Fight for the right

The future of one of the most progressive Polo clubs is under threat. For over twenty years Catherine Cairns has run Polo Africa on her farm in the Eastern Free State of South Africa. Over the years she has not only enhanced the lives of hundreds of children in the local community by introducing them to the sport of polo, she's helped reshape the sport itself.

Often seen as a sport for royalty and rich people, Polo Africa has made the sport accessible and changed the lives of many of those who had the chance to play... but now the work Catherine has put in over the years is under threat as she looks for alternative revenue streams... So she has enlisted former British army officer and Polo player Mark Cann who amongst many things has produced a stunning visual documentary of the farm, the surroundings and the lives of those that have been improved.

Cricketer Ross Taylor who has achieved legendary status in New Zealand. His list of record and achievements is immense. A former captain of the national team, he played more than a record 450 times and is the only person in the world to have played more than 100 times in all three formats of cricket. The son of a New Zealand father and Samoan born mother, Ross grew up immersed in both cultures and wore the New Zealand cricket jersey with pride. Ross retired from the sport in 2022 but as it turned out his career in international cricket wasn't entirely over, when a chance to represent Samoa in 2025 he couldn't but help to answer the call! Now having finally retired, (we think!) Ross was looking for opportunities to use the platform that cricket gave him to influence the next generation. He explains why he wanted to join the "ALL IN" initiative a high-level panel pushing for the funding and political will to end violence against women and girls.

Imagine competing in the same sport as your brother but having to watch him compete at the Olympics, but you can't. Why? Well the sport of Nordic Combined remained the last discipline at the Games not open to women. Well that's what has happened to Annika Malacinski. Nordic Combined is a combination of ski jumping and long distance endurance skiing. Now 25, Annika has fought hard to establish herself as one of the world's leading female Nordic Combined competitors but from the very first Winter Games in 1924 right up to and including the last Winter Olympics in Milan/Cortina a few months ago, women are not allowed to compete.

70 years ago at the 1956 Olympics, the Czechoslovak discus thrower, Olga Fikotova, caused a scandal by falling in love with an American hammer thrower called Harold Connolly. Despite winning her country's only gold medal, Olga was treated as a traitor by the communist government and her achievements were ignored. A few months later, Harold Connolly visited Prague to marry Olga and take her back to America with him. PHOTO: One of the players benefiting from the Polo Africa project (CREDIT: https://www.poloafrica.com/ © 2026 Poloafrica Development Trust)