Great Britain’s Kimberley Woods clinched gold in the women’s kayak single (K1) at the Canoe Slalom World Cup final in Augsburg, Germany.
The 29-year-old won the final stage of the season with Germany’s Elena Lilik securing silver while Woods’ fellow Briton Lois Leaver took bronze.
Woods had made it back-to-back gold medals a week after breaking through for her first-ever K1 World Cup title, and in doing so leapfrogged to the top of the overall standings.
She finished on 289 points with Leaver (262) in second and Evy Leibfarth of the USA (260) in third.
Pop icon Sabrina Carpenter released her seventh studio album Man’s Best Friend this week and the US singer has beaten several UK artists to the top of the charts
Sabrina Carpenter leaves UK artist’s fuming as album shatters impressive record(Image: Getty)
Sabrina Carpenter’s latest record Man’s Best Friend has seen the biggest opening week for an international artist on the UK albums chart this year, the Official Charts Company has confirmed.
The LP, which has prompted debate over its provocative cover, topped the chart on Friday shifting 85,500 units in its first seven days, beating the 2025 record held by Lady Gaga’s Mayhem, which managed 55,500 units in March.
Sam Fender holds the overall record for the biggest opening week of the year managing 107,000 units with People Watching.
Man’s Best Friend also topped the vinyl albums chart for the most sold physical record of the week, while the US singer’s previous albums Short ‘ N ‘ Sweet (2024) and Emails I Can’t Send (2023) reached number eight and number 21 in this week’s albums chart.
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The rest of the albums chart top five was made up of CMAT’s Euro-Country at number two, Bryan Adams’s Roll With The Punches at number three, Oasis’s Time Flies: 1994-2009 compilation at number four, and Swedish garage rockers The Hives in at number five with The Hives Forever Forever The Hives.
The Hives Forever Forever The Hives is the band’s fourth UK top 10 LP, after its predecessor The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons reached number two in 2023.
On the UK singles chart, Carpenter’s Tears reached number three, while Manchild reached number four, and My Man On Willpower also reached seven, giving her three tracks in the top 10.
Sabrina has reached an incredible milestone(Image: Corbis via Getty Images)
The pop star’s album has reached the top of the UK charts(Image: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Fictional K-pop band Huntr/x topped the chart with their song Golden, which features in the Netflix animated musical fantasy film KPop Demon Hunters, while Olivia Dean’s Man I Need reached number two, and another fictional K-pop group from the series Saja Boys completed the top five with Soda Pop.
Elsewhere in the singles chart, a run of four London gigs by Gorillaz, where they played their first three albums in full and debuted new music, saw the band’s 2005 single Feel Good Inc re-enter the Top 40 for the first time in 20 years at number 30.
Coldplay’s run of Wembley Stadium concerts has seen their song Sparks reach a new highest placing of 19. Euro-Country was named the week’s biggest album in UK independent record shops, topping the record store chart.
Sabrina faced huge backlash for her sexed-up album(Image: Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Im)
Sabrina is no stranger to backlash over her racy lyrics and performances drenched in innuendo – and now the popstar has leaned into this even more with her sexually-charged album.
The initial wave of backlash came when the 26-year-old singer shared the album cover, which portrays her as a submissive woman, crawling on hands and knees as a male figure grabs her infamous locks.
The artwork sparked a wave of backlash as many fans took to TikTok to vent about the “uncomfortable” nature of the former Disney star’s image, questioning why female popstars are pushing a hyper-sexualised narrative.
After five days of discourse, Sabrina clapped back at the fury online with couple of quick-witted posts. In response to a post on X that read “Does she have a personality outside of sex?”, the ex-Disney star wrote: “girl yes and it is goooooood.”.
Actor Orlando Bloom has made a comment on his split from pop star Katy Perry for the first time since they confirmed in June they have separated after nine years
Orlando Bloom has addressed his split with Katy Perry for the first time(Image: WireImage for Vanity Fair)
Orlando Bloom has made a rare comment about his love life following his split from pop star Katy Perry after nine years together. The Pirates of the Caribbean actor, 48, split from Katy, 40, in June.
They had started dating in 2016, got engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2019 and also welcomed daughter Daisy, five, together. However, the former couple are now navigating their lives as they adjust to co-parenting.
Earlier this summer, it was confirmed that their fairytale love story was over for good. Those representing both Katy and Orlando issued a joint statement. The statement at the time read: “Due to the abundance of recent interest and conversation surrounding Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry’s relationship, representatives have confirmed that Orlando and Katy have been shifting their relationship over the past many months to focus on coparenting.”
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Katy and Orlando are co-parenting their daughter Daisy (Image: Instagram/ @orlandobloom)
The couple announced their split in June after speculation(Image: Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
“They will continue to be seen together as a family, as their shared priority is – and always will be – raising their daughter with love, stability and mutual respect,” it concluded.
While Katy and Orlando have remained rather silent since their split, the actor has now directly responded to how he is coping. While on the Today show promoting his new film The Cut, he was asked how he has been handling “personal changes”.
He replied: “We’re great. We’re going to be great. Nothing but love. We have the most beautiful daughter. You know when you leave everything on the field like I did in this movie? I feel grateful for all of it.”
Orlando added: “I’m great, man. I’m so grateful.” It marked his first time directly speaking out on the split. When the news broke, Orlando jetted off to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s lavish star-studded wedding solo.
Katy, who had attended Lauren’s hen do, did not make an appearance on their big day. Just this week, Orlando’s ex wife Miranda Kerr was quizzed on the breakdown of his relationship with Katy.
Speaking on KIIS FM’s Kyle and Jackie O Show on Thursday, Miranda described the breakup as amicable as she opened up about her ex-husband’s split for the first time.
“Was it mutual?” host Kyle Sandilands asked. To which Miranda revealed: “Yes, and I actually just saw them both on the weekend. We were celebrating [their daughter] Daisy’s birthday. We’re one big, happy family. Katy is amazing, I love her. And Orlando obviously.
Miranda co-parents her 14-year-old son Flynn with Orlando and stressed the importance of maintaining a positive relationship after a separation. “If you do have animosity, it only hurts yourself,” she said.
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Prior to publicly announcing their split, Orlando and Katy reportedly rented out their $30 million Montecito mansion to actor Chris Pratt and Katherine Schwarzenegger. They are said to have been living apart since Katy’s Lifetimes Tour kicked off in April.
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The International Olympic Committee has set up four working groups, including one for the protection of women’s sport, in its bid to reshape the Olympic Games under new president Kirsty Coventry.
Working groups to review the Olympic programme, the Youth Olympic Games and commercial partnerships and marketing have also been established.
Coventry, who became the first female IOC president in March, had promised to create a working group for women’s sports, saying the organisation must “play a leading role” in discussions on gender eligibility.
The IOC said the working group will “look at how we can best protect the female category”.
However, while naming the members of the other three groups, it declined to say who would be on the Protection of the Female Category Working Group.
“The names of the members of the working group will remain confidential for now to protect the integrity of the group and its work”.
The IOC has previously left gender regulations to the governing bodies of individual sports rather than applying a universal approach.
A growing number of sports federations have barred athletes who have undergone male puberty from competing in elite female competition.
In February, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prevents transgender women from competing in female categories.
He specified the order would include the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, adding he will deny visas for transgender athletes trying to visit America to compete at the LA Games.
Coventry said the groups “will allow us to meet deadlines, and bring important technical expertise to these complex and important discussions, while realigning where we feel that it is necessary to strengthen our movement”.
The Zimbabwean added: “These groups will receive constant feedback to make sure that everybody is fully aligned and that all recommendations are fully integrated”.
The IOC said the Olympic programme working group will explore the relevance of the disciplines at the Games as well as the scope of integrating new sports into it.
“It will also consider the suggestion that traditional summer or winter sports could cross over, the timing of the Games, and the sports calendar”, it said.
Nadiya Bychkova, the Mirror’s strict star, talks about being taken to a hospital by ambulance and worries that her career may be over.
Nadiya pictured moments after falling into rehaals with her horror.
Strictly Come Dancing star Nadiya Bychkova feared she was paralysed after a horror fall in rehearsals for the new series.
The 36-year-old has spoken for the first time about the accident, which resulted in her being rushed to hospital by ambulance last month.
She remarked, “It was a very frightening moment. I was sitting up on a chair and a table in heels while preparing for a group dance, and soon after that, I was in pain on my back and unsure of what was happening. Your thoughts can be so many different things. I was incredibly concerned because I couldn’t move and couldn’t feel my left leg.
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Nadiya Bychkova is a patient in a hospital trolley.
Nadiya was captured in a photo of her immediately following the accident, with her head restrained, and another image showed her immobilized in a hospital corridor.
She claimed that while we waited for a scan, I was clung to a trolley for hours and told to stay put. I couldn’t look up because my head was strapped in. You become concerned when you realize how awful it is. I was considering whether my series or even my dancing career would be over. There were many tears and I had time to reflect on everything.
Ukrainian Nadiya endured agonizing waits while a scan revealed the extent of her spine damage. She recalled that the hospital’s staff was outstanding, and that it was her biggest source of comfort when I learned there was no permanent damage.
Incredibly, Nadiya was able to get back to work ahead of the new BBC series. This week, she attended the premiere of the new Downton Abbey film, where she dazzled in a stunning white gown.
Stunning: Nadiya Bychkova was speaking at the Downton Abbey premiere(Image: Alan Chapman/Dave Benett/WireIma)
Speaking to the Mirror at the event, she added: “I was a bit battered and bruised but nothing a few trips to the physio couldn’t solve… within a week I was back on the dancefloor.”
Looking back on the incident, Nadiya has nothing but praise for her colleagues on the BBC show. She said: “The Strictly crew were absolutely amazing. The medical team looked after me and kept me stable and warm while we waited for the ambulance.”
Fellow dancer Carlos Gu got a special mention for trying to keep her spirits up with an unusual song choice as they waited for the ambulance to arrive. “Carlos has a song for every occasion but I’m not sure his decision to sing me Killing Me Softly was helping…it was hilarious,” Nadiya laughed. “I couldn’t laugh because of the pain so I cried but it was beautiful.
He changed to “I Will Survive,” which delivered a much more encouraging message and kept me going. Nadiya responded, “I’m OK. I’m asked how she was doing right now. Feeling better than it has ever been. Fighting ready for a fantastic series.
Strictly’s return comes amid controversy, including allegations of bullying and drug use. When asked about the various scandals, Nadiya responded, “Strictly is always in the headlines, and this year is no different.
“We are all focused on performing the job that is possible,” he said. This is my ninth year, so I’m always so grateful to be a part of the biggest television program. She continued, “I would love to make it a decade next year, but my main focus will be making the 2025 edition of the show, which will feature a host of incredible celebrities and be the best one yet.”
The Mirror last month broke the news of Nadiya’s fall after she was pictured leaving the rehearsal studios in an ambulance. An insider said at the time: “It looked pretty nasty and no one was taking any chances. The crew rushed into action and she was stretchered out.”
According to a source close to Strict, “Nadiya was taken to the hospital for checks and is receiving full support from medical and welfare teams as a precaution following a fall during rehearsals.” The Strictly team is in close communication with Nadiya as rehearsals continue. When the popular BBC show returns later this month, who will Nadiya be paired with this year?
Last year, she teamed up with swimmer Tom Dean, who was the first celebrity voted off the show. Her best place finish was with TV journalist Dan Walker, when they came fifth in 2021.
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Celebrities taking part this year include YouTube star George Clarke, EastEnders actress Balvinder Sopal, Love Island winner Dani Dyer, Gladiator Harry Aikines-Aryeetey, Doctor Who actress Alex Kingston and former Chelsea footballer Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.
Two new professional dancers, US-born Alexis Warr and Australian Julian Caillon, are also joining the show. Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman return as hosts with Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and Shirley Ballas on the judges’ panel.
