English
Indian
العربية
Español
Deutsch
Türkçe
Русский
Français (Afrique)
CAN 2026 : le Cabo Verde fait douter les Lionnes Indomptables
Il a fallu attendre la troisième journée de la phase de groupe pour voir le Cabo Verde prendre son premier point de la CAN 2026. C’était ce jeudi face au Cameroun. En effet, les Lionnes Indomptables ont peiné face aux Requins Bleus au stade Larbi Zaouli. Les pouliches de Valentine Nguélé ont failli s’incliner. N’eût […]
L’article CAN 2026 : le Cabo Verde fait douter les Lionnes Indomptables est apparu en premier sur Camfoot.com.
Philemon and Caroline lead the African Challenge at Sierre-Zinal
Several of Africa’s finest mountain and trail runners take on many of the world’s best at Sierre-Zinal in Switzerland on Saturday, with South Africa’s ‘Comrades Queen’ Gerda Steyn’s participation adding substantial interest to the contest.
Singularly, the Swiss towns of Sierre and Zinal attract little interest in the sporting world. But the combination of the two into Sierre-Zinal (SZ) instantly commands attention and admiration and many rate it as the world’s most competitive trail race. sportbet.rodeo
31 kilometres with 2,400 metres of elevation gain, the legendary course linking the Swiss towns of Sierre and Zinal crosses the spectacular alpine landscapes of the Valais region beneath five peaks rising above 4000m – Weisshorn (4,506m), Zinalrothorn (4,221m), Matterhorn (4,478m), Dent Blanche (4,357m) and Obergabelhorn (4,063m).
The course features a demanding, near-continuous climb from Sierre, at 560 metres above sea level, to Nava at 2,424 metres passing iconic locations such as Ponchette, Chandolin and the historic Hotel Weisshorn. From there, runners face a fast and technical descent into Zinal (1,675m), the setting for some of trail running’s most memorable finishes.
The majority of almost 7000 participants from 70 countries will take time to pause to take in the breathtaking landscapes, but the elite men and women’s fields will scarcely notice their surrounds as they summon every ounce of energy, speed and strength in a quest for line honours, a podium place or top ten position.
SZ is part of both the Mountain Running World Cup and the Golden Trail World Series (GTWS) and the relatively non-technical terrain underfoot makes is accessible to athletes from track, cross country, road, mountain running and trail backgrounds, making it one of the most competitive in the world.
Even a top one hundred position at SZ will be hard-fought by leading runners, with every one of last year’s top ten back for more.
SZ is also one of the oldest distance races on the planet – Saturday’s will be the 53rd edition – and its heritage adds value and attraction to the race.
Dominated by European-based athletes for much of its history, the formidable course records are held by two legends of the sport – Spanish athlete Kilian Jornet’s winning time in 2024 of 2 hrs 25 min 34 sec and Swiss athlete Maude Mathys’ 2:49:20 in 2019.
But the emergence of Kenya as a force in trail running in recent years has fundamentally changed the nature of the race and it could be a matter of time before the records tumble. Last year’s winner, Philemon Kiriago, was just two seconds back of Jornet when the Spaniard set the new record two years ago and led no fewer than three other Kenyans into the top five last year, including an unprecedented podium clean-sweep.
Patrick Kipngeno (2nd last year), Michael Saaoli (3rd) and Paul Machoka (5th) will all be back on Saturday in an attempt to equal or improve their positions. Only Swiss triathlete, Adrien Briffod (4th) could split them twelve months ago.
A fifth African athlete grabbed a top ten position last year, and Moroccan, Elhousine Elazzaoui, is looking to move up several places from his 9th in 2025.
Elazzaoui was the overall winner in last year’s prestigous Golden Trail World Series and leads this year’s series by a substantial margin. The ‘Flying Camel’ chalked up his third win (after Zegama and Ledro Sky Trentino) in last week’s Salomon Pitz Alpine Glacier Trail in Austria.
While SZ’s more runnable route might not play to his strengths, Elazzaoui’s rich vein of current form could see him challenge for line honours.
Other leading Kenyans capable of top ten positions include Samwel Kiprotich , winner of this year’s GTWS Quebec Mega Trail, Richard Atuya, winner of the 2026 Transvulcania Vertical Kilometre, Ephantus Njeri and Timothy Kibett.
Steyn’s entry into topflight trail running has been long awaited and her performance on Saturday will be watched with interest. Road has been Steyn’s go-to format in athletics for more than a decade and she is one of the world’s best ultra-distance athletes on that surface – arguably the very best.
But SZ is short and furious with some of the world’s best exponents over sub-marathon distance in contention. Romanian Mădălina Florea is the form trail athlete and will be looking to improve on her 7th, 3rd and 12th in recent years. Leading this year’s GTWS, she took her third title in that series in winning the Pitz Glacier last weekend but she might also find the fast, runnable course counts against her.
Kenyans Philaries Kisang (who has placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th at SZ in past years), defending champion Caroline Kimutai and newcomer Ruth Gitonga, second at the Pitz Glacier, are all likely to be competitive while four-time winner, Mathys, can never be discounted.
Can Steyn transfer her best distance running skills to this competitive off-road race on Saturday and bag a top ten position?
The presence in the field of leading German athlete, Laura Hottenrott, may offer some encouragement to the South African. Hottenrott, who has excelled in both disciplines, placed a competitive 5th in last year’s SV in 3:00:30.
The two athletes’ running CV’s have much in common, Steyn’s ultra-distance feats apart. Hottenrott’s marathon PB of 2:24:32 is just 29 seconds slower than Steyn’s while only 11 seconds separate their 10km bests, with Hottenrott’s 32:13 the faster.
Coincidentally, both athletes had disappointing races at the Paris Olympics, with Steyn (who had an excellent 15th at the Tokyo Olympics Marathon) finishing in 2:32:51 just 90 seconds behind that of Hottenrott.
While a few weeks short of ideal race preparation, Steyn is looking forward to Saturday’s race. She is no stranger to trails and much of her road running training takes place on the trails near her home in the French Alps. And Steyn chalked up her first trail win in 2017 in a low-profile race near her home in France.
“It is so great to be here,” Steyn reflected from Switzerland yesterday. “It’s an absolutely beautiful place! It will be great fun and interesting to see you I get on. I would have liked another month of preparation but let’s see!”
Earlier Steyn posted on social media that she has been thinking about running SZ for a long time. “And now it’s finally real! I’m excited to race Sierre-Zinal this weekend – it’s arguably the world’s most iconic trail race.
“I love that there really is no pressure, but of course I still want to do my best, so let’s see how it goes.”
Two other South Africans will be in action following their wins at the Cape Town Trail Marathon in May. Philani ‘PK’ Sengce and Maryke van Zyl took line honours over the testing 43km race on Table Mountain and were delighted that their prize included two tickets to compete at Sierre-Zinal, which offered both athletes their first taste of competition outside their own country.
“I am really excited for Maryke and Philani taking on the world’s best trail runners at SZ this weekend,” commented Ryan Sandes, founder and organiser of the Cape Town Trail Marathon. “It is an incredible opportunity and the whole of South Africa is behind them!”
Sengce is pleased with his preparation, which included competing in another Swiss race last weekend as a warm-up. “I was just jogging easily so I would recover faster,” Sengce reported.
“One thing I can say is that the altitude is something else there. And the views are incredible – what a great place and I’m so blessed to experience such wonders.”
Being his first international race, Sengce will be content simply to enjoy the experience and finish the race feeling good, but admitted he will not be prepared to let the race get the better of him.
“Philani has already raced Thyon Dixence (in Switzerland),” Sengce’s coach, James Montgomery said. “That race had a number of athletes that will race Sierre Zinal, including Philemon Kiriago, so he has a good idea of the standard of the top athletes.”
The post Philemon and Caroline lead the African Challenge at Sierre-Zinal appeared first on Sports Network Africa.
Warzone esports is at risk of being ruined by controversial audio tunes
In battle royale titles such as Call of Duty: Warzone, audio plays a critical role for players dropping into the action. With optimal audio settings, it’s possible to hear the footsteps of nearby opponents, resulting in greater awareness when planning the next move around the battlefield.
Following the conclusion of the Warzone Resurgence Series (WRS), the topic of audio tunes sparked fierce debate among fans and personalities alike. For even greater audio advantages, some players use EQ tools, compression, and other enhancements to gain additional benefits.
Integrity in esports is critical to ensure a level playing field. With audio tuning already restricted in other titles, Warzone’s competitive scene is at risk of becoming the laughing stock of the battle royale genre.
- “The struggle has to exist!”: The FGC is finally realizing games don’t have to be hard to be good
- “They’ve gotta listen to the people actually playing the game”: Warzone will die if it doesn’t learn from Apex Legends and go all-in on esports
- CDL Major 4 showed me Call of Duty esports must focus on Europe to survive
The benefits (or advantages) of audio tuning
Audio tuning enables players to optimize sound in more detail than Warzone’s in-game options. There’s a range of dedicated EQ charts offered by several pieces of software that are designed to reduce weapon sounds and background noise, providing greater clarity on footstep audio and the direction they’re traveling.
In several cases, basic EQ adjustments and sound settings are grouped with graphics settings or controller sensitivities. However, using external tools for even greater benefits has no place in esports, especially when tournament play is focused on a level playing field.
With improved audio, players have secured an unfair advantage over those who choose not to use it in favor of settings available to everyone. To shed light on audio cheese, Warzone content creator IceManIsaac claimed that Call of Duty is normalizing software that provides an unfair advantage in competitive environments.
Warzone is the outlier
When responding to claims that audio tuning is a form of cheating, Isaac reveals that the competitive circuits for Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Battlefield 6 have all restricted the use of external software that offers an unfair advantage.
“Call of Duty is an absolute outlier for normalizing this unfair advantage,” he revealed. “Normalizing software advantage on Activision official events is the quickest way to push masses of players to pursue other third-party advantages.”
Hey @Repullze. You're the voice of WZ comp. Ban audio tunes in comp and blacklist players caught with it (easy PC check, the apps/devices aren't discrete).
— Isaac (@IceManIsaac) August 3, 2026
I know you're buddies with Art, Rara, Insured, etc. (I am too), but this needs to go and it's on you to lead that pushhttps://t.co/PBHBSIW2ob
Alongside replying to members of the community, Isaac has called upon fellow content creator and competitive Warzone extraordinaire Repullze to continue the fight against audio tuning in competitive play.
He tweeted: “Ban audio tunes in comp and black list players caught with it. This needs to go, and it’s on you to lead that push.”
Similarly to Isaac, Repullze believes that any kind of audio tune restrictions lie in the hands of Activision: “Downloading anything is banned at LAN, so audio tunes fall into that. If Activision isn’t actively saying anything about audio tunes or doesn’t say it’s not allowed, who am I to decide something like that?”
Community figures highlighting issues in Warzone frequently prompt the developer to make changes for a more competitive experience. Warzone 2.0 introduced significantly slower movement mechanics, much to fans’ frustration. After weeks of widespread backlash, Raven Software eventually increased movement speed for more fluid gameplay and to increase the skill gap. If fans are loud enough, it becomes impossible for those in charge to ignore.
Although players aren’t allowed to download any kind of software while competing at LAN, nothing is stopping them from hiding the software on the big stages and in online tournaments, throwing the integrity of all high-profile Warzone tournaments into doubt.
Even if one top talent is caught using audio tunes, it sets an unwanted precedent that could be difficult to recover from.
Time for Activision to act
Image credit: Activision
While other publishers have taken action to prevent outside interference, Activision has yet to act on preventing audio tunes from appearing across Warzone’s competitive circuit. When other battle royale titles have already implemented measures, it’s unclear why Call of Duty’s publisher is slow to preserve the integrity of the World Series of Warzone.
Activision puts millions towards hosting a fully-fledged Warzone esports circuit, so why wouldn’t it make a simple change to its lengthy rulebook to ensure a level playing field where no player has any kind of unfair upper hand? With the World Series of Warzone set to return in early 2027, there’s no excuse for a new ruling not to feature before action begins.
Battle royale titles already have several variables that make them a spectacle for viewers. If players have to rely on third-party software to hear their opponents more clearly, then perhaps they shouldn’t be competing at the highest level. Activision must follow the trend of its rivals if its circuit is to remain among the world’s biggest esports circuits.
If not, constant player backlash will continue to overshadow what has become a solid platform for Warzone’s biggest names.
The world’s top players are renowned for using their mechanical skill and split-second decision-making to be the last ones standing. Instead of their skills being the focus of a high-stakes Warzone match, the widened skill gap created by audio tunes can result in competitive outcomes depending more on who’s got their sound settings cranked up to 11 instead of the more tactically sound players reaping the rewards.
The post Warzone esports is at risk of being ruined by controversial audio tunes appeared first on Esports Insider.
Dobbo: Traditional tours at stake
John Dobson believes the Stormers are playing for more than just victory against the All Blacks in Cape Town on Friday night.
New Zealand are on their full first tour of South Africa in 30 years, with reciprocal tours already scheduled for 2030 and 2034.
But Dobson warned the concept will lose its appeal if the local clubs fail to provide genuine competition.
“If traditional tours are to have value we, meaning the South African clubs the All Blacks will face on this trip, need to win a game. We can’t just roll over and have our tummies tickled,” he said.
“If that happens again this is not going to work, and the concept of the traditional tour will be under threat and hard to sustain for future visits of teams like the All Blacks.”
Dobson pointed to the 2021 British & Irish Lions tour, when lockdown restrictions robbed the series of much of its spectacle.
“Due to it being played during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, that Lions tour was an unsatisfactory product. The teams were in a bubble, we had players in quarantine, the games were played in front of empty stadiums. And all the local club teams took heavy hidings. The Lions won their games by 60 points or more.”
The Stormers face a significant challenge. Like the Vodacom Bulls, Sharks and Lions, they are between seasons, have not played competitively for at least two months and are without several Springboks, including Damian Willemse, Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
However, they have been boosted by the release of hooker André-Hugo Venter, prop Ntuthuko Mchunu and No 8 Evan Roos from the Springbok squad, while Junior Springbok World Championship-winning flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed is set to make his debut.
MORE: Dobbo backs ‘special’ Yaqeen to shine
Dobson admitted he initially questioned the timing of the fixture but said the occasion has grown in significance.
“When this game first came out it was the wrong time and we felt it would stuff up our pre-season. But then it became clear to me that the players desperately want to play in this game, and as the game has approached the magnitude of it has just got bigger and bigger.”
WATCH: When WP upset All Blacks
The Stormers have also drawn inspiration from the last Western Province side to beat the All Blacks – the famous 1976 team.
Bossie Clarke and Peter Whipp, who played in that historic 12-11 victory at Newlands, presented the Stormers with their jerseys this week.
“We feel we have the responsibility to our history, to the memory of the famous win over the All Blacks in 1976, to give this game a full go and not hold back,” said Dobson.
MALLETT: Stormers can rattle All Blacks
Photo: Cole Cruickshank/Gallo Images
The post Dobbo: Traditional tours at stake appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.