United Kingdom

As the transfer deadline loomed on Monday evening, Tottenham Hotspur reached a deal to sign Bayern Munich forward Mathys Tel. The 19-year-old will play for the Spurs on loan for a year with the potential to make a permanent transfer at the end of the season. 

Tel, a versatile attacker from France, made his debut for Rennes in August 2021, later joining Bayern Munich in July 2022 and becoming the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer in his debut match. In his first season with the team, he made 83 appearances and scored 16 goals.

Often in the shadow of his renowned Bayern Munich teammate, Harry Kane, the transfer will likely give Tel the chance to step into the spotlight after a recurring lack of playing time.

Bayern Munich’s sporting director, Max Eberl, hinted at such prospects, telling the Guardian, “It’s very rare that this many clubs call you for a player.”

The transfer was somewhat of a surprise, as sources told ESPN that Tel was stalling the move just last week. The Spurs offered €60 million, or $62 million, to the player on Friday, but it was not until he spoke with head coach Ange Postecoglou that Tel confirmed the deal.

Tel becomes Tottenham’s third transfer after goalkeeper Antonin Kinsky and center back Kevin Danso.

Washington, D.C.

Twenty-eight members of the U.S. figure skating community were reportedly aboard the American Airlines plane that collided with a military helicopter just outside of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last week. All passengers and crew on both the plane and helicopter have since been confirmed dead.

Eleven skaters, four coaches and 13 family members were on the flight back from Wichita, KS, where the U.S. National Championships were held two weeks ago, followed by a development camp for young skaters.

Interim CEO of U.S. Figure Skating Samuel Auxier confirmed the deaths in a statement on Sunday. 

“Those whom we lost dedicated their lives to perfecting the sport of figure skating, many with the goal of one day becoming Olympians,” Auxier wrote. “We stand with their families and friends as we grieve this unspeakable loss.”

The tragedy has forced many in the national figure skating community to relive a similar moment of mourning in 1961, when a flight carrying the entire U.S. figure skating team to the World Championships in Prague crashed with no survivors.

U.S. Figure Skating will host a tribute for the victims at Capital One Arena on March 2.

Italy

Cortina D’Ampezzo, one of Italy’s best-known ski resorts, is gearing up to co-host the 2026 Winter Olympics. But with just a year until the opening ceremony, the sliding center — which will host bobsled, skeleton and luge competitions — is still only partially built, and concerns remain that the warming climate will leave snow in short supply.

The track will cost an estimated total of $123 million to be rebuilt and must be completed by the end of March in order for the International Olympic Committee to conduct pre-certification tests before the 2026 games. Due to concerns that construction will not be complete by the deadline, the IOC announced a backup location in Lake Placid, NY, which would require moving all sliding center competitions across the Atlantic.

Despite these concerns, Cortina D’Ampezzo Mayor Gianluca Lorenzi remains bullishly optimistic.

“As of today, the plan B for the bob races does not exist because it has been made clear the sliding center is being built here,” Lorenzi told Reuters.

Concerns for the games reach farther than the sliding center, however, as climate change threatens the future of winter sports as a whole. Ninety percent of Italy’s ski slopes require artificial snow, and critics argue this will not be sustainable going forward, leaving just 10 nations capable of hosting the Winter Olympics by 2040.

“I am not expecting great conditions,” Canadian freestyle skier and climate advocate Marion Thenault told CBC. “The only good thing about the Olympics having bad conditions is that all of our World Cups before are going to have bad conditions too. So we’re used to it.”