Dame Sarah Storey has been nominated for a global sports award following her record-breaking 17th Paralympic gold medal.
The Eccles-born cyclist became Great Britain’s most successful Paralympian this past summer at Tokyo 2020 when she took her career haul to 28 Paralympic medals, including 17 gold medals, and now has been shortlisted for the award for Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.
The 44-year-old retained her individual pursuit, time trial, and road race titles in Japan to surpass the long-time British record held by former swimmer Mike Kenny.
Having been nominated for the prestigious accolade by the International Paralympic Committee, Storey will be up against wheelchair tennis champions Diede De Groot and Shingo Kunieda, Swiss wheelchair racer Marcel Hug, Spanish Para triathlete Susana Rodriguez, and Dutch Para triathlete and cyclist Jetze Platin at the award ceremony.
🙌 Our Nominees for the 2022 Laureus Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award:
Born without a functioning left hand after her arm became entangled in the umbilical cord in the womb, she began her Paralympic career in the pool at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and at just aged just 14, she won two gold medals, three silvers and a bronze.
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She continued in the pool for three subsequent Paralympics, winning 15 medals – including five golds – before switching to cycling in 2005.
She was made a Dame following her achievements at the London 2012 Paralympics.
She has been shortlisted for Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability / Credit: Twitter (@ParalympicsGB)
Some of the other British sportspeople nominated for accolades at the 2022 Laureus Awards – which is happening in April – is 19-year-old US Open Champion Emma Raducanu, who is nominated for the Breakthrough of the Year award, and Tom Daley, who is on the shortlist for the World Comeback of the Year award after having claimed Olympic gold in the men’s synchronised 10m platform diving event at Tokyo 2020.
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Team GB skateboarder Sky Brown is also up for the same award after suffering multiple skull fractures in a training fall in May 2020, but recovered to become Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist at just 13.
The winners will be announced in a virtual awards show in April.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Emily Sergeant -
2nd February 2022 
