British Paralympian who went missing in Las Vegas is being sought for assistance by friends and family.
Sam Ruddock from Rugby in Warwickshire, who has competed in shot putt, cycling, and sprinting, was last heard from on April 16 when he visited the US to watch a WrestleMania match.
His close friend Lucy Hatton claimed that he had not “been in quite the right headspace” recently but that his disappearance was “really, really out of character.”
Ms. Hatton described her friend as a “fantastic human being” who liked to “inspire the next generation” in a statement from Ms. Hatton.
She claimed that she knew he had been staying at a hostel in Las Vegas prior to the big wrestling event because she had driven him to the airport on April 13th.
She claimed that because Mr. Ruddock was “very active on social media,” all contact abruptly ended on April 16 because she claimed it “started to raise flags.”
His mother, Lincoln-based Fran Ruddock, claimed he spoke to her frequently and was “very sociable.”
She e-mailed anyone in the UK or the US with information if they knew him.
Ms. Hatton claimed that she and his mother called the British police and that they had discussed the matter with Interpol and police in the US.
She claimed that she had also spoken with the host where he had been staying, and that he had not checked out of his room but had also left his belongings there.
British Cycling said it was aware that British Cycling had reported him missing to UK and US police.
We urge anyone who has spoken to Sam since April 16 to get in touch with their neighborhood police department as soon as possible, according to a spokesperson.
In the 45th London Marathon, Ethiopian Tigst Assefa broke the women’s-only world record for winning, while Kenyan Sabastian Sawe made a wise tactical choice to destroy a stacked men’s field for victory.
After setting a blistering early pace on Sunday morning, the 28-year-old Assefa, who won the silver medal at the previous year’s Paris Olympics, cut off from Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei over the final few kilometers.
She completed the race in 2 hours, 15 minutes, and 50 seconds, breaking Kenyan Peres Jepchir’s previous women’s-only record of 2: 16: 16 set in London last year, which she claimed helped because the temperatures had risen to 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees Fahrenheit) by the time the race was finished.
Assefa, who finished second in the 2024 London race, said, “Last year, I did have some issues with the cold.” “Toward the end of the race, my hamstring tightened up.” I’m really pleased with the way the race turned out because this year’s weather was really good for me.
“I was second here last year, and it’s very special to win here this year.”
Jepkosgei, 31, crossed second in 2: 18: 44.
Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, the reigning Olympic marathon champion and 2024 London winner, resisted the sizzling early pace and came out on top around the halfway mark to finish third in 2: 19:00.
Sabastian Sawe of Kenya wins the men’s race scheduled for April 27, 2025. [Photo by Justin Tallis/AFP]
On his way to crossing in 2:02:27, the 29-year-old Sawe, who won his first marathon in December and made a stunning debut there, pulled out of the lead pack when the others reached for bottles to refuel on their way to crossing in 10 kilometers.
I’m thrilled that this is my first major marathon victory. I had a good preparation for this race, which is why it’s now simple for me to win, “Sawe said.” I’m now optimistic about my future as a marathoner because it will be so important and simple for me.
In a photo finish, Alexander Mutiso Munyao of Kenya and Abdi Nageeye of the Netherlands completed the record-breaking half-marathon in 2:03:37, while Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, who broke the world record in February, finished third.
In 1:25:25, Marcel Hug won his sixth London Marathon title, and Catherine Debrunner won her third women’s title in 4 years, breaking her own world record by two seconds.
The 42.195km race, which snaked along the River Thames before passing the Mall, was anticipated to have a world record 56, 000 runners turn up.
Alex Yee, a respectable 14th in his marathon debut, and Eilish McColgan, a British Olympic gold medalist, were two of the athletes who set a Scottish record of 2:24:25 to finish eighth in her distance debut.
The first-place women’s team Ethiopian Olympian Tigst Assefa and Kenyan men’s first-place women’s athlete Sabastian Sawe pose for a photo with the Chris Brasher Sporting Life Trophy following the 2025 TCS London Marathon photo on April 27, 2025 [Alex Davidson/Getty Images]
Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia won the London marathon on Sunday, breaking the women’s only world record for two hours, 15 minutes, and 50 seconds, while Sabastian Sawe of Kenya put an all-star men’s field to the test.
Assefa, 28, was compensated in large part for placing third overall in both London and the Paris Olympics last year, especially when his bitter Dutch rival, Sifan Hassan, who was born in Ethiopia, did so.
As the race, which took place in blazing sunshine and with thousands of runners lining the route, entered its business end, Assefa dropped Kenya’s Joyciline Jepkosgei.
She was almost three minutes ahead of the Kenyan when she returned home.  ,
Hassan was well adrift in third place after beating her in a sluggish Olympic race last year.
She stated to the BBC in an interpreter: “To win here this year is very special. I was second last year.”
Assefa won the London marathon on Sunday, setting a new women’s only world record of two hours, 15 minutes, and 50 seconds. (Photo by AFP photographer JUSTIN TALLIS)
“Last year, I had a hamstring injury and trouble with the cold.
“I found it much more suited to me and much simpler this year.”
As they approached the 90-minute mark, Sawe made the decisive break at a bar and won the men’s race in two hours, two minutes, and 27 seconds.
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The 29-year-old finished second only to Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo, who holds the world record for the half marathon, in the Valencia race last December.
Eliud Kipchoge, the defending champion, finished sixth while Alexander Mutiso Munyao, the defending champion, finished third behind Abdi Nageeye for the photo.
On April 27, 2025, Sabastian Sawe, a Kenyan athlete, poses with his trophies at the awards ceremony for the men’s elite race at the London Marathon in central London. (Photo by AFP photographer JUSTIN TALLIS)
Olympic triathlete Alex Yee, who finished 14th on his debut, was very proud of himself.
Sawe, who won the Valencia marathon last December, said, “I am very happy that I have won a major marathon.”
I was so relaxed and confident because I had everything I needed to do to prepare for this.
“Now I’m hopeful that there will be more success in marathons,” I said.
Marcel Hug and Catherine Debrunner, both Olympic champions, won the men’s and women’s titles, respectively, in the wheelchair category.
Hug, 39, won his fifth successive London crown and seventh time. Debrunner, 30, claimed her third overall and second consecutive victory.
Tigst Assefa, an Ethiopian Olympian, poses with her trophies at the awards ceremony on April 27, 2025, after winning the women’s elite race in central London. (Photo by AFP photographer JUSTIN TALLIS)
She Was Perfect, p.
Although the organizers claimed the race to be the most popular marathon in the world, there were plenty of runners attempting to raise money for charities or suffer a personal loss, it wasn’t just about the stars.
Since 1981’s first marathon, the marathon has raised more than £1.3 billion ($1.72 billion) for charity. It is the largest single-day fundraising event in the world.
In honor of their daughters, the fathers of Alice da Silva, 9, and Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, who were the three young girls who were killed in Southport, northern England, took part in a memorial service.
The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, sent a video message to them.
Also read: Police Rescue 10 Kidnapped Victims, Arrest “Notorious Criminal,” and More.
David Stancombe, who watched the race with Alice last year, said, “Elsie was my best friend, she was perfect, it’s like therapy, it’s more than just a race,” and Sergio Aguiar, Alice’s father, said, “I wanted to do something for her.
Isla, the 18-year-old Paula Radcliffe winner, made her Children with Cancer UK debut by running for the charity. She was 13 years old when she was diagnosed with cancer.
The 45th edition of the race had a goal to surpass the most competitors in the marathon format.
More than 56, 000 people were expected to participate this year, including Sarah Louise Haddock, who was appropriately dressed as a fish, from the elite field.
At the New York Marathon last year, there were 646 runners, which is the highest total of finishers. 56,950 runners entered the Paris Marathon this month, but there were fewer runners overall.
The greatest moment in Cornwall’s history of football was Truro City’s promotion to the National League.
This county on the South West peninsula is known for its rugby union hotspots, but it’s more associated with vacations, cream teas, and pasties than high-flying football.
After claiming the title on goal difference from Torquay United with a dramatic 5-2 victory over St Albans City, the Tinners will become the first team from the county to play in the fifth tier of English football when they come next season.
Their victory comes a year after they were still playing “home” games at Gloucester City, which is a 390-mile round-trip, and it is the club’s highest of the year for a team that has also had its fair share of lows.
“Over the past few years, the club has gone through some really difficult times, most recently when they played three times a week in Gloucester.
People don’t realize how much effort we put in to get things right, “we’ve got jobs, we’ve got kids,” they say.
Ups and downs
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Perhaps Truro won the FA Vase in 2007 to win the league title, which is most comparable to Saturday’s triumph.
Stewart Yetton, the club’s current assistant manager, won at Wembley 18 years ago, but he now claims it is much more impressive. He is the club’s all-time best goalscorer.
He claimed that Whaley was “unbelievable” and that the memories we created that day were “awesome.”
We have won a league that we had no right to win, which is very different from winning it.
We had bigger budgets and should have done it when we entered the leagues for a few years. We recently won a competition where our budget is likely to be bottom-six and bottom-seven.
Few clubs can vouch for Truro City’s 20-year rollercoaster history.
They won five promotions in six years under the leadership of former owner Kevin Heaney, and they won the FA Vase at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium in 2007 with a 3-1 win over AFC Totton.
They climbed the ranks until they reached what is now the National League South in 2011 under the leadership of Heaney.
However, Truro went into administration in August 2012 as property developer Heaney’s business suffered in the time’s severe global economic crisis.
Before local businessmen Peter Masters and Philip Perryman intervened in their place to save the club in October of that year, they were hours away from being expelled from the league.
Features of Rex
The goal of building the Stadium for Cornwall, a venue that can accommodate both teams, was the purchase of Cornish Pirates rugby club in Truro in 2019.
Work on Treyew Road started in October 2020 after a few planning delays, leaving the club homeless. They groundshared with Plymouth Parkway, Torquay, and even briefly with Gloucester City.
After having trouble with the Stadium for Cornwall’s funding, Truro decided to build their own ground, which opened last August and was purchased by Canadian investors.
However, Truro have flourished since moving back to Cornwall, where they have had over 3, 000 sell-outs for their final two matches of the season and the third-highest attendance in the league.
Owner Eric Perez told BBC Sport, “I’ve had the feeling all year that we could do something like this, and to actually do it is the culmination of a lot of hard work from a lot of people,” the owner said.
“We’ve done everything we can to expand and improve this club, reach its full potential, and reach Cornwall’s sporting potential,” we’ve said.
A “long-old poke”
Features of Rex
In a car insurance advertisement, comedian Paul Whitehouse once described a trip to Newcastle as “a long old poke.”
It will be even longer for Truro fans and those of their opponents next season.
The 920-mile round trip from Gateshead to Truro would be the longest away trip in English football, comfortably defeating Argyle’s 815-or-less miles this season if they failed to make it to the National League play-offs.
Truro’s “local” derby will be a 280-mile round-trip to Yeovil Town in the coming season, but many of the absence days will be more than double that.
Although none of the journeys are as lengthy as Whitley Bay’s round-trip to Truro in the FA Vase in 2008, which spanned more than 940 miles, are possible, Hartlepool United, York City, Boston United, and Carlisle United.
I’ll probably need to renew my passport and apply for a visa, joked John Askey, the manager.
It would probably be the longest trips ever made in English football.
It’s a nice issue to have, but I don’t know how to navigate it. However, we’ll have to figure it out.
Features of Rex
What was regarded as one of the most unexpected non-league managerial appointments of the summer is more than justified, in the opinion of Askey.
The fifth and sixth tiers have enjoyed great success under the former manager of Port Vale and Shrewsbury Town. He helped York City advance from National League North to the 2018 title and Macclesfield Town to the 2018 title.
But he had never managed a club with a southerly base like Shrewsbury and never had any experience leading a team in the National League South, let alone one that had just moved to a new stadium, and had no idea how many people would show up to watch them.
What is the key to his success, then?
He said, “I think having trustworthy players is important.”
Truro has probably the most honest team of players I’ve ever had, in terms of travel and training facilities. They are incredible.
To have accomplished what they’ve accomplished is probably why it gives me just as much pleasure as any promotion I’ve ever received.
Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre is where BBC Sport journalists are based.
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In his World Championship last-16 match with fellow former world champion Shaun Murphy, world number one Judd Trump took a 5-3 lead, but he hardly missed a chance to earn a £100,000 bonus.
Trump, 35, rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 down to win the final three frames of the session before missing a pot on the yellow that would have allowed him to take a century break when he was 98 in frame eight.
He has 98 centuries this season, and he is the only player to have reached 100 tons this year, which would award him a prize of £100,000.
As the match resumes at 19:00 BST, before the final session begins on Monday at 13:00 BST, in the best-of-25 match, Trump will have eight more frames to play.
Only two campaigners, Neil Robertson and Donald Trump, have recorded 100-year breaks; 103 in 2013 and 103 in 2018 and 102 in 2019.
Most century breaks occur in a single season.
Zhao responds, “I’m so proud of myself.”
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With a 13-10 victory over Lei Peifan, China’s Zhao Xintong made it to the quarter-finals for the first time in his career.
In the second session, Zhao, 27, potted nine reds and nine blacks before his break ended with a score of 72. He was on course for a maximum 147 in the opening frame of the day.
Lei, who had previously defeated 2024 world champion Kyren Wilson in round one, threatened a comeback in frame 20 before he was 41-12 ahead in frame 20.
However, Zhao claimed the victory with a 54-minute break, which would have already eliminated former world champion Mark Allen and 2010 world champion Neil Robertson, who has already qualified for a quarter-final against England’s Chris Wakelin.
He declared, “I’m so happy that this is my first quarter-finale, and I’m so proud of myself.” He [Lei] faced Kyren Wilson in the first round, so I knew I wasn’t going to win and needed to be strong.
“I just want to go through the Crucible because it’s very nice, the crowd is nice, and I want to stay longer.” I need to try my best and enjoy it. I’m very confident in playing Chris Wakelin because this is my first time.
Zhao, a former UK Championship champion, was one of 10 Chinese players who received bans for their involvement in match-fixing in June 2023.
He was the only player to return after serving a 20-month ban and accepting accusations of being a party to another player who had fixed two matches and had himself bet on matches. He had not immediately thrown a match.
Italy won the Wooden Spoon for the second consecutive year and the record-loss to the Azzurre to wrap up their Six Nations campaign in style.
After Sofia Stefan’s effort was saved by Kate Williams and Gwenllian Pyrs, Wales had a half-time lead in Parma.
However, the Italians escaped in a second-half blitz, with Michela Sillari scoring 14 points from the boot while Francesca Granzotto, Silvia Turani, Vittoria Minuzzi, and Aura Muzzo all scoring from the spot.
Italy finished fourth in the table for the first time in two years, while Wales came in fourth, finishing at rock bottom, losing all five games for the first time in their history.
Sean Lynn, the head coach of Wales, had mentioned how crucial it was to give the game an 80-minute run before the game, which had been postponed a day due to Pope Francis’ funeral.
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Wales did enjoy the majority of their initial possession and territory, but as they progressed through the phases, they struggled to establish collision dominance.
The Welsh maul, which had failed to convert to a weapon after failing to do so against Ireland, returned to being a weapon, driving Williams over for her third try of the campaign, thanks to Italian indiscipline.
With a cross-field kick that beat Alyssa D’Inca on her wing, Italy responded in style by fly-half Veronica Madia showing her creative side.
When Sara Seye and Elisa Giordano burst through some poor tackling with some loose kicking from Lleucu George, returning scrum-half Stefan finished under the posts, the hosts were not to be denied.
In order to give Italy the lead, Sillari added the conversion and a subsequent penalty in the event of a tie.
A fumble under the high ball from Minuzzi provided a good attacking platform for Wales, but basic errors prevented the visitors from capitalizing.
But just before half-time, they had another chance. Once more, the attack was launched from line-out ball, and the forwards showed good patience as they continued to control until Pyrs pounced from a close range.
Wales went into the tunnel ahead for the first time this campaign by adding the conversion, which was completed by Bevan, who added the conversion to give them a 12-to-10 half-time lead.
However, the optimism was sluggish as Italy made the bold move to kick-off against George.
Without a last-gasp tap tackle from Jasmine Joyce-Butchers, it almost paid off with a chip setting up Giordana Duca, who would have been through.
As Wales struggled to live up to their offloading game, Italy kept coming in attack wave after wave, and Silari took advantage of the moment to put Italy back in front.
Alex Callender, Hannah Bluck, and Carys Phillips all joined the field, and Lynn made some early changes.
However, they were unable to make an impact because Italy kept putting on pressure and was successful in getting the ball to Granzotto, who did well to ride the defensive tackle and corner the ball.
Wales desperately needed a foothold, but they could not tolerate the dazzling Azzurre attack.
Italy chose to go for the jugular and use a tap penalty in front of posts, and while the defense succeeded in igniting Sara Tounesi’s charge, they were unable to stop Turani from stretching over the line.
The full-back Minuzzi, who scored the winning 50-22, sent Italy upfield, for the fourth try. The defense was then cut through by Minuzzi’s fine line as the forwards carried on.
Hannah Jones, the Wales captain, said: “We’re hurt.
We are aware that we can be better, but we must also learn quickly and improve.
“We can’t ever be in this position.”
Line-ups
Italy: Vittoria Vecchini, Sara Tounesi, Giordana Duca, Beatrice Veronese, Francesca Sgorbini, Elisa Giordano (capt), Michela Sillari, Alyssa D’Incá, Sofia Stefan, Silvia Turani, Vittoria Vecchini, Sara Tounesi, Giordana Duca, Beatrice Veronese, Francesca Sgorbini,
Replacements: Francesca Granzotto, Emanuela Stecca, Gaia Maris, Isabella Locatelli, Alissa Ranuccini, Alia Bitonci, Beatrice Rigoni, and Desiree Spinelli.
Wales’s Jasmine Joyce-Butchers, Lisa Neumann, Hannah Jones (capt), Courtney Keight, Carys Cox, Lleucu George, Keira Bevan, Kelsey Jones, Donna Rose, Abbie Fleming, Gwen Crabb, Kate Williams, Bethan Lewis, and Georgia Evans.
Carys Phillips, Maisie Davies, Jenni Scoble, Natalia John, Alex Callender, Sian Jones, Hannah Bluck, and Catherine Richards are the replacements.
