Thursday 22nd January 2026

Sport

Will running a half-marathon fix you?

Running has undergone a paradigm shift; no longer a punishment in PE class or your parents’ Sunday morning escape, running is a lifestyle: a personal brand.

Trump, tennis, and test cricket: Winter’s sporting woes

Wherever you look, sport in all its myriad forms appears to have stumbled into a great mess over the Michaelmas vac.

From ergs to euphoria: college rowing at Oxford

College rowing is an exercise in delayed gratification; the suffering of winter morphs into blades come Trinity.

You, too, can ski: at the cost of your ego and bank balance

Varsity isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination.

50 years of women’s cross-country Varsity

The 50th anniversary of women’s cross-country in the Oxford-Cambridge Varsity Competition is set to be celebrated on Saturday 6th December. The event will be...

The inescapable exhaustion of the tennis season 

The fatigue is inescapable as the tennis season draws slowly towards a close. Players compete with their last fragments of energy, willing their weary...

Inside the little-known world of Oxford’s real tennis club

Real tennis? What, as opposed to fake tennis? No, real as in Real Madrid, as in royal. That’s perhaps not the best way to...

Ethics versus economics: The WTA Finals in Riyadh

I am a tennis aficionado. I follow tennis year-round, and each tournament has a special place for me – except for one.  The WTA Finals,...

The BBC’s dying sports coverage is hurting Britain

The President’s Challenge – the annual tradition that marks the official launch of the Boat Race – was this year accompanied by another, rather...

Austria, the Allianz, and applause: How we make spaces divine

In March I twice came very close to something holy: once in Austria and once in the Allianz.  In Vienna, where Mozart played, lived, and...

Oxford Sailors take on the Celtic Sea

Many people would consider offshore yacht racing a somewhat daunting, if not downright insane, endeavour, but it’s how a determined crew of Oxford sailors...

The elusive magic of club cricket

As summer draws to a close and we all arrive in Oxford ready for the start of Michaelmas term, spare a thought for the...

Over 12,000 compete in the 2025 Oxford Half Marathon

Thousands took to the streets of Oxford yesterday morning to race in the Oxford Half Marathon, a 13.1-mile closed-road route that started and finished...

England batter Canada to claim the 2025 Women’s Rugby World Cup

After consecutive final defeats in 2017 and 2022, England have finally claimed a third Women's Rugby World Cup title in front of the biggest...

Oxford Handball’s historic season: From promotion to British Champions

The Oxford University Handball Club Men’s team, the Blues Team of the Year, has achieved what many thought impossible: winning the English Premier League...

Away days for less than a tenner (plus hand luggage)

You probably know Prague as the boozy city break loved by British teenagers and stag do-goers alike. But did you know you could also...

And the Isis roared – Summer Eights 2025

For the viewing public, and those involved in the racing, Summer Eights 2025 gave some reasons to be fearful. The Thamesis Regatta, the very...

In defence of the much-maligned offseason

What will you watch? That’s always the complaint, the second the final whistle blows on the last game of the season and football loses...

Fencing Novices may be new, but they get the point

Varsity competitions might seem out of reach to many. Sportspeople who fill the ranks of Blues teams have often mastered their disciplines long before...

Lancer-lot: Oxford American Football trounce Cambridge Pythons

There aren't many sports in which 48-0 is a respectable scoreline. American Football is certainly not one of them. Scoring 40+ points is pretty...

Summer Eights final day: Live updates

18:48 - Apologies to loyal Cherwell readers, phone service was a persistent issue throughout the day (all updates relied on my awkward set-up of...

Summer Eights day three: Live updates

18:51 - Merton cross the line safely, so Wadham will have one more opportunity to return to Division I tomorrow. Just the three bumps...

Summer Eights day two: Live updates

18:54 - Merton get their bump! They return to Division I for the first time in 45 years! Unsurprisingly, Oriel conclude the day at...

Summer Eights day one: Live updates

09:44 - I'm locked in at the OSPL office, eagerly awaiting four days of scintillating Summer Eights. The atmosphere at the river is absolutely...

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