Rizwan Pathan, a national-level martial arts and gymnastics athlete and multiple medallist, is now working as a labourer at a marble factory in Nowshera after financial hardship forced him to step away from competitive sport. 

He said a lack of financial resources has become the biggest obstacle to his dream of representing Pakistan at the international level.

Pathan, who belongs to Bajaur District, won a gold medal at the 2018 national martial arts championships and has also secured medals at several provincial and local competitions. 

“I saw a video in Mardan and after that my interest grew even more. Because gymnastics requires greater financial resources, I shifted to martial arts, where I went on to win national-level medals,” he told Geo News.

However, he said that continued financial pressure has compelled him to take up daily-wage labour to support his family.

“There is widespread poverty in our area and my family is facing serious financial difficulties, so along with pursuing my passion, I have had to work as a labourer to support my household,” he said.

Despite the hardships, Pathan said he has not abandoned his ambition and appealed for institutional and private patronage to continue his sporting career.

“If I am supported, I will become the best player and a proud name for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan,” he said.

After watching Team USA defeat Canada in the Olympics men’s hockey gold medal game, United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth bestowed his old title on American goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. 

Hellebuyck collected 41 saves to help keep the game tied at 1-1, forcing overtime. Jack Hughes ultimately scored the game-winner past Canada’s netminder Jordan Binnington. 

One of Hellebuyck’s saves saw him somehow stop a wide-open Devon Toews shot in front of his crease with only his stick, turning quickly with his right hand to stop the puck and keep the game tied in the second period. Without that save, and many others, the result may have been different. 

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A social media account dubbed Hellebuyck the “Secretary of Defense,” and Hegseth, who held that title before the agency he heads became known as the Department of War last September, endorsed the designation. 

“Now we have a Secretary of War…and a Secretary of Defense!” Hegseth said over the post showing Hellebuyck’s incredible efforts. 

CONNOR HELLEBUYCK’S MIRACLE STICK SAVE HELPED TEAM USA CAPTURE FIRST HOCKEY GOLD SINCE 1980 AT OLYMPICS

Hegseth was one of many showing American pride when the U.S. took down Canada, which couldn’t capitalize on some grade-A chances on Hellebuyck, including assistant captain Nathan MacKinnon missing a wide-open net in the third period. 

For the save on Toews, the Canadian Colorado Avalanche star lifted the puck just a bit for Hellebuyck’s paddle to get right in the way for the save. At the time, the score was 1-1, and it held there through the end of the second period and throughout the third before overtime was needed.  

Connor Hellebuyck of Team United States saves the shot taken by Devon Toews #7 of Team Canada in the third period during the Men’s Gold Medal match between Canada and the United States on day 16 of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Feb. 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

“It’s a dream come true,” Hellebuyck said, via NBC, after the game. “We grinded, we battled, and this was some of the best and most fun hockey that I’ve ever played.”

The 32-year-old Hellebuyck did let up a goal to Avalanche star defenseman Cale Makar in the second period, but he made save after save following that game-tying score to allow his team the chance at glory. 

After the game, Hellebuyck was skating around the ice alone with an American flag on his back, as the crowd roared its approval. 

Goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck of United States celebrates winning the gold medal during the Ice Hockey Men’s Gold Medal Game match between Canada and USA on day sixteen of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena on Feb. 22, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Andrea Branca/Eurasia Sport Images)

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Both the men’s and women’s hockey teams are coming home with gold in what was an historic Milan Cortina Games for the U.S.

The U.S. finished with 33 total medals, including a record 12 golds in the Winter Olympics.

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LOS ANGELES — Following LAFC‘s third goal on Saturday night, which sent most of the 75,600-plus in attendance into a frenzy at the L.A. Coliseum, a fan with an Argentina jersey rushed on to the field and immediately sprinted toward Inter Miami superstar Lionel Messi.

The scene is a common one for any event involving the 2022 World Cup winner, but this time the celebratory music blasting out was not for him, as Miami was losing 3-0. Indeed, in Messi’s first official game of 2026 with the defending MLS Cup champions, the initial pages of the Hollywood script being written for him in another World Cup year didn’t exactly go to plan.

Ahead of Saturday’s marquee MLS opening-weekend match against Son Heung-min‘s LAFC, there had been doubts that Messi would participate after he suffered a hamstring injury during Miami’s preseason friendly in February.

At 38 years old, it was fair to not only worry about his start to the MLS season but also wonder if this could point to issues in this summer’s World Cup. After all, Messi has yet to 100% commit to this summer’s tournament with Argentina and has been honest about his fitness being a factor.

“I would like to be there. To feel well and to be an important part of helping my national team, if I am there,” Messi said, back in October. “I am going to assess that on a day-to-day basis when I start preseason next year with Inter [Miami] and see if I can really be 100%. I’m really eager because it’s the World Cup.”

Although Miami head coach Javier Mascherano said Friday that the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was “training at the same level as the rest of the team all week,” Miami’s No. 10 looked off his game against LAFC.

During the first 10 minutes, Messi’s touch looked unexpectedly imprecise, as did the timing of his passes. His distribution did eventually improve and he was fairly unlucky to not have an assist, but the same could not be said for his shooting as he was unable to hit the target once.

Messi wasn’t alone either. Whether it was down to adjusting to having new striker Germán Berterame up top, or its captain having a less-than-perfect game, Miami wasn’t able to gain much momentum until after LAFC took a 1-0 lead through a goal from David Martínez that was assisted by Son.

The 33-year-old South Korea international has his own aspirations ahead of the World Cup after leaving Tottenham Hotspur last year, and what was eye-catching for a match featuring Messi was just how many LAFC supporters — with plenty sporting jerseys with Son’s name — heavily outnumbered those donning the pink kit of arguably the greatest soccer player of all time.

Messi didn’t receive overwhelming cheers when he had the ball at his feet. In fact, at one point when hit the ground late in the game and didn’t earn a foul, a chorus of boos emerged from countless supporters in the L.A. Coliseum.

“No, no, no I didn’t see anything,” Mascherano said postmatch on whether his captain seemed angry about the refereeing decisions, or the result in general. “The truth is that the match finished and then I went into the locker room.”

Following goals from Denis Bouanga and Nathan Ordaz that solidified a 3-0 loss for Miami, Messi quickly exchanged jerseys with Bouanga after the final whistle, and then swiftly exited the field first.

So, after one loss, is it too early to panic about Messi’s Miami?

“The reality is that they beat us fair and square, that’s the truth,” Mascherano said afterward. “I think it’s often difficult to explain when you lose 3-0, but my initial analysis gives me the feeling that the result was somewhat misleading. The game, as it unfolded, there wasn’t that much of a difference.

“As coaching staff, we have to analyze the game, not just the result, because if we only focus on the result, we’re only making decisions based on whether we win or lose. I think that in the game, we saw aspects of the style of play we want, which we need to improve.”

Messi will need to improve but, to be fair to him, we shouldn’t take this inch and run a mile after his first game of the year. Mascherano recently stated that Messi was healthy enough to return to full-team training, but the forward was only recently recovering from a hamstring injury, so it’s no major shock that he was off the pace a bit.

Doubting Messi is a fool’s errand, and he didn’t have an entirely poor showing on Saturday. Indeed, he made a handful of dangerous passes that should have led to at least one goal for Miami, and also did well to carry the ball forward occasionally.

It was a decent game, but decent isn’t what you expect from Messi, especially during a World Cup year. It’s premature to make any long-term judgments, but if the script doesn’t change in the next month or so then questions will start to be asked.

“He will decide, and we will support whatever he decides,” Argentina boss Lionel Scaloni said in December about whether Messi will be at the World Cup. “In principle, everything is going well, but six months is a long time. There is still time.”

With four months to go, the clock is ticking.