šŸ§¢ What is Breaking?

It's Tuesday evening. Here's the sports news you need to know.

If you were forwarded this email (hi! welcome!), you can sign up to the newsletter here.

Good evening!

If you look up the word ā€˜drongoā€™ youā€™ll find images of a type of blackbird with a forked tail. However, most Australians understand the word to mean ā€˜idiotā€™ or ā€˜stupid fellowā€™.

Where did that come from?

Well, in the 1920ā€™s, there was a horse named Drongo who wasnā€™t a bad racer but never came first. Since then, thousands of Aussies have been labelled Drongos (mainly endearingly) by their friends.

Anyway, that brings me to my main point. The Australian National Dictionary Centre is looking for new words to add to its collection as part of an annual word appeal. And, the theme is sport!

So, if youā€™ve got any sports-related pieces of slang that you think deserve their place in Australiaā€™s national vocabulary, add them here.

Iā€™ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

40,000
The number of meals that will be served to Olympic athletes every day in Paris, according to Paris 2024ā€™s Head of Food, Phillip WĆ¼rz. WĆ¼rz, speaking to the Guardian, said that 1,200 of the 40,000 meals will be of Michelin-star quality and that 30% of all meals in Paris will be plant-based.

Quote of the day

"Unfortunately Tadej Pogačar has cancelled his participation because of a state of extreme fatigue."
Sloveniaā€™s Olympic cycling coach Uros Murn after Tadej Pogačar stepped back from the Slovenian team that will compete in Paris. The 25-year-old cyclist was crowned champion of the Tour de France on Sunday in Nice, France. Pogačar was also the winner of this yearā€™s Giro dā€™Italia. No cyclist has won the two prestigious races in the same year since 1998. 

Random fact of the day

Steven Bradbury was Australiaā€™s (and the Southern Hemisphereā€™s) first Winter Olympics gold medallist. Bradbury won the 1000m speed skating at Salt Lake City in 2002.

Bradbury with his gold medal (Getty Images)

Iā€™ve got 30 seconds

In case you missed itā€¦

šŸŽ¾ Alex de Minaur will make his Olympic debut in Paris after making a recovery from the injury that caused him to withdraw from Wimbledon earlier this month. The 25-year-old is Australiaā€™s top-ranked menā€™s player and world number six. The Olympic tennis events will be held at the Stade Roland-Garros, the home of the French Open, from 27 July to 4 August.

ā€˜The Demonā€™ (Getty Images)

šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø LeBron James has been announced as the male flag bearer for the U.S. at the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony. The Paris Games will be Jamesā€™ fourth Olympics ā€” he was a member of Team USA at Athens 2004 (Bronze), Beijing 2008 (Gold), and London 2012 (Gold). The female flag-bearer for the U.S. is expected to be announced on Tuesday (U.S. time).

šŸ‰ Sam Reid, who won an AFL premiership with the Sydney Swans in 2012, announced his retirement from the sport today following recurring injury battles. Reid scored 183 goals in 181 games for the side but has played in the VFL since 2022.

Reid after winning the 2012 Grand Final (Getty Images)

āš½ Fixtures for the 2024/25 Womenā€™s Super League (Englandā€™s top womenā€™s football league) were announced today with the season to kick off on 21 September. The Super League will feature 12 Matildas as well as an Australian coach (Dario Vidosic, who will coach Brighton & Hove Albion).

šŸŽ¾ Rafael Nadal was beaten by Portugalā€™s Nuno Borges in the final of the Swedish Open. It was the Spaniardā€™s first final since he won the French Open in 2022.  Nadal, who already has an Olympic gold in menā€™s singles (2008) and menā€™s doubles (2016), will play in both events in Paris. His doubles partner will be world number three Carlos Alcaraz.

Borges (left) with Nadal (right) (Getty)

Iā€™ve got 1 minute

Carltonā€™s Tom De Koning (Getty Images)

With five rounds remaining in the AFL season, the top four sides (Sydney Swans, Carlton, Brisbane Lions, and Fremantle Dockers) will be forced to make changes after losing key players to injury last weekend. 

Carlton

Carlton ruckman Tom De Koning will miss the remainder of the regular season after he fractured his foot and sustained a collapsed lung during Carltonā€™s victory over North Melbourne on Sunday night. Carlton will play 7th-ranked Port Adelaide on Friday night. 

Fremantle

Dockers captain Alex Pearce, who fractured his left forearm five rounds ago, returned for the Dockersā€™ match against Melbourne on Sunday only to fracture the same forearm in a different spot. The timeline for Pearceā€™s return is unclear. Fremantle will play the 16th-ranked West Coast Eagles on Saturday night. 

Swans v Lions

On Sunday, Swans star Tom Papley was injured in the sideā€™s 79-77 loss to the Brisbane Lions. Papley injured his medial ankle ligament and will be sidelined for 4-6 weeks. Dane Rampe (calf tightness) and Will Hayward (lateral ankle sprain) will be assessed closer to the weekend to determine whether or not they are fit for the Swans game against the 9th-placed Bulldogs on Sunday afternoon. 

Lions defender Harris Andrews will miss one week due to a concussion sustained in the same game.

Papley (right) is assisted off the field by a trainer (Getty)

Help us grow!

Enjoying the newsletter?

This sport newsletter is a new addition to TDAā€™s content offering, and we need your help getting the word out there.

If you want your friends to get their sport news from us, send them this:
https://sport.thedailyaus.com.au/?utm_campaign=sport-newsletter&utm_source=referral&utm_medium=email

Iā€™ve got 2 minutes

Rachael Gunn (Getty)

Rachael Gunn

Rachael Gunn will be the first woman to represent Australia in Breaking at the Olympics when the sport debuts in Paris. She is the Australian Breaking Associationā€™s top-ranked B-Girl (noun for a female break-dancer) and competed at the World Breaking Championships in 2021 and 2022.

When Gunn isnā€™t break dancing, the 36-year-old is a lecturer at Macquarie University in Sydney. She holds a PhD in cultural studies and wrote a thesis focused on the intersection of gender and Sydneyā€™s breaking culture. 

Gunn competes under the name Raygun, a portmanteau of her first and last names.

What is breaking?

Breaking (also known as break dancing) is a dance style that developed amid 1970s hip-hop culture in the U.S.

Breaking at the Olympics will see B-Boys and B-Girls compete against each other in face-to-face battles. The athletes will respond to soul, funk, and rap-inspired music played by two DJs and improvise their dance moves on the spot. The dancing will be adjudicated by nine judges. Each dancer gets three rounds to impress the judges during the battle.

In Paris, there will be 16 breakers in each of the menā€™s and womenā€™s tournaments. The tournament will begin with a round-robin style group stage (four groups of four) after which the top two athletes in each group will qualify for the subsequent quarter-finals, semi-finals, bronze-medal final, and gold-medal final. 

What they said

Gunn said: ā€œI wasnā€™t a sporty kid, I was more of a dance kid. I never thought the Olympics would be on the cards for me. Itā€™s such a privilege and itā€™s hugely exciting. I think a lot of people had doubted my ability to do it and maybe thought I was getting too old to be able to stay on top. But I just kept pushing hard, I want to get better, and I want the scene to grow and get better.ā€

Who is Australiaā€™s male breaker?

16-year-old Jeff Dunne, who competes as J Attack, will be the first man to represent Australia in Breaking. Dunne qualified for the Games by winning gold at the Oceania Breaking Championships in November last year. 

Jeff Dunne (AOC)

Breaking at LA 2028

Breaking will not be included in the Los Angeles 2028 Games.

A message from our sponsor

Deakinā€™s Elite Athlete Program.

Where serious talent meets serious support.

Deakin's Elite Athlete Program (EAP) is home to over 270 student athletes, offering support to balance study and sporting commitments. Think flexible study plans, academic assistance, and access to top-notch training facilitiesā€”all designed to help students succeed both on and off the field.

From lectures to the world stage, student athletes qualify through being registered with groups like the Australian Institute of Sport, or senior national squads and leagues. As part of the program, students receive course and academic planning advice, to create a schedule that bends to training and competition needs.

From the World Championships to the Olympics and Paralympics ā€“ Deakinā€™s diverse set of athletes can negotiate deadlines, attendance and take a leave of absence when needed. Cycling, taekwondo, athletics, swimming, cricket, Australian rules, soccer, basketball are just a few of the sports where you will find a Deakin elite athlete student.

Think Beyond The Field. Study Sport at Deakin.

Looking backā€¦

International basketball (menā€™s)

Who: Team USA v Germany

Result: Team USA won 92-88

In brief: LeBron James led all scorers with 20 points in Team USAā€™s last exhibition match before the Olympics. 

Looking forwardā€¦(All times are AEST)

International Basketball (womenā€™s)

Who: Team USA v Germany
Time: 5:00am tomorrow
Where to watch: Kayo Sport (free)

Major League Baseball

Who: Twins v Phillies
Time: 9:30am tomorrow
Where to watch: Kayo Sport

TDA asks