• Interim England Women head coach Hege Riise to be named Team GB boss
    PA Media: Sport

    Interim England Women head coach Hege Riise to be named Team GB boss

    The 51-year-old replaced Phil Neville in January.

  • Reuters

    Weightlifting - Strong is beautiful for Tokyo hopeful Davies

    Sarah Davies put weightlifting down as a special talent when she entered her first beauty contest, the then-student egged on by regular drinkers in the Leeds pub where she worked behind the bar. This year, pandemic permitting, the British lifter plans to compete for a medal at the Tokyo Olympics before jetting off to New York to take part in another pageant in swimsuit and high heels. The 2018 Commonwealth Games 69kg silver medallist is eager to serve as a role model and show young girls that strong is beautiful.

  • Hege Riise set to be named Team GB head coach after impressing with England Women
    The Telegraph

    Hege Riise set to be named Team GB head coach after impressing with England Women

    Norway great Hege Riise is set to be named as the head coach of Team GB’s women’s football side for this summer’s Olympics, Telegraph Sport understands. An announcement is expected later this week to confirm the 51-year-old’s appointment. Riise, who won the World Cup as a player with Norway in 1995, has been in interim charge of England since January, having initially been appointed as assistant coach to Phil Neville, before Neville’s early exit to take charge of Inter Miami. The Norwegian coach oversaw a convincing 6-0 win over Northern Ireland in a friendly at St George’s Park in February, in her first game in charge. She will also oversee England's friendly against Canada in April, before the first Team GB camp in June. One of her biggest tasks will be to select a squad of only 18 players from the UK for Tokyo, where the British side will be hoping for at least a medal. The Football Association and England’s players are understood to have been hugely impressed with Riise during February’s training camp. Senior members of the playing squad are believed to have been consulted over the decision and sources have spoken highly of the positivity around the camp. England played with a fast-faced, attacking style as they eased past Northern Ireland, who are enjoying their best ever qualifying campaign for a major tournament and will face Ukraine in a Euro 2022 play-off in April. Team GB qualified for the Olympics by virtue of England’s run to the semi-finals of the 2019 World Cup, where they finished among the top three European nations. That saw England qualify on Team GB’s behalf and therefore the English FA were primarily responsible for selecting the head coach. Riise was a world, European and Olympic champion with Norway as they enjoyed a spell of dominance in global women’s football in the 1990s and early 2000s, and she was named Player of the Tournament at the 1995 World Cup. Netherlands coach Sarina Wiegman was announced as the next England manager last August. She will assume her new role from September, after leading Netherlands at the Olympics, where she may face Riise’s Team GB.