He is clearly benefitting from his period of reflection and the improvements made in that time – with the ultimate aim of Olympic gold in Italy in 2026.

“I guess there are a lot of small things I could have done better – I really could have eaten better to fuel myself, I could have probably worked harder in the gym,” he said.

“Curling has probably got a bad reputation for people thinking you don’t need to go to the gym – but you do, for a lot of reasons.

“I am going to Switzerland next week and there is the potential to play 18 games in the space of six days, so that is a lot of impact on your body.

“Each game takes about an hour and a half, you burn about 1,000 calories every time you play – if you are burning up to 3,000 calories every day, you have to eat a lot more to fuel yourself.

“So there were a lot things I needed to educate myself on and I was lucky to work with a nutritionist to get that information and understand why I need to eat more and what I need to eat to get those slow-burning carbs.”

While their selection has still to be confirmed, Mouat’s rink look set to get the chance to defend their European title in Finland in November.

That marks the start of a huge 16 months he hopes will end with Winter Olympic glory in Milan.

“We have got a few targets,” Mouat added. “We want to get back to the Europeans and defend that title, we then want to be the team that is selected for the Worlds and we want to be able to win that like we did in 2023.

“Then we are hopefully going to be selected for the Olympics. We got silver last time, so if we do one better, it would be amazing.

“We are good enough, we are proving that this year, but it is not about accepting we have put in the hard work and it is all going to pay off. We have to continue doing that – then we can definitely aim for that gold at the Olympics.”

PREMIER LEAGUE meetings are usually cordial, professional and unobtrusive affairs.

All 20 clubs, plus their executives, sit in a room and ignore the massive elephant that also lurks in every meeting — the ongoing litigation and the £50million-plus of legal costs racked up fighting and defending claims.

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But at the League meeting next week that elephant is going to get an introduction, as we have just tripped over his trunk.

Manchester City versus the Premier League feels like a boxing match, where at the end of the final round both fighters put their hands up claiming the victory.

If the judges of this heavyweight bout were the public, then City would be clear winners.

They not only have the world’s best team on the pitch but also have the best off it too.

Their PR and media team got their message across while making the Prem’s set-up look like a lower league outfit by comparison.

But it’s not the public or the media the Premier League has to worry about.

It’s the clubs, the rules that govern them and what on earth happens now.

Next week’s meeting is to decide exactly that.

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But how did we get here?

Most supporters have never heard of the term APT — Associated Party Transactions — or knew about the new rules regulating them when they came into play in 2021.

APT rules were accepted by the majority of clubs — although by no means all — and were put in place to ensure that all clubs’ sponsorship deals reflect a true and fair market value.

It was hoped to prevent clubs from earning revenue through inflated sponsorship deals from companies related to their owners.

This is important, as the value of sponsorship and other commercial revenue is used to offset the costs of the clubs, like player salaries, agent fees and the manager, which leaves you with a number, usually a loss.

If you go over the League’s number of what they consider to be an acceptable loss — as Everton and Nottingham Forest did — you get a fine, a points deduction or possibly both.

So, the higher your sponsorship, the higher your costs can be and the less you get into trouble.

City challenged the legality of these rules, alleging the APT Rules breach competition and public law and the League’s application of the rules also breached public law standards.

The Prem claims the three-man Arbitration Tribunal endorsed the overall objective of their rules.

No one wants it to become a competition between too few clubs, usually by rich ones who can afford multiple multi-million transfers and top wages.

They also agreed that if the price of an APT is evidently not at fair market value — what anyone else OTHER than the party connected with the owner would have paid — then the competition will be distorted as the club would be benefitting from what effectively is a subsidy.

The Prem needs a financial system to ensure that football is, remains and will always be competitive.

The undiminished competitiveness of the Premier League is the envy of every other foreign league and club and the reason why our top-flight is the best in the world.

No one wants it to become a competition between too few clubs, usually by the rich ones who can afford multiple multi-million transfer fees and top wages.

So next week clubs have to agree to make the necessary changes to the APT rules to address the Tribunal’s concerns.

This requires 14 votes — at least 14 clubs have to agree — or the whole system is thrown into chaos.

It needs to be so that the system can continue to be effective.

We must stop clubs spending whatever they like to get an unbeatable team and create an uncompetitive league.

Conor Benn launched a foul-mouthed tirade at Chris Eubank Jr and pushed his fellow Briton in the chest during an altercation in Saudi Arabia.

The pair were set to meet in October 2022 – 30 years after their fathers Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr fought – but the bout was cancelled after Benn failed two voluntary doping tests.

Eubank Jr takes on Poland’s Kamil Szeremeta on Saturday in Riyadh. The 35-year-old came face-to-face with Benn, 28, on Friday.

“You’re lucky you’re fighting tomorrow,” Benn told Eubank Jr before taking off his sunglasses and stepping closer to his rival.

“I’ll see you tomorrow after the fight. I’ll get in that ring and give it to you.”

Benn continued with the foul language, warning a member of security – who placed his arm between the boxers – to take his hand away.

A smiling Eubank said: “It’s OK, let him come close, I like this energy,” before being shoved in the chest by Benn.

Eubank Jr labelled him “a kid”, with Benn then accusing him of arrogance.

MMA Fighting has Beterbiev vs. Bivol results live for the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol fight card at Freedom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday afternoon.

When the main event begins around 6 p.m. ET, check out our Beterbiev vs. Bivol live round-by-round updates for our live blog of the main event. Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol square off to determine the undisputed light heavyweight champion.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0) is the WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev has only fought once this year when he knocked out Callum Smith in the seventh round this past January.

Dmitry Bivol (23-0) is the WBA light heavyweight champion. Bivol knocked out Malik Zinad in the sixth round in his only fight of the year in June.

Check out Beterbiev vs. Bivol results below.

Main Event (ESPN+ at 6 p.m. ET)

Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol — for the IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA light heavyweight titles

Undercard (DAZN at 12 p.m. ET)

Fabio Wardley vs. Frazer Clarke

Jai Opetaia vs. Jack Massey — for Opetaia’s IBF cruiserweight title

Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Kamil Szeremeta

Skye Nicolson vs. Raven Chapman — for Nicolson’s WBC featherweight title

Ben Whittaker vs. Liam Cameron

Mohammaed Alakel vs. Jesus Gonzalez

Marco Maric vs. Christian Lopez Flores

CRICKET great Derek Underwood left more than £800,000 in his will, probate documents reveal.

England’s most successful spinner — nicknamed Deadly — bequeathed the money to his family.

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The star, who died in April aged 78, left £826,000, reduced to £823,000 after debts and costs were deducted.

Wife Patricia Cheeseman was given £50,000 in cash, as well as his home and car.

The remainder was given to his daughters, Fiona and Heather, from his marriage to first wife Dawn Sullivan.

Left-armer Derek took 297 wickets in 86 Tests between 1966 and 1982.

Before the use of covers Underwood was considered unplayable on wet pitches and inspired England to a famous win over Australia at The Oval after the crowd helped mop up the field.

Placid on and off the field, he was known as an unlikely ladies man.

Kent and England team-mate Brian Luckhurst joked that Derek was the only man his wife would leave him for.

Sir Geoffrey Boycott said of his friend: “I don’t know anybody that could play him or hit him after it had rained on those pitches.

“Derek was a one-off, brilliant, extraordinary bowler – unique. There was nobody else like him in English cricket.”

Flags flew at half-mast at grounds across the country to salute the left-armer who, although a spinner, bowled at speeds above 70 miles per hour.

MMA Fighting has Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol live round-by-round updates for one of the most anticipated boxing fights of the year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday night.

The main event is expected to begin around 6 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Check out our Beterbiev vs. Bivol results page to find out what happened on the undercard.

Artur Beterbiev (20-0) is the WBO, IBF, and WBC light heavyweight champion. Beterbiev has only fought once this year when he knocked out Callum Smith in the seventh round this past January.

Dmitry Bivol (23-0) is the WBA light heavyweight champion. Bivol knocked out Malik Zinad in the sixth round in his only fight of the year in June.

Get the Beterbiev vs. Bivol round-by-round live blog below:

Round 1:

Round 2:

Round 3:

Round 4:

Round 5:

Round 6:

Round 7:

Round 8:

Round 9:

Round 10:

Round 11:

Round 12: