Somewhere in Sydney's north shore right now, two men are probably asleep.

Tim Kacprzak and Jack Hanley spent the best part of 58 hours running a 6.7km loop, every hour on the hour, at Sydney's Backyard Ultra.

Kacprzak was the last one standing after 75 laps (also known as yards) and more than 500km. Hanley pushed him all the way to 74 before pulling the pin.

Both athletes started on Saturday at 8am and finished just before 11am today.

Hats off to both of them (and to all 640 runners who took on the challenge!).

2 hours, 1 minute, and 52 seconds
Kenyan athlete John Korir’s time at the Boston Marathon on Monday (local time), breaking the course record by more than a minute to win back-to-back titles at the world's oldest marathon. The previous record of 2:03:02 had stood since 2011. Korir’s time is the fifth fastest marathon of all time. Fellow Kenyan Sharon Lokedi also defended her title on the women's side, finishing in 2:18:51. It was the 130th running of the race.

"Hopefully, he has the right set of people to guide him and keep him focused on track and field because the rest of the stuff will always be there. But if you mess up on track and field, then it all goes away."
Eight-time Olympic gold medallist Usain Bolt speaking to CNN about Australian teenage sprinter Gout Gout. The 18-year-old Queenslander set a new under-20 world record earlier this month when he won the 200m at the senior Australian championships in 19.67 seconds, surpassing the time Bolt ran at the same age. Gout will make his senior Diamond League debut in Oslo on 10 June, where a showdown with Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo awaits.

In 1887, 15-year-old Lottie Dod became the youngest women's singles champion in Wimbledon history. That record still stands 139 years later. Dod won Wimbledon five times, retired at 21, then won a British golf championship, played hockey for England and took Olympic silver in archery.  

🏉 Dean Young has been appointed interim head coach of the St George Illawarra Dragons for the remainder of the 2026 NRL season, a day after the club sacked Shane Flanagan and general manager of football Ben Haran. In another twist today, assistant coach Michael Ennis has also left the club. Flanagan left after an 11-game losing streak, the longest in the club's history, and a winless start to 2026 that leaves the Dragons last on the ladder. Young, who played in the club's 2010 premiership team, previously served as interim coach in 2020. He faces an immediate test in Saturday's Anzac Day clash against the Roosters.

🏀 San Antonio Spurs centre Victor Wembanyama has been named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year, becoming the first unanimous winner in the award's history, receiving all 100 first-place votes. The 22-year-old Frenchman led the league in blocks (3.1 per game) and anchored the Spurs to the second-best record in the NBA (62-20) this season. Wembanyama is also the youngest player to win the award. San Antonio are currently taking on the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and lead the best-of-seven series 1-0. 

🏎️ Formula One’s governing body, the FIA, has agreed to a package of mid-season rule changes after mounting criticism from drivers over the sport's new energy management regulations. The 2026 rules introduced a 50/50 power split between combustion and electric energy, but drivers including Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, and Carlos Sainz have complained the system prioritises battery management over racing. Key changes include reducing how much battery the cars can recharge while driving and increasing peak power during overtaking bursts. Most changes will already be in place for the next race, which is the Miami Grand Prix on 3 May.

🏉 Carlton midfielder Elijah Hollands has been admitted to a Melbourne hospital following what the club described as a "mental health episode" during Thursday night's game against Collingwood. Hollands appeared disoriented throughout the match, recording one disposal while spending 60% per cent of the game on the field. The 23-year-old has previously spoken about his experiences with mental ill-health and alcohol. His father, Ben, posted a message on Instagram on Tuesday, saying: “I know who my son is — and I will lift him up until he is restored in full. For those supporting someone who is struggling: encourage them, affirm them, and love them.” Carlton is facing scrutiny over how it handled the situation, with the AFL awaiting answers from an internal investigation at the club. If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Port Adelaide vice-captain Zak Butters has been cleared of an umpire abuse charge after it emerged an AFL Tribunal panel member disconnected from last week's hearing and switched to his phone while driving to a real estate open for inspection. 

The AFL Appeal Board ruled the conduct a "miscarriage of justice".

The Tribunal fined Butters $1,500 last Tuesday for allegedly telling umpire Nick Foot, "How much are they paying you?" during Port Adelaide’s round five loss to St Kilda. 

Butters denied making the comment, with teammate Ollie Wines and Port Adelaide’s general manager of football Ben Rutten both giving evidence in his support.

Port Adelaide formally appealed the verdict. 

The appeal focused on the conduct of Tribunal panel member Jason Johnson. The former Essendon premiership player turned real estate agent disconnected from the online hearing partway through and switched to his phone while driving to an open for inspection. 

Port's lawyer Paul Ehrlich KC argued Johnson could not have been paying proper attention while behind the wheel during final submissions, and the Appeal Board agreed after 14 minutes of deliberation. The hearing had its own distractions too, with Ehrlich forced to apologise on several occasions after his dog wandered into his home office and began barking mid-argument. 

The AFL confirmed it would not seek a re-trial, and has since apologised to both Butters and Foot. 

While reiterating its “strong support for the AFL tribunal,”, the league said it will "reflect on the reasons of the Appeal Board and learnings from tonight's outcome".

Port Adelaide welcomed the result but “maintains its position that the Tribunal process needs to be reviewed”. Last week, club CEO Matthew Richardson described the system as "too legalistic" and "too adversarial".

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The NRL has joined other professional football competitions around the world in limiting how much full-contact training players can do each week, in an effort to reduce injury risk.

This follows similar rules introduced by the NFL and World Rugby years ago. The AFL is now the only major football league still without formal limits on contact training.

Here’s what to know.

Until now, the NRL hadn’t mandated limits on full-contact training. Instead, head coaches have their own training loads. The league’s existing concussion guidelines focus mainly on managing injuries after they occur, rather than preventing them by limiting contact in training. The issue has gained attention in recent years following the death of Manly Sea Eagles and schoolboy rugby union player Keith Titmuss, who became the youngest Australian sportsperson diagnosed with the concussion-related brain disease CTE.

Other major football codes have already moved to restrict training contact loads.

NFL (American football):

The NFL shares preseason concussion data with clubs to help reduce high-impact drills. It also tests helmets annually and removes models that don’t sufficiently reduce head impacts. In addition, it has updated rules to discourage dangerous techniques, such as initiating contact with the helmet.

World Rugby:

World Rugby limits full-contact training through global guidelines developed with clubs and player unions. These recommend:

World Rugby says this forms part of its ambition to “be the most progressive, open and collaborative sport when it comes to [players] welfare”.

Under the NRL’s new policy, all 17 NRL clubs will be limited to 100 minutes of full-contact training per week during a standard seven-day turnaround. For the 12 NRLW clubs, the limit is 85 minutes, with all wrestling-based drills included. 

The limits will be reduced further when teams have less recovery time between games. In those cases, contact training is capped at around 40–50 minutes for five- or six-day turnarounds.

During the pre-season, when training loads are higher,  the caps increase to 200 minutes for men and 115 minutes for women. Even so, these remain the first formal restrictions on contact training ever introduced by the league. 

Clubs will now be required to record and report their contact during training minutes. 

The NRL told TDA: “The training load guidelines are designed to enhance player safety, and have been developed following extensive research.”

The AFL has not yet introduced formal limits on contact training, but it is moving in a similar direction.

The league told the Herald Sun it has been quietly encouraging clubs most at risk of concussion to reduce contact loads, while also tracking training data across six intensity levels – from light warm-up drills through to full match simulation.

The AFL is now preparing to enforce formal limits on contact training minutes, potentially as soon as next season, with caps being considered for introduction from 2027.

If introduced, it would mean all three major Australian football codes – AFL, NRL, and rugby union – would have formal controls on how much full-contact training players can do each week.