Athletics: World and Olympic discus champion Robert Harting will not defend his title at this month’s World Championships as he does not want to risk his participation at next year’s Rio Olympics after struggling to recover from a ligament injury. Harting, who has won three consecutive world titles and the 2012 Olympic gold medal in London, said competing in Beijing would have been too risky for him as he’s still not 100 per cent fit after tearing a cruciate ligament last September.

Rugby Union: Glasgow Warriors scrum-half Henry Pyrgos will captain Scotland in their first World Cup warm-up match against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. Head coach Vern Cotter named a 25-man squad yesterday, from Scotland‘s extended 47-man squad, with the team to face Ireland due to be announced tomorrow.

Tennis: The French flag flew proudly in Montreal on Monday as Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils advanced to the second round of the Rogers Cup. Both Frenchmen enjoyed straight-sets victories. Monfils needed just over an hour to dispatch Fabio Fognini 6-3 6-1, denying the Italian a single break in the match. Ninth-seeded Simon extended his perfect record against Andreas Seppi to 5-0 with his 6-2 6-4 victory.

Swimming: Michael Phelps finished fifth in the 200 metres breaststroke in his final event at the US champion-ships in San Antonio on Monday. After blowing away the competition with 2015 world-leading times in his first three races over the weekend, Phelps completed his campaign more sedately. He clocked 2:11.30 , well behind winner Craig Benson, of Scotland, who touched in 2:09.68.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.