George is taking some well-deserved time off, so I’ll be bringing you the sport news you need to know for the next few days. He was pretty mysterious about where he was going, but I have a few theories:

a. He got so caught up in England’s win in the Euros overnight that he jumped on a plane to watch the final in Switzerland (details below);

b. 16 stages of the Tour de France on his exercise bike in his living room were enough, and he’s off to claim that yellow jersey with a late entry; or

c. He’s off to compete in the Snooker World Championships, which start tomorrow.

He’ll have to reveal all when he’s back next week.

12
The age of Kelia Mehani Galia, who will become the youngest pro surfer in history after qualifying for the Tahiti Pro via a wildcard competition. The surfer will turn 13 on 10 August, a few days after the 7 August competition.

“To be able to come 90 seconds late on the crease is not something that I would think comes in the spirit of the game.”
India’s cricket captain Shubman Gill at a press conference, accusing English batsmen of a deliberate delay to play fewer overs at the start of their second innings in the third Test between the two countries. Gill said the delay happened when there were only seven minutes of play left in the day. England ultimately won by 22 runs. The fourth Test begins at 8pm tonight. You can watch it on Kayo.

Former Swans and Lions player Warwick Capper has his own limited edition shiraz, retailing for $99 a bottle. Capper was recently banned from attending all AFL matches and any events at the MCG for inappropriate behaviour.

🏏 Australia’s men’s T20 side is in the lead in a five-match series against the West Indies. The side has beaten the West Indies twice in two matches, with the third of five set for Saturday morning (AEST). Josh Inglis and Cameron Green led Australia to an eight-wicket victory earlier today, backing up the first victory by three wickets earlier this week.

⚽ England defeated Italy 2-1 in extra time to reach the women’s Euro 2025 Final, where they’ll face the winner of Germany and Spain. Italy took a first-half lead through Barbara Bonansea, before teenage substitute player Michelle Agyemang scored the equaliser for England in the 96th minute to force extra time. The winning goal was scored by another of England’s substitutes, Chloe Kelly, with one minute left before the match was headed for penalty shootouts. The final will be played at 2am AEST on Monday.

🎾 Venus Williams has become the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match after defeating 23-year-old Peyton Stearns in straight sets at the D.C. Open. The 45-year-old seven-time grand slam champion recorded her first singles victory in almost two years. She’s topped only by Martina Navratilova, who won a match at 47 in 2004. 

🚴‍♂️ Norwegian cyclist Tobias Johannessen collapsed at the finish line of stage 16 of the Tour de France stage 16, requiring oxygen treatment before being transferred to hospital. The Uno-X rider, who remained at eighth position overall, hyperventilated and had stomach pains during the climb. He was discharged after scans and cleared to resume racing. Frenchman Valentin Paret-Peintre won the stage in a sprint finish, while defending champion Tadej Pogačar maintains the overall lead on the Tour. 

🏉 Former NRL premiership player Kevin Walters has been confirmed to coach the Kangaroos for the upcoming rugby league Ashes series in England. The former Brisbane Broncos and Queensland State of Origin coach replaces Mal Meninga, who will lead the new Perth Bears franchise. Walters played 11 tests for Australia, including the 1990 and 1994 England tours. The three-test series begins on 25 October at London’s Wembley Stadium, with two further matches in Liverpool and Leeds. In the statement, the Australian Rugby League Commission also confirmed Jess Skinner will remain coach of Australia’s women’s side, the Jillaroos, until the 2026 World Cup.

Definition of the day: habit stacking

Meaning: habit stacking is a strategy for forming new habits by attaching them to existing ones.

Instead of overhauling your entire routine, you simply pair the new habit with something you already do - like taking your vitamins right after brushing your teeth, or doing a quick stretch while your morning coffee brews.

It’s a simple yet powerful way to build consistency without relying on motivation alone.

Got a routine you never skip — like your commute, skincare ritual, or morning scroll?

That’s the perfect moment to stack your new habit.

Support general health and wellbeing with the Blackmores Rapi-Melt range - a quick, water-free format that fits into your day with ease.

Always read the label and follow the directions for use. 

Formula 1 says it is on track to meet its goal of net zero carbon emissions by 2030, according to a new internal report.

The body says it has reduced carbon emissions by 26% from 2018 levels.

It defines net zero as reducing its emissions by 50% on 2018 levels, and offsetting the remaining emissions with “credible” programs.

F1’s report says the sport has reduced emissions across four main areas: factories and facilities, travel, logistics and event operations.

For example, its factories and facilities are transitioning to renewable energy sources.

In terms of logistics and events, the sport’s governing body said its operational changes have brought emissions down despite growing popularity. It also noted its efforts to reduce the emissions from transporting drivers, their teams, and their cars around the world during the season.

F1 President Stefano Domenicali said the body is focused on the introduction of “advanced sustainable fuels in all Formula 1 cars” to further progress reductions.

In a 2024 paper published in the Annals of Leisure Research Journal, an international team of researchers said F1 uses “greenwashing rhetoric to account for what are negligible transformations, particularly in relation to its own mammoth carbon footprint.”

The researchers pointed to the expanded race calendar - both in terms of number and geographic spread - as counteractive to its stated goals.

Other experts have noted that efforts to limit emissions in the sport must be wide-ranging, and that the cars themselves make up less than a percent of the sport’s emissions.

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The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) will bar transgender women from competing in women's sports.

The USOPC oversees the national governing bodies for various sports. These bodies nominate athletes to compete at the Olympics and Paralympics.

It follows an executive order to this effect from President Donald Trump earlier this year. Executive orders are the President’s main way of implementing legal changes without Congressional approval.

The move also comes amid global restrictions on trans female athletes and those with differences in sex characteristics (intersex people).

In 2022, openly transgender student Lia Thomas competed at the national college swimming championships. Thomas, who was representing the University of Pennsylvania, tied for fifth in the women’s 200-yard final with another student, Riley Gaines.

Thomas also won the women’s 500-yard freestyle, becoming the first trans female athlete to win a national title.

Over the following years, Gaines has mounted a campaign against Thomas and other trans female athletes in the college and school system, including a lawsuit under Title IX.

This is the law governing sex discrimination in publicly-funded colleges.

Thomas’ college settled the lawsuit earlier this month, wiping her achievements from their official records and banning trans women from women’s events.

Global sporting bodies including World Aquatics and World Athletics have since barred almost all trans women from competing in women’s events.

This week, the USOPC updated its athlete safety policy to include a new clause detailing a commitment to comply with an executive order titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports”.

The order, signed by Trump in early February, has the effect of requiring sporting bodies to provide women with “single-sex sports and single-sex locker rooms”. A fact sheet attached to the order calls on the International Olympic Committee to “preserve single-sex sports, a necessity for safety and fairness”.

In its policy update, the USOPC said its goal was to “ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment” consistent with the two documents. The revised athlete safety policy does not itself include the word “transgender”, but instead references compliance with Trump’s order and the amateur sport legislation.

A memo from USOPC President Gene Sykes and CEO Sarah Hirshland said: "As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations”. The USOPC does not receive Government funding, however.

In a statement reported by the Associated Press, the National Women's Law Centre said: "By giving into the political demands, the USOPC is sacrificing the needs and safety of its own athletes”.

The 2028 Summer Olympics will be hosted in Los Angeles, with Trump previously calling for transgender athletes to be excluded from the event. The IOC currently delegates the responsibility to set individual participation policies to the federations of individual sports.