How do you think you’d go commentating on your favourite sports team?

Earlier this week, a Chicago Cubs fan paid $US15,300 ($AU23,800) at an auction for exactly that opportunity. The Cubs are a pro baseball team in the U.S’ Major League.

The lucky fan will only get to sit behind the mic for half an inning, which should be around ten minutes.

It can’t be that hard, can it?

143,000
The number of chess players that Norwegian chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen faced in a historic online match. The match, titled Magnus Carlsen vs The World, started on 4 April. Each side had 24 hours to decide on their move. For the 143,000 to agree on a move, they would vote. 32 moves in, the match ended in a draw when Carlsen’s king was checked for the third time. Carlsen told Chess.com: "Overall, The World has played very, very sound chess."

“I’ll tell you one thing — irrespective of tomorrow, I’m not a clown, I never will be mate. It’s really disappointing that you use such terminology about a person who for 26 years, without any favours from anyone, [has] worked his way to being in a position where he’s leading out a club in a European major competition, for you to suggest that somehow us not being successful means that I’m a clown.”
Tottenham Hotspurs coach Ange Postecoglou addressing sport reporter Dan Kilpatrick at a press conference ahead of the Europa League Final tomorrow morning (AEST) between the Spurs and Manchester United. Kilpatrick had earlier published an article suggesting that the result of tomorrow’s match might be the difference between the Australian manager being a hero or a clown. Despite a historically poor season in the Premier League, the Spurs are one win away from their first European trophy since 1984.

In 2009, three-time Australian Paralympian Kurt Fearnley crawled the Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea. Fearnley crawled the length of the 96-kilometre track to raise awareness for men’s health. It took him 10 days.

🏉 American women’s rugby player Alev Kelter has received a three-match suspension after stomping on the head of Wallaroos centre Georgina Friedrichs. The incident happened during the Wallaroos' victory over the U.S. on Saturday in Canberra as part of the Pacific Four series. Kelter was sent off with a red card at the time, but faced a disciplinary committee this week in New Zealand as the U.S. prepare to play the Black Ferns. Meanwhile, the Wallaroos will take on Canada this Friday at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. 

🚴‍♂️ Dutch cyclist Daan Hoole won Stage 10 of the Giro d’Italia, edging out British rider Joshua Tarling by seven seconds in the second time trial stage of this year’s race. The overall leader is Mexico’s Isaac del Toro, whose position is likely to be tested tonight (AEST) on Stage 11 as the race heads into the mountains. The highest-placed Australian is Michael Storer, who is currently in 14th position, three minutes and 14 seconds behind del Toro.

🏀 The NBA Western Conference Finals began today, with the Oklahoma City Thunder beating the Minnesota Timberwolves 114-88 in the opening game of the best-of-seven series. The Thunder were led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who had 31 points. The Eastern Conference Finals series between the New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers will begin tomorrow. The winner of each series will play each other in the NBA Finals for this year’s championship.

NFL players are a step closer to becoming Olympians after being permitted to play ‘flag football’ at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, the league announced on Tuesday. Flag football is a non-contact variation of American football and is set to make its debut as an Olympic sport in 2028.  

The owners of all 32 teams met and decided by unanimous vote that players would be permitted to make themselves eligible for flag football at the Games. One condition that the owners agreed upon is that only one player from each team will be allowed to play.

For the players to be fully eligible to compete, the NFL has to finalise negotiations with the league’s players’ association, Olympic officials and the governing bodies for national Olympic teams. 

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said: "It's an incredible honour for any athlete to represent their country in the Olympics, which is the pinnacle of global sport. I know firsthand that the inclusion of flag football in the Olympics has sparked a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested in the chance to compete for their country on the world stage. We are thrilled that they will now have that chance."

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William Goodge arrived in Bondi on Monday after 34 days and approximately eight hours of running across the country. Goodge’s effort saw him beat the previous record, held by Australian ultra-runner Chris Turnbull, of 39 days.

However, some are raising questions over the legitimacy of Goodge’s record.

Here’s what you need to know. 

Goodge’s record-breaking feat has attracted some criticism from the ultra-running community. The main criticism is that Goodge’s data sometimes seems too good to be true. For example, his data often shows a heart rate that is lower than some believe is possible for such tough physical feats. 

This has led to some sceptics accusing him of ‘watch muling’, where the athlete swaps the watch with another runner to stay fresh. 

Goodge recorded his run across Australia with a tracking device on at all times and also uploaded his runs to Strava for the public to see. 

In response to the critics, he told the ABC: "You can't blame people for coming at you and questioning your stuff. Like, it's just part and parcel of it.” 

31-year-old Goodge has been running to raise money for cancer charities since his mother died of cancer in 2018. 

Since taking up ultra-running, he has achieved several things, including running the length of Great Britain in 16 days, becoming the fastest British person to run across America (55 days), and finishing 11th at the Moab 240, a prestigious 240-mile (386km) ultra race in Utah.

Goodge is not a traditional ultra-runner in the sense that he has also carved out a career as a model and influencer with just under 250,000 followers on Instagram.

Two organisations can verify ultra-running records: the commonly known Guinness World Records and the more obscure Fastest Known Time (FKT). 

Fastest Known Time is respected within the ultra-running community because it specifically works to track the speed records for running and hiking routes. At a minimum, the routes must be at least eight kilometres long with at least 150 metres of elevation. There are currently 6,708 routes on the FKT website, with records being tracked since 2017.

To be verified by Fastest Known Time, the athlete must submit a file with the GPS data of their effort and a link to the activity on a tracking app such as Strava or Garmin. To improve their chances of verification, they can include photos and a detailed report in their submission. 

The public’s interest in ultra-running has grown dramatically in recent decades. A 2020 study by RunRepeat found that in the previous decade, ultra-running participation had increased by 345%. As the sport becomes more popular, the records will likely become subject to a higher level of scrutiny from participants and the media. 

In 2022, Nedd Brockmann captured Australia’s attention by running from Perth to Bondi, which he completed in 44 days. At the time, the record was 43 days, set by German runner Achim Heukemes in 2005. 

Then, in 2023, Turnbull set a new record, which Goodge has just broken.