Here are some teams across different sports that have got their seasons off to the best start possible.

NFL: The Minnesota Vikings have won their first six games and remain the only undefeated team in the NFL this season.

WNBL: The Sydney Uni Flames look to be the top contenders in Australia’s top women’s basketball league this season so far, having won four from four.

A-League: In A-League Women, the Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne City have both won their first two matches, while the Wellington Phoenix are the only team in the men’s competition that have won two from two.

It doesn’t mean these teams will win their respective championships, but it can’t hurt!

123 points
That’s Italian F1 driver Kimi Antonelli’s championship points lead with five races remaining in the season. The Mercedes driver claimed his ninth win of the year at the United States Grand Prix in Texas on Monday (AEDT), stretching his advantage over teammate George Russell to 123 points. A top-nine finish at next week’s Mexican Grand Prix, or a race where neither Russell nor Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton wins, would be enough to seal the title early and become F1’s youngest-ever world champion at 20 years old.

“I would prefer no one ever knows, and I’d just disappear off into the sunset without any discussion or interview.”
Essendon AFLW coach Natalie Wood speaking after the club told her it would not renew her contract beyond 2026. Wood’s Bombers have managed to win just one game from 11 this season, and were beaten 25-20 by Hawthorn on Sunday. She leaves after starting in 2022 as the club’s first AFLW coach and making finals appearances in 2023 and 2024. Wood will see out the rest of the season, coaching Essendon’s final-round clash with Collingwood next week.

On Sunday night in Utah (local time), Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic recorded the first 50+ point performance of the 2026-27 NBA season, scoring 52 points in a 132-123 win over the Utah Jazz. Last season, there were 17 instances of a player scoring 50+ points.

🏀 The WNBA Finals series is tied at 2-2 after the Golden State Valkyries beat the Atlanta Dream 67-62 in Atlanta on Sunday (AEDT). Gabby Williams led Golden State with 17 points, while Kiah Stokes added 16 rebounds and three blocks, bringing her Finals tally to a series-high 14 blocks. Atlanta’s Angel Reese was limited to just eight points. The best-of-seven series heads back to San Francisco for Game 5, which will begin at 11am Tuesday (AEDT).

🏐 Australia’s Diamonds have lost the Constellation Cup to New Zealand for the first time since 2024, falling 52-49 to the Silver Ferns in Sydney on Sunday. The result handed the Silver Ferns an unassailable 3-0 series lead. The Diamonds led by two goals at three-quarter time, but New Zealand scored the first seven goals of the final quarter and outscored Australia 13-8. If New Zealand win the final Test in Melbourne on Wednesday, they will also oust Australia from the top of the world rankings and be crowned world number one for the first time since 2013.

🏉 The Wallaroos closed out their three-match series against Scotland with a come-from-behind 38-31 win in Canberra on Friday night, completing a 3-0 series sweep. Scotland led 17-14 at halftime, but Australia hit back with three second-half tries. The result doubled as a farewell Test for veterans Emily Chancellor and Cecilia Smith, while prop Eva Karpani played her 50th Test for the Wallaroos. It’s also the first time the team has won three consecutive Tests since 2024.

🏃‍♀️ Kenya’s Peres Jepchirchir, the reigning women’s marathon world champion, has been provisionally suspended after returning a positive doping test for EPO. The Athletics Integrity Unit said the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion’s adverse finding came from an out-of-competition sample taken before she won the Sydney marathon earlier this year. EPO is a hormone that boosts endurance by increasing red blood cell production. The 33-year-old will remain barred from competition pending a final hearing.

Nobody has ever been glad to find their water bottle open at the bottom of their gym bag.

After close to 12 years making reusable drinkware, frank green is fixing that with Edition II, its new generation of bottles and cups. Lockable lids and secure seals keep your drink where it belongs. Four-wall insulation keeps it hot or cold for longer, and every piece is dishwasher safe.

Russia will host the 2030 World Weightlifting Championships in Moscow, the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has confirmed.

It’s the first time a global championship organised by an Olympic sport’s governing body will be held in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

Here’s what to know.

The IWF reopened its competitions to Russian and Belarusian athletes across all age groups in June, having already eased restrictions for juniors earlier in the year. Moscow last hosted this championship in 1983.

The move follows the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision in July to provisionally lift its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, which had been in place since the invasion.

The IOC maintains it still won’t stage its own events in Russia or invite Russian officials to its competitions. Ukraine has since lodged an appeal against the IOC’s decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Armenia and Venezuela host the next two editions in 2027 and 2028, before India’s Ahmedabad takes over in 2029 and Russia in 2030. This year’s championships are being held in Ningbo, China, this week, and five Ukrainian athletes are competing.

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The men’s and women’s Rugby League World Cups continued over the weekend, with Australia recording wins in both tournaments.

Here’s what to know.

Defending champions Australia survived a scare against Fiji Bati in Brisbane, trailing 16-12 early in the second half before steadying to win 36-22. The Kangaroos then pulled away, with winger Tom Trbojevic crossing for three tries. The result also saw them secure a spot in the semi-final with one Pool A match remaining.

Earlier in the weekend, Tonga beat Lebanon 36-0, and Samoa continued its dominant tournament with a 64-6 demolition of co-hosts Papua New Guinea.

In Christchurch, New Zealand defeated the Cook Islands 82-16, with fullback Jamayne Isaako scoring a record 38 points in the Kiwi Test match. England cruised past France 82-0 in Perth, headlined by a Herbie Farnworth hat-trick.

The Jillaroos made a statement in Perth, thrashing England 78-0. Jocelyn Kelleher scored 26 points from two tries and nine conversions, while 11 different players crossed the tryline. The victory also saw the Jillaroos book a spot in the semi-finals.

New Zealand were similarly ruthless in Christchurch, beating France 92-0 with four tries from Apii Nicholls, while Samoa downed Wales 76-0 in Sydney and Fiji saw off Papua New Guinea 40-4 in Port Moresby.

Both tournaments will resume on Friday with an England double-header in Wollongong. The England women will play Samoa before the men take on Papua New Guinea. As for the Australian teams, the Kangaroos face the Cook Islands on Saturday, while the Jillaroos take on Wales on Sunday.