Good evening!

You may recall a story shared last Tuesday about ‘King Conker’, otherwise known as Mark Jakins. The 82-year-old’s win in the men’s division of the World Conkers championship was thrust into the spotlight after it was revealed he had been carrying a steel conker in his pocket.

Well, the incident was investigated and Jakins has been cleared of any wrongdoing. He said: “I’m so relieved to be cleared. It’s been a stressful week. We are gentlemen at the World Conker Championships and we don’t cheat. I’ve been playing and practising for decades. That’s how I won.”

Love conkers all!

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Stat of the day

3
The number of LPGA titles Australian golfer Hannah Green has won this year. Green won her third title this year on Sunday at the BMW Championship in South Korea. She is the first Australian woman to win three titles in a season since Karrie Webb in 2006.

Quote of the day

“Hand on heart, I’m pretty positive most of the time and I have genuine happiness. This is bigger than the Olympics. It’s bigger than anything. This is about appreciating life and finding joy.”
Former Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy after revealing his terminal cancer diagnosis in an interview with the Sunday Times. Hoy won six Olympic golds and one silver medal for Great Britain. The 48-year-old told the Times he has between two and four years to live, having been diagnosed with prostate cancer which has spread to his bones. 

Random fact of the day

The first Australian woman to win an athletics gold medal at the Olympics was Marjorie Jackson-Nelson. ‘The Lithgow Flash’, as she was known, won gold in the 100m and 200m at the 1952 Helsinki Games, equalling a world record in the 100m and setting two in the 200m.

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In case you missed it…

🏀 The New York Liberty, coached by Australian Sandy Brondello, won Game 5 of the WNBA Finals against the Minnesota Lynx to win the championship. The Liberty won 67-62 in overtime in New York to win their long-awaited first championship after having lost in the finals five times before. Liberty star Jonquel Jones said: “I could never dream of this. You know how many times I’ve been denied. It was delayed. I am so happy to do it here”. 

🏄‍♀️ Australian surfer Laura Enever has been named the 2024 female Big Wave Surfer of the Year. The 31-year-old Sydneysider was recognised for her big wave surfing at a ceremony in Nazaré, Portugal. In January, Enever set a record for the biggest wave ever paddled into by a woman after catching a 13.3m wave off the coast of Hawai’i.

🏍️ The Australian MotoGP, held at Phillip Island Circuit in Victoria, was won by Spaniard Marc Márquez for the fourth time on Sunday. The six-time MotoGP World Champion started in P2 but slipped back to P13 after a shocking start. He clawed his way back into the race, taking the lead with four laps to go. Australian rider Jack Miller finished 11th.

🏈 Ricky Pearsall, a rookie wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, made his NFL debut 50 days after being shot in the chest in an attempted robbery. After missing the first six weeks of the season following the shooting, Pearsall was cleared to return in this morning’s (AEDT) Super Bowl rematch against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs won the match 28-18 and remain the only undefeated team in the league after seven weeks. Pearsall made two from three catches.

🏉 In the AFLW, the North Melbourne Kangaroos are undefeated after nine matches with eight wins and one draw. The Kangaroos moved closer to securing their first minor premiership on Saturday, beating Essendon 58-7. Hawthorn, who also have eight wins, sit two points behind the Kangaroos on the ladder with two rounds left in the regular season.

🏉 The Jillaroos and Kangaroos both got their Pacific Championships campaigns off to strong starts with wins over Papua New Guinea and Tonga, respectively. The Jillaroos thumped PNG 84-0 in a record victory which saw winger Julia Robinson score six tries. Afterwards, the Kangaroos held Tonga scoreless to win 18-0. Next Sunday, both teams will play New Zealand.  

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New Zealand’s massive weekend of sport

It was a huge weekend for New Zealand sport with four milestone victories across three sports.

Cricket

New Zealand’s women's team beat South Africa by 32 runs to win their first T20 World Cup. Melie Kerr was named Player of the Match after top-scoring with 43 runs and taking three crucial wickets in Dubai. The Kiwis came into the tournament as an outside chance on a ten-match losing streak.

Meanwhile, New Zealand’s men’s team claimed their first Test victory over India on its home soil since 1988. New Zealand only had 107 runs to chase in their final innings after India were bowled out for 46 runs on day one. 24-year-old Rachin Ravindra starred for New Zealand with 134 runs in the first innings and a 43 not out in the second.

Sailing

In Barcelona, Team New Zealand won their seventh race against Great Britain to be crowned America’s Cup Champions for the third consecutive time. In the best-of-13 race series, New Zealand dominated Great Britain 7-2. New Zealand’s skipper Peter Burling, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, said the victory was “incredibly special.”

Netball

Australia was beaten 64-50 by New Zealand in the first match of the Constellation Cup in Wellington. Grace Nweke was the Silver Ferns’ best with 50 goals. It is the seventh straight victory for New Zealand against Australia on home soil. The second of four Tests is set to be played in Auckland on Wednesday.

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Leclerc secures third victory in 2024 while Verstappen beats Norris to third

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has won the U.S. Grand Prix, with his teammate Carlos Sainz finishing in second place. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen has extended his lead over Lando Norris in the Driver’s Championship to 57 points. Leclerc’s victory marks his third of the season. McLaren maintained its lead in the Constructors Championship, 40 points ahead of Red Bull.

What happened

Norris started the race in the pole position but was pushed wide on the first turn by Verstappen, which gave Leclerc, who started in P4, room to overtake on the inside and steal the lead. For the remainder of the race, Leclerc was unchallenged. Sainz overtook Verstappen on Turn 12 to move into second place and leave Verstappen and Norris to fight it out for third and fourth. In the final stages, Norris received a five-second penalty for leaving the track in an attempt to overtake Verstappen.

In the Sprint Race earlier in the day, Verstappen won, with Sainz in second place. Norris finished third and lost a crucial two points in the title race.

Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson, the Kiwi driver who has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at Team RB, had a solid start in his new role. Lawson finished in ninth place, scoring two points. The 22-year-old’s efforts were especially impressive given he started in P20. Oscar Piastri, now the lone Australian in F1, finished in fifth place.

What they said

Leclerc said: "It hasn’t been an easy weekend, until now I have been struggling a bit with the feeling with the car but I had the confidence that in the race the feeling was better, and it was the case. We saw it yesterday in the Sprint race, we were a bit… not scared, but we thought the others would improve a lot more today but we still had the upper hand so really happy with today. A one-two for the team, we couldn’t have dreamed for better."

What’s next

This week, the paddock travels to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Mexican Grand Prix on Sunday 27 October (local time). The race will start at 7:00am AEDT on Monday.

A message from our sponsor

The Matildas take on Switzerland this weekend in their first match since the Olympics. It’s been just over a year since the Matildas made the semi-final at the 2023 World Cup and re-ignited Australia’s passion for football. Since then, 14 straight sold-out Matildas matches have been set. Here are two continuing impacts of the ‘Matildas Effect’.

The government announced the Play Our Way grant program which was designed to provide opportunities for women and girls to participate in and benefit from sport. The program will run over three years and offer $200 million in funding with the goal of fostering safe and inclusive environments as well as encouraging women to remain involved in sports and physical activity for life.

Following the success of the Matildas in 2023, Australia has been awarded the 2026 AFC Women’s Asian Cup. Over 24,000 international visitors are anticipated to travel for the tournament, which is expected to boost the economy by $260 million. Expect the Matildas Effect to be back in full swing for the Asian Cup with games being played in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia.

Think Beyond The Field. Study Sport at Deakin.

Looking back…

Looking forward… (All times are AEDT)

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