still welcome at facilities
  • Pablo Torre stands by reporting she was banned
  • Hudson’s role with Belichick remains under scrutiny

The University of North Carolina on Friday denied reports that Jordon Hudson, the girlfriend of head football coach Bill Belichick, has been banned from its football facilities.

“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” an athletic department spokesperson said in a statement. “Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

There are high stakes at St James’ Park, City could yet nab second and will Forest cope with playing on the front foot?

Antonee Robinson has been one of the best full-backs in the league this season. He flies up and down the left flank, defends well and whips in crosses. However, the Fulham defender was not at his sharpest during his side’s defeat by Aston Villa last weekend. He found it difficult to contain Morgan Rogers and his crossing was not up to its usual high standards. The concern is whether Robinson, who had missed Fulham’s previous game, is in peak physical condition. It has been a long campaign but Marco Silva needs the USA international to be ready to go when Everton visit Craven Cottage on Saturday. Robinson’s raids are a key part of Fulham’s attacking setup. Jacob Steinberg

Premier League: 10 talking points from the weekend’s action

Jamie Vardy targets double century, Jérémy Doku makes his mark and Arsenal rue the absence of Gabriel Magalhães

There is rarely an opportunity for champions to show a sentimental side. It is such hard work to win a title over a 38-game season, with the race often going down to the wire. Arne Slot had four matches to spare and used the trip to Stamford Bridge to give first league starts of the season to Wataru Endo and Harvey Elliott. The former has been used frequently as a late sub while the latter is often brought on to make an attacking impact, but the form of their teammates and Elliott’s long-term injury have limited chances under Slot. Jarell Quansah was given a rare start and Federico Chiesa was permitted a fifth league game which qualifies him for a medal. The four have rarely let Liverpool down; no one can blame Quansah for the own goal but he looked understandably rusty and tired when he gave away the penalty. They will have to decide if they want to be bit-part players at a title-winning club or drop down to be key men elsewhere. Will Unwin

Katie Ledecky smashes her longstanding 800m freestyle world record

  • US swim star Ledecky smashes record set at Rio Games
  • Gretchen Walsh sets world record in 100m butterfly

Katie Ledecky broke new ground once again on Saturday, shattering her own world record in the 800m freestyle with a time of 8min 4.12sec at the Tyr Pro Swim Series in Fort Lauderdale.

The 28-year-old improved on the 8:04.79 mark she set at the 2016 Rio Olympics, notching her first long-course world record since 2018 and reaffirming her dominance in the distance freestyle events.

Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend

Manchester City will be wary of Wolves, Graham Potter needs a derby win and Roméo Lavia is vital to Chelsea

Six straight wins in a run of seven unbeaten has lifted Wolves to 13th. Now Vítor Pereira’s side pose a problem that Manchester City must solve as the latter chase maximum points from their last four games in the race for Champions League qualification. Pep Guardiola’s side are unbeaten in the last eight in all competitions and buoyed by last Sunday’s reaching of a third successive FA Cup final, so this should be a close one. Keep an eye out for Guardiola potentially having a complimentary word with Matheus Cunha, as is his habit when coming up against a high-class opposition player. Jamie Jackson

NFL fines Falcons’ Jeff Ulbrich $100,000 over son’s prank call to Shedeur Sanders

  • Jax Ulbrich found QB’s number on father’s iPad
  • Atlanta Falcons fined $250,000 over incident

The NFL has handed out heavy fines to the Atlanta Falcons and their defensive coordinator, Jeff Ulbrich, over a prank call to Shedeur Sanders during last week’s draft.

The league fined Ulbrich $100,000 and the Falcons $250,000 for “failing to prevent the disclosure of confidential information distributed to the club in advance of the NFL draft”.

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