1. Marcus Rashford is 22 years old and the reason desperate families will now continue to receive free school meal vouchers during the holidays. During lockdown, this prodigiously talented campaigner has started a charity that has raised millions to feed 400,000 children, partnered on a drive to counter homelessness and now wants to stop 1.3m British children going hungry this summer. Any other CV points – minor interests, hobbies, stuff like that? Ah yes, hang on: he also plays as a forward for Manchester United and England. Today, in a powerful plea that has succeeded in forcing a government U-turn – Rashford wrote: “I don’t claim to have the education of an MP in parliament, but I do have a social education.”

Marina Hyde on why Marcus Rashford is showing Britain’s failing politicians how to do their jobs.

2. “Look,” says Carlo Ancelotti, leaning towards the screen, a glint in his eye and a grin beginning to creep across his face. “I used to have a coach that said: ‘Coaching would be the best job in the world … if there weren’t any games.’” And with that Everton’s manager sits back again and starts laughing. Lockdown was good, then? “Well, my stress has gone down, definitely,” he says, smiling – the kind of person who never appeared particularly prone to pressure anyway, just a raise of an eyebrow while all around him others lose their heads.

Sid Lowe interviews Carlo Ancelotti on the killing of George Floyd, racial inequality, and returning to football in the Merseyside derby.

3. His voice is calm. “I need to show you something,” he says.

It’s 5:31 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010, at 1203 Foxtree Trail, a stucco ranch in the sleepy suburban neighborhood of Apopka, Florida, when James Martin takes a 9-inch Buck knife and plunges it into his wife’s torso.

At first, Christy Salters Martin, world champion boxer and the only woman boxer ever featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated, doesn’t know she’s been stabbed. The blade’s that sharp. The jab’s that quick. She’d been sitting on the edge of the bed, fighting off a migraine, lacing up her sneakers in preparation for a run.

ESPN’s Allison Glock on the remarkable life (and near death) of boxer Christy Martin.

4. I was basically a sports encyclopedia as a kid. You could say the name of any NBA player in the 1990s, and I could tell you where he went to college. I was really proud of myself for knowing that stuff. My family didn’t have cable TV, so most of my sports news came from the New York Post; I would read it religiously every morning before school and see how my favourite teams, the Knicks and the Rangers, did the night before.

On the morning of March 28, 1995, the big story was that the Knicks were hosting the Bulls. I had never seen Michael Jordan play in person, so I asked my dad if we could go to the game. He said he would make a few calls and see what he could do.

Writing for Sports Illustrated, Gary Vider explains how he conned his way into an interview with Michael Jordan.

5. Eddie Maguire has not seen the photograph in more than 50 years.

But over a half-century later, there he is once again, fresh-faced on an old smudged Irish Press sports page, Croke Park providing the backdrop, his right foot providing the moment.

There is a mop of hair falling down over his forehead, his left boot is planted on the ground, his right leg outstretched having just fired off a shot.

A Dublin player is attempting to block, but his eyes betray his conviction, the defender knows he is already too late.

In an interview with The Irish Sun’s Gordon Manning, Eddie Maguire reflects on a life less ordinary after representing four different counties and starring at blind golf.

The42 is on Instagram! Tap the button below on your phone to follow us!