Good evening!

“This is someone with very particular, incredible abilities; he’s a gifted guy,” Benjamín Olaizola told Spanish broadcaster Cadena Ser.

“Just mentioning his name makes me tingle; he’s a phenomenon,” Eric Salvador Tchouyo told Radio France Internationale.

Reading these quotes might make you think of a generational athlete like Michael Jordan or a highly trained agent like Liam Neeson’s character in ‘Taken’.

They’re actually referring to New Zealand’s Nigel Richards, also known as the Tiger Woods of Scrabble. Last month, Richards won the Spanish World Scrabble Championship Title.

Remarkably, Richards doesn’t actually know Spanish, he just memorised the entire Spanish Scrabble dictionary. The 57-year-old did the same thing with the French World Championship in 2015 and 2018. Oh, and he’s won the English version five times too.

Now that’s an el macho cabrío (Spanish for goat - I think). And yes, Scrabble is a sport.

I’ve got 10 seconds

Stat of the day

$3.2 million
The amount of money being provided by the Australian Government to “support women in coaching, officiating, and sports administration”. The money will ensure the continuation of the Australian Sport Commission’s Women Leaders in Sport Program. Minister for Sport Anika Wells said: “Our women dominated the medal tally in Paris, yet less than one in five Olympic coaches and one in four Paralympic coaches is a woman. This damning data has remained stagnant for decades and it must change.”

Quote of the day

"I'm the boss, I'm the manager and I'm not good enough. I have to find a solution, it's as simple as that. I'm not doing well, that's the truth. It is what it is. What can I say? We cannot blame this player or that one, it's not that. It's the season, a tough season.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola after his side’s 2-1 loss to derby rivals Manchester United. The 2023 Premier League and Champions League title holders have lost eight of their past 11 matches and sit fifth on the league ladder.  Manchester United sit in 13th. 

Random fact of the day

Former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer sits at number eight on the English Premier League’s all-time appearances list. Schwarzer made 514 appearances during a 21-year career across four clubs (Middlesbrough, Fulham, Chelsea, and Leicester City). He is the only non-Brit to have made more than 500 appearances.

I’ve got 30 seconds

In case you missed it…

🏃‍♂️ Australian triathlete Ashleigh Gentle won a bronze medal in her first Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Taupō, New Zealand. Ironman 70.3 is raced over half the distance of a full Ironman and consists of a 1.9km swim, 90km cycle, and a 21km run. Gentle, who represented Australia at the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, said: "I didn't really know how that was going to pan out but I'm really proud with how I held it together." The 33-year-old finished behind American Taylor Knibb in first and Great Britain's Kat Matthews in second. In the men’s race, Belgian athlete Jelle Geens took out the gold medal, followed by New Zealand’s Hayden Wilde and France’s Léo Bergère in silver and bronze respectively. 

🏈 Colorado University’s Travis Hunter won college football’s most prestigious award, the Heisman Trophy. Hunter is a two-way player meaning he plays on both the offensive and defensive teams for his football team. The 21-year-old is the first two-way player to win the trophy since Charles Woodson in 1997. Hunter plays as a cornerback on the defensive team and a wide receiver on the offensive team. It is expected Hunter will enter the NFL Draft in 2025.

🏂 Australian snowboarders Josie Baff and Cameron Bolton both won silver medals in the snowboard cross at a World Cup event in Cervinia, Italy. Baff finished just 0.05 seconds behind 18-year-old French snowboarder Léa Casta. Later, 34-year-old Bolton finished 0.78 seconds behind Austrian world champion Jakob Dusek. The next snowboard cross World Cup will be held at Sun Peaks in Canada on 3 and 4 January.

I’ve got 1 minute

Aussie swimmers finish sixth on medal tally at Short Course World Championships in Budapest

The Short Course World Championships for swimming in Budapest, Hungary wrapped up over the weekend. The week of racing saw an astonishing 30 world records broken.

How did Australia go?

Max Giuliani ended the meet on a positive note for Australia, taking home a silver medal and setting an Oceania record in the men’s 200m freestyle (1:40.36). The Aussie team finished the meet with 12 medals, including two golds won by Lani Pallister and Elijah Winnington in the women’s 800m freestyle and the men’s 400m freestyle respectively.

Australia ultimately finished sixth on the medal table behind the U.S., Canada, China, Switzerland, and Neutral Athletes B — a swim team made up of Russian athletes who are not permitted to compete under their country’s name or flag.

Gretchen Walsh

American swim star Gretchen Walsh set 11 world records this week, nine of them in individual events. As a result, she earned $US290,000 ($AU455,000) of prize money across the week. The 21-year-old specialises in butterfly, freestyle and the individual medley. Walsh competed at the Paris Olympics where she won two gold medals and two silver medals. 

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I’ve got 2 minutes

Smith and Head steer Australia in right direction as rain dampens third Test

It was a big weekend of cricket, with the beginning of the third Test between Australia and India on Saturday followed by the Big Bash League’s season opener between the Perth Scorchers and the Melbourne Stars on Sunday evening.

Third test

Day one of the Test on Saturday was largely rain-affected. India won the toss and elected to bowl but due to the conditions only 80 balls were bowled. The day was called off with Australia’s openers Usman Khawaja and Nathan McSweeney having combined for 28 runs.

On Sunday, Khawaja (21) and McSweeney (9) lost their wickets early to India’s star bowler Jasprit Bumrah. Soon after, Marnus Labushagne was bowled for 12 runs. Travis Head joined Steve Smith at the crease and had the immediate impact some might have expected. While Head (152) raced away to his second consecutive century, Smith battled through the early stages of his innings before growing in confidence and scoring his 33rd Test hundred (101). On Monday, Alex Carey’s 70 helped Australia finish with 445 runs after losing all ten wickets, six of them taken by Bumrah.

On a rain affected third day, Australia has limited India to 48 runs and taken four wickets (at the time of writing).

Big Bash League Opener

The 2024/25 Big Bash season began last night. Five-time title winners the Perth Scorchers opened their campaign with a six-wicket victory over the Melbourne Stars. Scorchers bowler Jhye Richardson was named Player of the Match after taking three wickets for just 19 runs.

A dampener was put on the match in the second innings when the Stars’ Hilton Cartwright dived to save a runaway ball in the field and injured his neck. The all-rounder was stretchered off the field before play resumed. The Stars reported on social media that Cartwright had been “cleared of any serious damage to his neck” and would rejoin the squad in the coming days.

Bowler banned for action

In other cricket news, Pakistan’s Shakib Al Hasan has been banned from bowling in County Cricket, England’s domestic competition, after the England Cricket Board deemed the player’s bowling action illegal. Under the International Cricket Council’s rules, the domestic ban means that Al Hasan is also banned from playing in any international competition. While the 37-year-old is still allowed to bat in competition, he will have to pass an assessment of his action to resume bowling.

What’s next?

The Test match between Australia and India is scheduled for another two days. The Big Bash continues tonight with the Sydney Sixers taking on the Melbourne Renegades at the SCG at 7:15pm. You can watch both formats on Channel 7, Foxtel, and Kayo.

ICYMI: TDA Sport has a new game on Instagram called Blurdle. IYKYK.
Today’s answer: Nick Kyrgios
Useless clue: Back for Brisbane

A message from Deakin University

Women in Sport and the Increasing Use of Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS)

This study highlights the rising prevalence of AAS use among women in sport, particularly athletes, recreational gym-goers, and bodybuilders. While overall prevalence is 4%, bodybuilders show the highest rates (16.8%).

Motivations and health risks differ from men’s, requiring tailored harm reduction strategies for women, especially bodybuilders.

However, research on women’s AAS experiences is limited. This study calls for more women-specific, regionally diverse research, targeted education, and more training for non-judgmental support.

Read more about the study here.

Looking back…

Looking forward… (All times are AEDT)

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