[attach id=222763 size="large"][/attach]

Equestrian: Celebrated horseman Mark Todd (picture) was knighted in the New Zealand New Year’s Honours’ list yesterday and declared himself keen to claim the record for the longest gap between first and last Olympic medals. The 56-year-old, who now becomes Sir Mark, equalled the current record of 28 years held by Hungarian fencer Aladar Gerevich, when he came out of retirement to win a team eventing bronze medal at the London Olympics this year. He won the first of his five medals at Los Angeles in 1984 and is now targeting the 2016 Rio Games.

Boxing: Japan’s Kohei Kono knocked out title-holder Tepparith Kokietgym of Thailand to win the World Boxing Association super-flyweight title yesterday. The eighth-ranked Japanese fighter finished off the Thai champ two minutes and eight seconds into the fourth round, after sending him to the floor three times. It was 32-year-old Kono’s third attempt at a world title, stretching his record to 28 wins, including 11 KOs, against seven defeats.

American Football: Defending Super Bowl champions New York Giants failed to make the play-offs despite beating the Philadelphia Eagles 42-7 on Sunday. The Giants needed to beat the Eagles and have other results go their way, but Chicago’s win in Detroit ensured Tom Coughlin’s side could not qualify for the post-season. Jay Cutler threw for 257 yards and a touchdown and helped seal the game with a late 19-yard run for the Bears in their 26-24 win over the Lions, but their play-off hopes were later crushed.

Cricket: Bangladesh said yesterday it had shelved plans to become the first cricket team to tour Pakistan since a 2009 attack on Sri Lanka’s bus, with the head of the board saying there were fears for players’ safety. Bangladesh Cricket Board chief Nazmul Hassan said: “We’ve made the decision after considering the overall security situation in Pakistan and the concern that our people have expressed over the safety of their players.” Pakistan have had to play their ‘home’ matches in venues ranging from Dubai to London ever since gunmen shot dead eight people and wounded seven Sri Lankan players in an audacious attack near the stadium in Lahore in March 2009.

Basket, NBA: Caron Butler drained six three-point shots and scored 29 points as Los Angeles Clippers wrapped up a perfect December with a 107-96 NBA victory over the Utah Jazz. The Clippers stretched their club-record winning streak to 17 games. They also joined the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and the 1995-96 San Antonio Spurs as the only NBA teams to go 16-0 in a single calendar month. “We don’t talk about it, it just happens,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said of the winning streak. “It’s a tribute to everybody. It’s unreal how many different ways we’ve won.”