Sometimes confidence is what makes the athlete.

Legendary basketballer Larry Bird won three consecutive NBA three-point scoring contests between 1986 and 1988.

Before his third win in 1988, Bird and his competitors were getting ready in the change rooms.

Famously, the Celtics star turned to them and said: “Who’s coming in second?'“

38
The number of years since an Irish cyclist has worn the Tour de France’s yellow jersey. Ben Healy became the first Irishman since Stephen Roche in 1987 to wear the prestigious overall leader’s jersey, after leapfrogging Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar in the general classification on Stage 10. The winner of the stage was England’s Simon Yates, who won the Giro d’Italia earlier this year. The race will resume on Wednesday after a rest day today. 

"They said, 'Could you hold this trophy for a little while?' We put it in the Oval Office. And then I said, 'When are you going to pick up the trophy?' He says, 'We're never going to pick it up. You can have it forever in the Oval Office. We're making a new one.'”
U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed to DAZN that Chelsea, the winners of the FIFA Club World Cup, were given a replica trophy and that FIFA President Gianni Infantino left the real trophy in the Oval Office in March. The U.S. hosted this year’s edition of the tournament, with the final being played in New Jersey. Chelsea beat French club Paris Saint-Germain 3-0. 

On this day in 1938, Arthur Fagg became the first batter to score double centuries in both innings of a first-class cricket match. He scored 244 and 202 for Kent against Essex in England’s country cricket competition.

⚽ The group stage of the Women’s Euro concluded over the weekend. Eight countries now remain in the knockout stage of the tournament. The quarter-finals will begin on Thursday morning (AEST) when Norway play Italy. On Friday, defending champions England face the tough task of Sweden, who conceded only one goal in their three group stage matches. On Saturday, tournament favourites Spain will take on the host nation, Switzerland. Finally, Sunday will see a heavyweight clash between France and Germany. 

🏟️ The Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 will break with tradition and hold the athletics events in the opening week of the Games. In past Olympics, the swimming events have always been contested in the opening week, with athletics closing out the Games. LA28 CEO Reynold Hoover said in a statement: "The Olympic competition schedule has been meticulously developed to ensure the world's best athletes can compete in LA."

⚽ Wrexham AFC, the Welsh football team owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, continue their tour of Australia tonight as they take on Sydney FC. The Red Dragons began their tour in Melbourne last Friday, where they defeated Melbourne Victory 3-0. Wrexham have been promoted to The Championship, England’s second-tier professional football league, for the upcoming season and are favourites to beat Sydney FC. The final match of their tour will see the side travel to New Zealand to take on the A-League’s Wellington Phoenix. Tonight’s match will start at 7:30pm and can be streamed on Paramount+.

Nothing hits quite like a 3pm yawn 

But if you’re looking for afternoon energy support, we’ve got just the thing. 

The Blackmores Iron Rapi-Melt is a tasty way to support healthy iron levels in the body and relieve fatigue when dietary intake is inadequate - no water, no pills, just a quick, great tasting melt, that dissolves on your tongue.

Whether you’re powering through work, heading to training, or just trying to stay awake in a meeting, it’s an easy way to support energy levels when dietary intake is inadequate that fits right into your day.

It is formulated as a well-absorbed form of iron that is also suitable for adolescents 12+ and pregnant + breastfeeding women. 

Always read the label and follow the directions for use. 

Apple is reportedly leading the race to secure the streaming rights for Formula One from next year. 

It follows the release of ‘F1: The Movie’, a film produced by the tech giant which has grossed $US393 million ($AU600 million) worldwide so far, according to Box Office Mojo.

Apple is offering as much as $150 million per year for the right to stream Formula One on Apple TV+, according to the Wall Street Journal. The current rights holder for the sport is Disney-owned ESPN, which is reportedly paying around $90 million a year. 

Apple’s pursuit of Formula One comes as no surprise, as streaming giants continue to buy up sports rights. While Apple has won sports rights before (e.g. Major League Soccer), Formula One would be its biggest catch so far. 

In the past, other streaming platforms have used docuseries to engage their audiences with sport (think Drive to Survive on Netflix or The Test on Amazon Prime). 

However, Apple’s fictionalised account of an F1 driver competing in the paddock, with footage from actual races on the F1 circuit and cameos from the real athletes, is a whole new way for streaming services to engage with sport. It may well become a recurring feature of Apple’s content strategy. 

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Australia has swept the West Indies in the bilateral Test cricket series between the two countries, winning all three matches. In the final innings of the third Test in Jamaica, the West Indies were chasing a target of 204 runs. Australia’s bowling attack ripped through the West Indies batting order for 27 runs, the second lowest total in Test cricket since the format’s inception in 1877. 

The West Indies total wasn’t the only aspect of the game that will be remembered in the record books. It was also the first time that seven players were bowled out for a duck (scored zero runs) in the same innings. 

Mitch Starc set a record for the fastest five-wicket haul in Test history, taking five wickets within just 15 balls. The previous record was 19 balls and was held equally by Australia’s Scott Boland (2021) and Ernie Toshack (1947), and England’s Stuart Broad (2015). In his 100th Test, Starc finished the second innings with figures of 6/9 and also became the fourth Australian Test cricketer to take 400 wickets.

Scott Boland also became the 11th Australian man to take a hat-trick in Test cricket and the first since Peter Siddle’s famous birthday hat-trick in 2010. He said afterwards: "I didn't really know how to feel when it happened, but we were watching it on the screen… and the boys said I should have celebrated it a bit more.”

West Indies captain Roston Chase said: "It's disappointing. We've been putting ourselves in positions to win games, and then we just lay down and not put up a fight in the last batting innings. It's quite heartbreaking, because I think we did it in all three Tests, and we're not really learning from our mistakes. So that's something we have to really look at.”

Australia is now set to play a five-match T20 series against the West Indies. The T20 series will feature a different team of players whose skill sets are more suited to the specific formats of the game. Wicketkeeper and batter Josh Inglis is the only player who will have featured in both series after he played the first Test in the absence of Steve Smith and stepped in for Alex Carey after he was concussed by the ball in the third Test. 

The T20 series begins on Monday 21 July. The next time the Australian Test team will be in action is in November when the five-Test Ashes series against England begins in Perth.