News about David Coverdale

EXCLUSIVE BY DAVID COVERDALE: On his post-season holiday in Vietnam, Matt Peet will read a book called Becoming Supernatural. In the eyes of Wigan Warriors supporters, however, the 40-year-old is already a god. It was 10 days ago at Old Trafford that Peet completed an historic quadruple with Wigan, becoming the first Super League boss to win the World Club Challenge, Challenge Cup, League Leaders' Shield and Grand Final in the same season. Peet has now won seven trophies in just three years as a head coach - a haul matching Pep Guardiola's at Manchester City over the same period. What makes Peet's record all the more impressive, however, is that he has achieved it in a salary-capped sport.

DAVID COVERDALE: Keely Hodgkinson has been controversially snubbed from the shortlist of the prestigious World Athletics Awards. The British star won gold in the 800 metres at the Olympics in Paris in August, as well as defending her European title in Rome in June. Hodgkinson was unbeaten over two laps all season and also clocked the fastest time in the world this year with a run of 1min 54.61sec in London in July, the sixth quickest in history.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY DAVID COVERDALE: Saqib Mahmood hopes he can force his way into England's plans for next winter's Ashes - despite signing a white-ball contract with his county. The fast bowler played two Tests in the West Indies in March 2022 but then suffered consecutive back stress fractures and has not worn England whites since. On Friday, Lancashire announced Mahmood had penned a three-year white-ball deal, with just an 'option' to play red-ball cricket.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY DAVID COVERDALE: It was not until the subject of summer holidays came up that the severity of his condition really hit home.  'The surgeon said, "No flights", so I joked with my wife Debs, "It'll have to be Scarborough for me and you this year then",' recalls Marco Gabbiadini. 'But the surgeon then asked, "Is there a major hospital there?". I said, "I don't think so", and he replied, "Well, I wouldn't bother then if I was you". When he said that, it was quite an eye opener.'

DAVID COVERDALE AT OLD TRAFFORD: Labour in power, Oasis selling out stadiums and now Wigan Warriors reigning supreme in rugby league. No, this is not the 1990s but 2024. And the glory days are well and truly back for the Cherry and Whites. The great Wigan side of the 90s are sporting immortals, winning seven straight top-flight titles and eight successive Challenge Cup trophies. Yet Matt Peet's Class of '24 made history themselves on Saturday night by becoming the first team in the Super League era to claim all four major trophies in the same season.

Joe Root was hailed as England's greatest ever batter last week, after surpassing Alastair Cook as his country's record run-scorer with a stunning innings of 262 against Pakistan, taking his total to 12,664. Here, some of those who have watched Root blossom share their memories of England's run machine with Mail Sport's David Coverdale and Aadam Patel, including Nasser Hussain, Moeen Ali and Jonathan Trott.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY DAVID COVERDALE: 'I have been involved in a few fairytales,' reflects Ryan Hall ahead of what could be the greatest of them all at Old Trafford on Saturday night. In 2015, Hall was part of the Leeds Rhinos side who clinched a domestic Treble to give the perfect send-off to Kevin Sinfield, Jamie Peacock and Kylie Leuluai. Two years later, he helped the Rhinos win the Grand Final again and made it a happy ending for two other club legends, Rob Burrow and Danny McGuire. But even those dream moments do not compare to the Cinderella story Hall is helping to write at Hull Kingston Rovers.

DAVID COVERDALE: Chris Rigg had played less than 15 minutes of senior football when the first resounding verdict came in from Sunderland 's club captain after an FA Cup success in 2023. Rigg only turned 17 in the summer but he is already the lynchpin of a resurgent Sunderland side sitting top of the Championship ahead of Friday night's visit of promotion rivals Leeds .

DAVID COVERDALE: If Alex Yee was not already aware of how his gold medal moment had captured the nation's attention, he got a good idea as soon as he landed back from Paris. 'I was coming through immigration at Birmingham Airport and the guy looked at my passport, looked up at me and said, "Even the BBC couldn't keep up with you!",' recalls the Olympic triathlon champion.

DAVID COVERDALE: The good news, Stefan Ratchford was told, was that he did not have a bleed on his brain. But then came the bad news from his CT scan. 'The specialist's words were, 'I've not seen anything this bad for a long time',' recalls the Warrington Wolves captain. 'He said, 'You've got 10 fractures in your face. I can't believe this is from one incident. It's like what we would see from a car crash'.' Ratchford's list of broken bones included his eye socket, cheek bone and jaw. An 11th facial fracture, his palate, was discovered during surgery. And all of this from one accidental elbow to the face during Warrington's Super League win at St Helens on July 19 - the date of both Ratchford and his wife Kirsty's birthday.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY DAVID COVERDALE: It was a Bolt from the blue that felt as good as gold for Thomas Young. After the British sprinter won the T38 100 metres at the Paralympics in Tokyo in 2021, he immediately set his sights on emulating - or surpassing - the record of Usain Bolt, who won three successive Olympic 100m titles.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY DAVID COVERDALE: This is not the first time Ellie Challis has appeared on these pages. When she was just five years old, the quadruple amputee was featured in the Daily Mail wearing running blades and racing Oscar Pistorius, then the most famous face in Paralympic sport before his life took a very dark turn. 'My dad said he'd give me £10 if I won the race!' recalls Challis, who Pistorius playfully let win over 15 metres. 'Running was always what I wanted to do, so I thought it was quite cool. I was the youngest child to have blades because they didn't make them for children. Now it is normal, so it was nice to be a part of that.'

DAVID COVERDALE: Keely Hodgkinson has announced her season is over after picking up an injury in training. The British star was due to race over 400 metres in Berlin on Sunday week - her first competition since winning Olympic 800m gold in Paris a fortnight ago. Hodgkinson was then scheduled to compete at the Diamond League meetings in Zurich and Brussels early next month.

DAVID COVERDALE: Matthew Richardson has been blasted by a former Australian world champion for his decision to defect to Great Britain. Richardson won three track cycling medals at the Paris Olympics for Australia but announced on Monday he would now race for Britain, the country of his birth. The 25-year-old's decision has been met by fierce criticism Down Under, with Katherine Bates likening it to a 'break-up you never saw coming' and saying other Aussie riders are feeling 'ripped off'.

DAVID COVERDALE: The 25-year-old won three medals for Australia at the Paris Games earlier this month, with silvers in the sprint and keirin and a bronze in the team sprint. But in an extraordinary move that has stunned the cycling world, Richardson has decided to represent their rivals Britain at Los Angeles 2028 after being successful in his application for a change of nationality. Richardson was born in Maidstone, Kent but moved Down Under aged nine and had represented Australia since junior level.

DAVID COVERDALE IN PARIS: It was back in 2022 - just a year after the delayed Tokyo Olympics - that Team GB first visited the United States to scout out facilities ahead of LA28. And by being the first out of the blocks, they have managed to secure the sought-after Stanford University in California as their exclusive preparation camp for the Games. Stanford is one of the largest university campuses in the States with specific facilities for 16 different sports. Team GB believe no nation will have a better Olympic training base as they look to improve on their 'frustrating' seventh-place finish in the medal table at Paris 2024.

DAVID COVERDALE: Team GB want to enter a men's football side at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028. Britain have only played in the men's tournament at the Games once since 1960 - when they were the host nation in 2012. The FAs of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have previously feared that competing with England as a single entity would risk their independence in future FIFA and UEFA tournaments.

DAVID COVERDALE: Tom Daley has announced his retirement from diving after winning his fifth Olympic medal in Paris. The 30-year-old claimed a silver in the synchronised 10-metre platform with Noah Williams to complete his set of medals, following a gold in Tokyo and three other bronzes. Daley had left open the possibility of competing at a sixth Games in Los Angeles - where he lives - in 2028.

DAVID COVERDALE IN PARIS: When Trevor Painter first met Georgia Bell 10 years ago, he thought she was more Made in Chelsea than made for the Olympics. 'We were coaching a girl called Leah Barrow at Birmingham University and Georgia was at the same uni,' recalls Painter about the new Olympic 1500 metres bronze medallist. 'We were doing a few sessions with Leah and Georgia said to us, "Can I join in?". The first time she came, I thought she was like a society girl, like Tamara Beckwith. But when I saw her run, I thought, '"Oh, all right". You could just see something special.'

DAVID COVERDALE IN PARIS: Sifan Hassan made Olympic history on Sunday as she backed up her medals in the 5,000 metres and 10,000m by winning the marathon. The Dutch star is the first woman to collect medals in the three longest races at the same Games - and only the second athlete ever after Emil Zatopek in 1952. Hassan won the marathon in a sprint finish, deploying her famous late kick to overtake world record holder Tigst Assefa in the final 200m, even knocking elbows with the Ethiopian as she passed her on the inside.

DAVID COVERDALE: Lord Coe has stated his case to become the next International Olympic Committee president after Thomas Bach confirmed he would stand down next year. World Athletics president Coe has long coveted the IOC's top job but feared Bach would try and change the rules to extend his stay beyond the maximum 12 years. However, now the German has announced he is leaving, Coe is ready to campaign to succeed him ahead of the election in March 2025.

The 34-year-old received a bronze medal at the Stade de France on Friday night from the 4x100 metres relay. And it was redemption for Kilty after he was stripped of his silver from the same event at the Tokyo Olympics following CJ Ujah's failed drugs test. 'It feels amazing,' said the Teesside sprinter, who ran in the heats but not the final after injuring his Achilles.

DAVID COVERDALE IN PARIS: In rugby they call the Anglo-French battle Le Crunch. Here in Paris, it is numbers that are being crunched as chiefs from Britain and France try to forecast who is going to win their medal table duel. With two days to go of the Olympics , Team GB are level with the host nation on 14 golds and 20 silvers, but above them on bronzes. However, they have fewer serious gold medal contenders on the final weekend, putting them at serious risk of finishing behind France in the medal table for the first time in 20 years.

DAVID COVERDALE AT THE STADE DE FRANCE: Katarina Johnson-Thompson admitted she was 'relieved' after ending her long wait for an Olympic medal with silver in the heptathlon last night. Having led the competition after the first day, the world champion missed out on gold by just 36 points to Belgium's Nafi Thiam, who won her third title in a row. But Johnson-Thompson insisted she had no regrets having finally made the Olympic podium at her fourth attempt.