Badminton: National interest in the Irish International Badminton championships at Baldoyle this weekend failed to go beyond the quarter-final stage of all events, with Sonya McGinn advancing furthest in the women's singles. She reached the quarter-finals before falling to Miho Tanaka of Japan, the eventual winner, 11-1, 11-6.

Ciaran D'Arcy, the sole qualifier for the men's singles, was beaten in the first round by Sergio Llopis of Spain, with the title going to Peter Knowles of England over his compatriot and last year's winner Darren Hall, 15-9, 15-4.

England also took two of the mixed titles, with James Anderson and Graham Hurrell taking the men's doubles and Anthony Clarke and Lorraine Cole the mixed doubles. Hiromi Yamada and Naoimi Murakami of Japan took the women's doubles title.

Olympics: Nike have agreed to replace Reebok as a sponsor for the Sydney Olympics, it was announced in Lausanne yesterday. Reebok pulled out of their $10-million deal with the Sydney Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (SOCOG) last week over a contractual row.

But IOC vice-president and head of marketing Dick Pound said that a deal between Nike and SOCOG would be finalised within the next 24 hours. "We are delighted with the manner in which Nike have stepped in to increase its support to athletes," said Pound.

Awards: Muhammad Ali always said he was "The Greatest". Last night the British public agreed by naming him BBC Sports Personality of the Century. Ali, who won more votes than the other four candidates together, collected his award at a star-studded gala occasion in London.