It’s Thursday. The day the Romans designated for getting your footy tips in. Except in Roman times, you’d be tipping gladiators. 

Orla, who is leading our office tipping comp, has led from the front all season with the tactic of always tipping the favourites. Again, the Roman equivalent for this was to never tip against Maximus Decimus Meridius. She is now 12 points ahead and has virtually crossed the finish line.

Meanwhile, I’m now locked in an unexpected battle for second place with Skye from our commercial team. Her tactics are less transparent.

10
The number of gold world championship medals Mollie O’Callaghan has now won. O’Callaghan won her 10th world title last in the women’s 200m freestyle at the swimming world championships in Singapore. She is now equal to Australian swimming legend Grant Hackett. The 21-year-old will have the chance to equal Ian Thorpe’s Australian record of 11 world titles this week as she contests the 100m freestyle and two more relays. French superstar Leon Marchand also made headlines, smashing the men’s 200m individual medley record by 1.31 seconds — in the semi-final, no less.

“The squad was certainly deflated after the gut-wrenching end to last week’s Test in Melbourne, but they have started to gather momentum in the back half of the week and will be ready to go again on Saturday.”
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt after he named the Wallabies side to take on the British and Irish Lions this Saturday in the third and final Test of the series. Several changes have been made to the Wallabies starting side, with veteran halfback Nic White, prop Taniela Tupou, lock Tom Hooper, and winger Dylan Pietsch all playing in the gold jersey for the first time this series. White will be playing his 73rd and final test for the Wallabies after he announced his retirement from international rugby this week. The Lions lead the series 2-0 and are seeking their first series sweep over the Wallabies since 1904.

AFL club St Kilda currently holds the longest active premiership drought in the league, having won its first and only league title in 1966. The next longest period without a premiership belongs to Fremantle, which joined the league in 1995 and still hasn’t hoisted the trophy.

🚴‍♂️ Mauritius’ Kim Le Court Pienaar won stage five of Le Tour de Femmes ahead of the Netherlands’ Demi Vollering. Le Court has now moved into the overall lead, replacing Marianne Vos, who dropped back to sixth place. French Olympic mountain biking champion Pauline Ferrand Prevot is in second place (+18 seconds), and Vollering is in third (+23 seconds). Australia’s Sarah Gigante has moved into eighth place and is 55 seconds off the lead. Three of the four remaining stages will feature significant climbing, where Gigante is expected to thrive after she won two mountain stages at the Giro d’Italia earlier this month. 

⛷️ Two-time Olympic champion Laura Dahlmeier has died in a mountaineering accident in Pakistan. The 31-year-old German, who won two golds and a bronze in women’s biathlon events at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was trapped under a rockfall in the Karakoram mountain range on Monday. A local government spokesperson said rescuers were able to confirm Dahlmeier’s death, but were unable to retrieve her body due to weather conditions. International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry said Dahlmeier’s death was “deeply shocking,” noting the athlete had “made history” by being “the first female biathlete to win sprint and pursuit gold at the same Games”. 

🎾 Australian tennis player Chris O’Connell upset world number 23 Stefanos Tsitsipas to advance to the round of 32 at the Canadian Open alongside four other Australians. O’Connell will face the even tougher challenge of fellow Aussie Alex de Minaur, who is fresh off winning his 10th career title at the Washington Open. Also in the round of 32, 18th seed Alexei Popyrin will take on 10th seed Daniil Medvedev and Aleksandar Vukic will play 15th seed Frances Tiafoe. Daria Kasatkina is the only Australian left in the women’s draw and will play 24th-seeded Marta Kostyuk for a place in the round of 16 tonight.

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Track and field athletes who want to compete in female categories at world ranking events will have to take a one-time mandatory gene test as of 1 September this year. The test detects the presence of the Y chromosome, typically present in males. It can be conducted using either a blood sample or a cheek swab.

This means the athletes wishing to participate in women’s track and field events at the World Championships from 13 to 21 September are required to have submitted a test before 1 September, which is also the date that entries close. 

In March, World Athletics announced that it would be introducing chromosome testing for athletes competing in female events. The eligibility testing is part of a wider series of moves which World Athletics President Sebastian Coe says will guarantee the “integrity of women’s sport”. 

In 2023, the governing body banned athletes who have gone through the early stages of male puberty from women’s events.

It then announced in February that it would seek to impose a stricter policy to ban athletes with differences in sex development (DSD), also known as intersex. These athletes are assigned female at birth, but may experience some aspects of male puberty. World Athletics’ current rules require these athletes to lower their testosterone levels to a certain level for six months before they are allowed to compete.

World Athletics said its decision is backed by research that shows that individuals assigned male at birth have an advantage in athletic events, even without going through puberty. 

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe told reporters that athletes would only have to take the gender eligibility test once in their careers.

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The first round of the final women’s golf major of the year, the Women’s Open, tees off this afternoon (AEST). Here’s what you need to know ahead of the tournament.

The Women’s Open was first held in 1976 and became a major in 2001. Like its men’s counterpart, it rotates across the UK’s links courses. A links course is a coastal golf course known for firm fairways, punishing bunkers, and unpredictable weather.

This year, the tournament will be played at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. It's the first time the Women’s Open has ever been played in Wales. 

Women’s golf in Australia is in a very strong place, with Grace Kim and Minjee Lee having won the two most recent major tournaments. 

Kim won her first major earlier this month at the Evian Championship in France, where she produced a remarkable final round of golf to capture the title. Lee won her third major title in June at the Women’s PGA Championship. 

One-time major winner and world number 11 Hannah Green is also expected to be in the hunt for silverware. The nine-player Aussie contingent also includes Steph Kyriacou, Gabriela Ruffels, Cassie Porter, Karis Davidson, Hira Naveed, and Kirsten Rudgeley.

Lee’s victory at the PGA Championship means she now only needs a win at the Women’s Open or Chevron Championship to complete a career grand slam. 

In women’s golf, a career grand slam is achieved by winning four different majors. If a player wins all five major championships throughout their career, it is considered a super career grand slam. Australia’s Karrie Webb is the only player to have captured a super career grand slam, a feat the seven-time major winner achieved in 2002.

The defending champion at the Women’s Open is Lydia Ko of New Zealand. Her victory last year at St Andrews in Scotland marked her third major title.

England’s Lottie Woad is the in-form player heading into the tournament after winning the Scottish Open last weekend.

World number one Nelly Korda is also in the field. The American finished fifth at the Scottish Open last week and second at last year’s Women’s Open. 

You can stream the first round of the Women’s Open from 9:00pm (AEST) tonight on Foxtel or Kayo (free to watch).