Paul Kennedy

Oct 21, 2024 | abc.net.au | Paul Kennedy

The greatest, Muhammad Ali, said in 1967: "They say when you get hit and hurt bad you see the black lights — the black lights of unconsciousness. But I don't know nothing about that. I've had 28 fights and 28 wins. I ain't never been stopped."Tim Tszyu said on Sunday: "Every time I step into the ring, I'm willing to die here."Boxers are warriors, but sometimes they need saving from their bravery lest they see the ultimate black light.

Oct 2, 2024 | abc.net.au | Paul Kennedy

Twelve years ago I wrote at length about the making of Melbourne Storm in a city indifferent to rugby league and how its pressures and successes led to the 2010 salary cap cheating scandal. While interviewing club and league insiders — trying to figure out who was at fault! — Storm got back onto the field, led by its three champions Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk, and Cameron Smith, and won the 2012 premiership.

Aug 9, 2024 | abc.net.au | Paul Kennedy

Once she could traverse the earth like a skimming stone, now her power to glide is just a memory, and even walking is difficult. "My eyes are starting to get really bad," she says. "They're fighting against one another for dominance."Pam Ryan, 84, lives with her curious dog, Ruby, in a flat behind her daughter Kim's house in Montmorency, a suburb of Melbourne.

Aug 6, 2024 | abc.net.au | Paul Kennedy

Australia won its first gold medal of the 1984 LA Olympics by beating the big spending, blood doping Yanks on a 'bumpy heap of crap' track at California State University. But the victory was born in Brisbane, Grafton, Sydney, Adelaide, Launceston, Canberra, Zurich, a West German hospital, Czechoslovakia, and in the cycling town of Wangaratta — home to a boy named Dean Woods. Like most children of the 70s, Dean rode his first bike to school and to roam everywhere.

Aug 4, 2024 | abc.net.au | Paul Kennedy

"The marathon starts at 30km — the first 30 is your warm up."Rob de Castella is giving his annual pre-race speech at Australia's premier marathon on the Gold Coast, each of his sentences rising and crashing like breaking surf. "The marathon is the last 12km — the marathon starts when it gets hard, and hard is good. Hard tests you," he says. Some of the runners are nodding at the words from the 67-year-old in the tower. Others are smiling. All are listening.