Fashion Files - Higher, faster stronger

The season continues apace and so too does the fashion fun and in honour of the beginning of the Winter Olympics, we proudly present a bigger, better and more fabulous fashion round up. So saddle up fashion fans and follow us on the trail of sartorial excellence.

Fashion Files - Light and Shade

Its that time of year again. Figure skating is back and the Grand Prix series is upon us. It may be the early stages of the season but already the fashion stakes have been raised. There have been some big, bold costuming statements made this season so let's jump right in fashion fans.

Fashion Files - World Athletics Championships

As you all know we love bringing you a bit of sartorial silliness with our fashion files series and after being inspired by the World Athletics Championships, we decided that we simply had to expand the range of fashion files. So hold on to your (celebration) hats everyone and join us trackside.

he ain't heavy he's (not) my brother

Inspired by Allyson Felix's brother Wes Jimmy Vicaut tries to assist Christophe LeMaitre after his injury in Moscow. Christophe is not so sure....

Early Impressions of Moscow 2013

So the World Athletics Championships kicked off in Moscow today. There were plenty of brilliant early moments; Italy's silver medal in the women's marathon, Mo Farah winning 10,000 m gold and a brilliant beginning to the decathlon competition but I want to focus on the 100 m.

Cartoons a la Francais

Some cartoons I've been working on of Christophe Le Maitre. Firstly a drawing of Christophe celebrating with Jimmy Vicaut inspired by this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_rsrGSV9ps (about 1.05 onwards)

And secondly a drawing of Christophe celebrating with Usain Bolt inspired by this photo http://photo.europe1.fr/sport/christophe-lemaitre-usain-bolt-maxppp-930620/21810095-1-fre-FR/Christophe-lemaitre-usain-bolt-maxppp-930620_scalewidth_630.jpg and christophe's pose inspired by this photo http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/07/26/article-2179282-14328494000005DC-744_468x286.jpg

The Continuing musical adventures of Neymar

A little while ago, in our Olympics hotlist, we told you about Neymar and his fondness for singing. Well it turns out that we were only scratching the surface. So without further ado we present to you Neymar's musical adventures.

The big (aesthetic) guide to Diamond League

Its been a little quiet around here but now we're back. And to mark a year since the London Olympics we're bringing you our big aesthetic guide to some athletes to watch out for the Diamond League.

Aesthetic Olympics part 2

So I enjoyed putting together my Olympics hotlist so much I decided to compile part two. Also the Olympics just continued to be awesome and provide me with plenty of inspiration. So hear we go, hold on to your hats.

Aesthetic Olympics

 As I'm sure you're all aware I love the olympics. And this year's event in London is no exception.   Now I'll get to the serious sports commentary bit later but first I've been inspired by Cosmopolitan's frankly shocking list of the hottest athletes at this year's games and I decided I could do a way better job myself.

From Rio to the Riverside

I was lucky enough to see Brazil play team GB at the Riverside stadium for pre- olympic football friendlies. It was incredible, such an honour to see such a skilled team playing live and in the flesh. The squad was packed with an unbelievable amount of talent; Neymar, Hulk, Pato, Marcelo, Oscar, Leandro Damiao, Ganso. They were all reall really impressive. Hulk amazed me, I've never seen anyone like him before. He really is huge, his shoulders are enormous he's like an American quarterback. For someone so huge he's surprisingly fast and nimble on his feet. Marvellous to watch. the other person who really stood out was obviously Neymar. He really is a superstar in waiting. He too is very quick and so clever, really skilfull. I couldn't take my eyes off him. Oscar looked very impressive during the game, pulling a lot of strings in midfield. We alsso got to watch GB ladies playing Sweden ladies. It was a really cool day. Here are my pictures of the Brazil team warming up and the GB and Brazil teams lining up.

Olympic Spirit

I'm sure you're all aware that there's something big going on down in London and I'm sure you're also aware that I LOVE the Olympics. And its been brilliant so far.

The Best of Euro 2012

So there were many highlights of the European Championships, some serious footballing ones and some fun lighthearted ones. So without further ado, let's dive right in.

A Grand Finale

So Spain were once again crowned Champions of Europe on Sunday after a 4-0 win over victory in the Euro 2012 final. I had predicted Germany would win the whole thing but they were overcome by a storming performance by a valiant Italian side. I had thought before the kick off that Italy might be able to edge Spain but that also was not to be. I had not counted on the Spain's effortless switch into a higher gear for the final when previously they had looked to be struggling and short of the fluidity and attacking edge we've all come to know so well. Unfortunately for Italy, it also seemed to be just a game too far for them with first Giorgio Chiellini and then- disastrously after all three subs had been used- Thiago Motta succumbing to injury problems. I thought Italy fought valiantly and at times during the match it looked like they might be capable of pulling something back and they looked brighter once Federico Balzaretti and Antonio di Natale came on but there was only so much they could do against Spain's suffocating endless posession, especially after they went a man down. Its not all doom and gloom for Italy though, I think there's real potential in that squad and they've really restored pride in their national side. Spain were way better than they had been at any point during the rest of the tournament and looked almost back to their 2008-2010 best. Its hard to pick out individual performances when the whole team was excellent but Sergio Ramos looked very strong and seems to have grown a lot as a player, Gerard Pique was also excllent at the back. Jordi Alba looks a hell of a prospect and his run down the wing was just electrifying. The Spanish celebrations were lovely to watch too. It was really sweet seeing them all bring their kids onto the pitch to join in the celebrations, especially watching Fernando Torres unleash his inner princess by joyfully frolicking in the glitter confetti with his daughter. Also a lovely touch were the t-shirts worn by Sergio Ramos and Cesc Fabregas commemorating Miki Roque, Antonio Puerta, Dani Jarque and Manolo Preciado. It was a simple but very touching gesture that along with the strong family presence made the celebrations that bit more meaningful and allowed it to transcend the barriers of football with a lovely personal touch. All in all its been a really good tournament full of both exceptional footbball and wonderful moments, stay tuned for the traditional awards type post...you know players, teams, goals of the tournament, that sort of stuff.

Paying the Penalty

So we're at the semi final stage of Euro 2012 and the drama has been ratcheted up. The last quarter final (England v Italy)  and the first semi final both went to dramatic penalty shoot outs. Similarly dramatic as I've said but vastly differing in a few ways.

Euro 2012 - progress report

I've been a little remiss on my posting lately as HQ is currently slightly chaotic with some DIY happening. But I can assure you i have not been remiss in watchinng the Euros. So the early excitement of the group stages has now given way to the intensity and drama of the knockout stages. So I'm feeling the need to collect my thoughts so far.

Euro 2012 - Impressions so far

The Euros are officially here! Weeks of glorious, dramatic, unpredictable football. And so far its been pretty decent.

Euro 2012 Predictions

Since Euro 2012 is almost upon us, I decided that Sports Wall should dip our toe into the murky waters of predictions. First up I think that The Czech Rep and Russia will get out of their group. I think that the experince within the Czech squad will see them through (hopefully) and I can't see Greece or Poland having enough quality (or consistency) to get through ahead of Russia. Obviously I see Germany and Holland getting through their group but I can see Denmark putting up a spirited challenge. Once again, obviously I see Spain getting through. I'm not completely positive that Italy will join them though. I think its quite likely but I think its going to be very close between them and Croatia, it entirely depends on which Italy actually shows up (awesome 2006 togetherness version or so close yet so far 2010 version?) And finally I can see France getting through and (sigh, eye roll) probably England depending on whether England can actually pull together as a team and manage to not implode. Also depends on if Sweden or Ukraine sufficiently man up to the challenge. As for the overall winner, I've got a feeling for Germany this year, I think that its this squad's time. Player wise I think that Mario Gomez, despite his shoddy Champion's League final will have a good tournament, I'm thinking Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain might make a decent impression if he's used correctly and I really really hope Tomas Rosicky has a great tournament. So I know some of them are fairly obvious predictions but based on all the football I watch that is what I think will happen. Comment or tweet if you want to add anything!

The England manager appointment

Normally I'm not really very interested in stuff to do with the England National Team. But I've had some thoughts on the (seemingly) imminent appointment of Uncle Roy Hodgson as England manager. Now don't get me wrong here, I like the man. I do. But I'm not sure its the right move. Not for England though, for him. I get the obvious he's English so he really wants to manage his national team thing but I think in the light of how his tenure at Liverpool turned out though its a slightly baffling move. Personally tto me it seems like the England situation he's walking into will be similar to the one he had to contend with at Liverpool only on a larger and more pressurised scale. I mean it was a situation where it was an institution with a lot of history that tends to focus heavily on the weight of the past (some times to a counter productive degree,) an atmosphere with a huge amount of expectation, difficult to please fans with another candidate in mind and players that he inherited rather than chose. Check, check, check and check. I just hope that the insane amount of media pressure he's going to get and the squad selection headaches that will no doubt come his way don't make for a high profile repeat of his stresses and strains at Liverpool because he seems like a lovely man who genuinely loves football and knows his stuff. Having made the case against his taking the job, I would like to just add to that that I do think he's a better option than Redknapp though. Largely due to his experience with managing abroad and at international level. I know that there are loads of you who could cite tons of managers who have won things without much experience but I think you can't undervalue the amount of experience someone like Hodgson has. Fianlly to finish off, I'd like to share with you the popular opinion here at HQ on the alternative candidate we would have liked the FA to give a chance to. The Sports Wall family (particularly my mum) think that Roy Keane would have been a brilliant left field choice for the post. I know I just said experience can't be underrated BUT hear us out here. We think he'd be good as the England manager becuase of his unbelievable intensity and let's face it there's no way he'd take any crap from those players. Maybe he'd finally be able to instill a bit of discipline in the ranks. Plus he's not short of passion. The guy radiates passion for football. Which frankly the England set up could do with. So there you go, the man to restore a bit of blood and thunder to the Three Lions, is the other Roy.

Boy Watch - Internationals and Testing

Lets cast our eyes around to catch up with some of our favourite boys. Firstly there's been some Moto GP testing going on at Sepang (in Malaysia.) We're extremely pleased to report that Dani Pedrosa came top of the pile for two out of the three days and Andrea Dovizioso was also consistently good reaching third. Marco Simoncelli managed to finish top on the last day which meant that all in all it was a very useful test for Honda. Valentino Rossi hovered around twelfth but to be fair he's recovering from a shoulder injury. I'm often pretty sceptical about these pre-season things and I think that you can't read too much into as the riders have been on an lengthy break and they're not using the full package and settings on the bike. Having said that I'm still happy that Dani's leading the field.
In the world of football, there's been plenty of international matches going on this week. Pretty much all of them have been friendlies but plenty of major football nations have been in action. The Arsenal boys were out in force with a  whole bunch of them representing France (including Laurent Koscielny fo the first time.) Theo and Jackie Wilshere were representing England against Nicklas Bendtner and his Danish mates (including blog favorite Simon Kjaer.) Our hero Tomas Rosicky captained the Czech republic and also scored a goal! Finally. However he also 'collected' a groin injury. Sigh. Cesc and Robin weren't allowed to go out and play and had to stay at home on the flimsy premise of flu.