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One year ago today, Kenyan athlete Kelvin Kiptum set the men’s marathon world record at the Chicago Marathon. Aged 23 at the time, Kiptum ran the 42km in a time of two hours and 35 seconds, beating the previous record by 34 seconds. For the Strava-heads out there - he averaged 2:51 minutes per kilometre.

Tragically, Kiptum was killed in a car accident just months later in February this year. He will be honoured with a moment of silence on the start line at this year’s Chicago Marathon on 13 October.

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Stat of the day

46
The record number of wickets bowler Megan Schutt has taken in all of her matches for Australia at women’s T20 World Cups. Last night, Schutt took three wickets during Australia’s 60-run triumph over New Zealand to surpass the previous record of 43 wickets. Australia’s third group-stage match is against Pakistan on Saturday.

Quote of the day

"That is not who I am and not how I ever want to treat people. I let my frustration in the heat of the moment get the best of me and I'm extremely disappointed with how I handled the situation,"
U.S. tennis player Francis Tiafoe after he repeatedly swore at the chair umpire following his third-round loss to unseeded Roman Safiullin at the Shanghai Masters. The 26-year-old disagreed with a time violation issued by umpire Jimmy Pinoargote during Tiafoe’s serve at 5-5 in the final set. Tiafoe could face heavy fines of up to $US60,000 and have his tournament winnings stripped.

Random fact of the day

22-year-old Frenchman Côme Girardot has set a new ‘death diving’ world record of 44.3m. Death diving, a high-diving discipline that originated in Norway as Døds diving, requires the diver to jump towards the water with their arms and legs outstretched (think bellyflop) and then tuck into a fetal position before hitting the water to defer the impact to their knees and elbows. The Døds Diving World Championship is held in Oslo, Norway annually.

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In case you missed it…

🏉 In the AFLW, St Kilda beat GWS by 34 points to move into the top eight with three weeks remaining in the regular season. GWS now sit in 16th having won one of their seven games and will find it near impossible to make finals this season. Jesse Wardlaw starred for St Kilda with three goals. The Saints will now prepare to take on 13th-placed Melbourne on Sunday.

🏉 The directors of axed rugby club the Melbourne Rebels have filed a statement of claim against Rugby Australia (RA) seeking “significant damages and indemnities". It comes after RA decided to cut the financially unsustainable Rebels from Super Rugby Pacific in May. RA also rejected a consortium made up of wealthy individuals which offered to provide financial backing for the club. The Rebels directors’ statement also requested a "declaration that they are entitled to resume control of the Rebels so the team can continue to play in the Super Rugby competition".

🏉 Penrith Panthers forward Liam Martin is expected to be unavailable to represent Australia with the Kangaroos, Australia’s national rugby league team, later this month. Martin, who was awarded the Clive Churchill medal for his man of the match performance in Sunday’s NRL Grand Final, has been dealing with shoulder and rib cartilage issues. Canberra Raiders backrower Hudson Young is expected to replace him.

🏈 The Kansas City Chiefs are the only unbeaten team so far this season in the NFL, after five weeks. The Chiefs beat the New Orleans Saints 26-13 to extend their record this season to 5-0. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who was a part of the Chiefs 2022 Superbowl-winning side, starred for the Chiefs in place of injured Rashee Rice. Smith-Schuster made seven catches and ran for 130 yards. And yes, Taylor Swift was there to watch.

🏎️ A finals series will be added to next year’s Supercars Championship, Australia’s premier touring car racing competition. The finals will take place over the last three races of the 2025 season at Gold Coast, Melbourne's Sandown and Adelaide. The number of finalists will be whittled down from ten to four for the final race in Adelaide. The grid will remain full as non-finalists will continue to race. Shane Howard, chief executive of Supercars Australia, said, "Our fans wanted more excitement, more unpredictability, and a true test to find the best champion."

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WNBA Finals Series set after Minnesota Lynx beat Connecticut Sun in semi-final

The Minnesota Lynx have advanced to the WNBA final for the first time in seven years after beating the Connecticut Sun in the deciding game of the semi-final series.

What happened

The Lynx put on a dominant fifth-game performance to beat the Sun 88-77. Napheesa Collier starred for the Lynx with 27 points and 11 rebounds. They will now have two days to prepare for Game 1 of the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty.

WNBA Finals

The WNBA Final between the Liberty and Lynx will be a best-of-five game series. The Liberty finished the league in first place and will have the home-ground advantage in Brooklyn for Game 1 and 2. Game 1 is on Friday morning (AEDT) with Game 2 to follow on Monday morning (AEDT). The Liberty are looking to win their first Championship after having finished second five times and the Lynx are on the hunt for a historic fifth title.

How to watch

You can watch the WNBA finals with WNBA League Pass.

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Barcelona and Spain legend Andrés Iniesta has retired from football

Spanish World Cup winner and Barcelona legend Andrés Iniesta has retired from football. The 40-year-old announced his retirement at an event in Barcelona yesterday.

Career

Andrés Iniesta made 674 appearances for Barcelona’s first team, scoring 57 goals and recording 135 assists. He joined Barcelona’s junior academy at the age of 12 in 1996 and debuted for Barcelona’s first team in 2002. The Spaniard won 32 titles with the club, including nine La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies.

Iniesta left Barcelona in 2018 to join Vissel Kobe, a club in Japan’s J-League where he played until 2023 and added three titles to his resume. He spent his final year in football at UAE Pro League Club Emirates.

With Spain, Iniesta made 131 appearances, winning back-to-back Euros in 2008 and 2012, and the World Cup in 2010. He was named the Man of the Match in the 2010 World Cup final after scoring the winning goal against the Netherlands. Iniesta’s best result in the Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual award, was runner-up to his Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi in 2010.

The 40-year-old has indicated that he’d like to gain his coaching accreditation and stay involved with football in a coaching capacity.

What they said

Lionel Messi said: "One of the teammates with the most magic and with whom I enjoyed playing the most. Football will miss you and so will we."

Iniesta said” "I never thought this day would arrive. I never imagined it. All the tears over the last few days are not tears of sadness, though, but of emotion, of pride. They are the tears of that small boy from Fuentealbilla, who dreamed of being a footballer and achieved it through a lot of hard work, sacrifice and never giving up. Those are the essential values in my life. I feel proud of the journey and the people that have accompanied me. I feel happy to have lived a dream."

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Looking back…

Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

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