Ok, I have an admission to make.

Last week, I learnt something every Aussie sports fan should probably know. I was sitting around a television watching the Socceroos play Egypt with some Americans, and one of them asked me, 'Why does Australia wear green and gold when those colours aren’t on the Australian flag?’

I racked my brain. Nothing. So I turned to the internet and thought this might be interesting to share.

Together, green and gold are the colours of the golden wattle, our national flower. On a deeper level, the gold is a nod to our beaches, mineral wealth, wool, and grain harvests while the green captures the forests, eucalyptus trees, and pastures.

Am I the only one who didn’t know this? Or is it new information to you too?

5 hours, 15 minutes
The amount of time Novak Djokovic spent on Centre Court at Wimbledon on Tuesday, outplaying Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in a fifth-set tiebreaker (7-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6). It marks the longest quarterfinal in Wimbledon history. The 39-year-old Serbian will now face world number one Jannik Sinner in the semifinal. Tonight's remaining quarterfinals see American Taylor Fritz play German Alexander Zverev, while Italian Flavio Cobolli faces Briton Arthur Fery.

“[To] change the rule on red card suspensions mid-tournament is a disgrace and a perversion of justice".
European Parliament politicians Barry Andrews, Lara Wolters, and Niel Fuglsang in a joint statement following a letter calling for an investigation into FIFA president Gianni Infantino. It is allegedly signed by 35 politicians so far. It comes after U.S. President Donald Trump called on FIFA to have striker Folarin Balogun’s red card suspension overturned for the U.S. v Belgium match. It was the first instance at a World Cup where a player avoided a one-match suspension after a red card since 1962. Belgium went on to win 4-1.

Natural gut tennis strings, prized for their elasticity and feel, are made by drying fibres from sheep or cow intestine. Synthetic strings were developed in the 1950s as a cheaper alternative, and by the late 1990s polyester had taken over as the tour standard. Yet gut strings never fully disappeared and many pro players still use them today, often in a hybrid setup pairing natural gut with polyester. 

🏀 The Australian Opals held on for a 76-74 win over China in the first of a two-game exhibition series at Melbourne's John Cain Arena on Tuesday night. Captain Steph Reid led the Opals with 16 points and sealed the win from the free-throw line inside the final 20 seconds, after a late fightback led by Chinese teenager Zhang Ziyu. The 19-year-old, who stands 220cm tall (yes, you read that correctly), finished with 28 points. Game two tips off Thursday, with the World Cup in Germany two months away.

🏉 The AFL tribunal has halved Gold Coast Suns forward Ben Long's suspension to one game, accepting his hit on Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard was medium, not high, impact. Tribunal chair Timothy Bourke said Maynard "made himself vulnerable as the antagonist" in the halftime brawl. Meanwhile, Western Bulldogs midfielder Matthew Kennedy escaped a ban altogether, receiving a $2,000 fine for front-on contact on Sydney midfielder Caiden Cleary. 

🎾 Naomi Osaka is out of Wimbledon. The four-time Grand Slam champion was beaten by Czech 10th seed Karolína Muchová in straight sets (7-6, 6-4). Muchová now meets American Coco Gauff in the semifinals after Gauff defeated fellow American Jessica Pegula in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 6-3). Tonight's remaining quarterfinals see Czech Linda Nosková play Belgian Elise Mertens, while Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk faces Italian Jasmine Paolini. Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles, Aussie duo Storm Hunter and Marc Polmans have made the final, aiming to end a 35-year wait for an all-Aus pairing since Liz Smylie and John Fitzgerald won it in 1991.

🥇 The International Olympic Committee has provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, clearing the way for Russian athletes to return to full competition at the Los Angeles 2028 Games. The IOC said Russian athletes can compete again if they meet anti-doping requirements, but has not yet decided whether Russia's flag, anthem, and colours will be permitted at the Games. Only 32 Russian and Belarusian athletes were cleared to compete at the 2024 Paris Games under neutral status, sharing five medals. Ukraine and the United Kingdom have condemned the decision.

Worksite safety, redefined by Claude

Aussies are transforming safety for construction workers using AI. Presien, a physical AI company built for heavy industry, used Claude to develop an agentic platform that analyses worksites around the clock - surfacing risks before they become issues, cutting critical safety events by over 70% in three months.

Here’s the latest on the World Cup. We are at the pointy end now, with the quarterfinals kicking off on Friday with just eight teams left.

Defending champions Argentina pulled off a dramatic comeback to beat Egypt 3-2, while Switzerland edged Colombia on penalties to reach its first quarterfinal since 1954.

Argentina rallied from two goals down, with late strikes from Cristian Romero, Enzo Fernandez and all-time World Cup leading scorer Lionel Messi flipping the match in the final minutes. 

Switzerland and Colombia finished 0-0 in Vancouver after a tense match that saw Colombia dominate early, Gregor Kobel produced a flying save to deny  Gustavo Puerta, and Jhon Lucumi hit the crossbar in extra time. 

Aussie fans know this feeling all too well. Penalties ended Australia’s run against Egypt, and they decided this one too. The shootout turned when Davinson Sanchez hit the underside of the bar and Cucho Hernandez was denied, allowing Ruben Vargas to slot home the winning kick.

This means Argentina will now face Switzerland in the quarterfinals.

There are no games tomorrow, before all eyes turn to Friday when world no. 1 France faces world no. 6 Morocco. 

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.

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Denmark's Mads Pedersen won the fourth stage of Le Tour de France, the world's toughest cycling race, overnight. 

If you have little to no understanding of what that means, don't worry! I thought it'd be helpful to give you an update and a bit of an explainer as to how it all works.

This year's Tour started with 184 riders across 23 teams of eight. Though cycling looks individual (no tandem bikes here, sadly), it rewards teamwork. Each team picks a leader, and the other riders ('domestiques') work to protect them, often letting the leader ride directly behind them in their slipstream to save energy.

The winner is the cyclist with the lowest total time after 21 stages. The leaderboard is called the general classification (GC). The yellow jersey goes to the GC leader after each stage, and the overall leader keeps it as riders reach Paris after three weeks.

The yellow jersey isn't the only prize on offer. The green jersey rewards the best sprinter, based on points earned on flat stages and intermediate sprints. The polka-dot jersey belongs to the King of the Mountains, awarded to the best climber via points scored at the top of categorised climbs. The white jersey is worn by the best young rider under 26 in the GC.

Eleven Australians are on the start list, spread across six teams. Team Jayco AlUla anchors the contingent with five: climber Ben O'Connor, four-time stage winner Michael Matthews, all-rounder Luke Plapp, veteran Luke Durbridge (retiring after this Tour) and Tour debutant Kelland O'Brien. Other Aussies to watch include 2022 Giro d'Italia winner Jai Hindley for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and climber Michael Storer for Tudor Pro Cycling.

Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar, the four-time Tour winner and defending champion, is chasing a record-equalling fifth title. Pogačar wore yellow into Stage 4 but lost it after one day, dropping to fourth.

The new yellow jersey holder is Norwegian Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), who received cancer treatment in 2022. Træen took the overall lead after finishing Stage 4 almost 13 minutes ahead of the main peloton. 

He now sits 28 seconds ahead of American Sean Quinn, with Pogačar seven minutes and 53 seconds off the lead.

Stage 5 tonight covers 158.3km from Lannemezan to Pau on largely flat roads, giving the sprinters their first proper chance. From Thursday, the peloton heads into the high Pyrenees, where the yellow jersey contenders will begin to properly test each other.

You can watch the Tour de France on SBS On Demand.