Good evening!

I hope you’ve had a great start to the week.

This past weekend was a big one for sports fans across the board.

Speaking of sports fans, with the Olympics starting at the end of the week I’d love to hear from you about what Olympic events or athletes you’re most excited to see in action.

Respond to this email directly with your thoughts!

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Stat of the day

42
The number of years since all four of the men’s golf majors were won by Americans in the same year. American Xander Schaufelle broke the drought this morning (AEST) when he won The Open at Royal Troon in Scotland. The win marks Schaufelle’s second major win this year after he won the PGA Championship in May. Fellow Americans Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau won the Masters and U.S. Open respectively. 

Quote of the day

“We did something special in Tokyo, but we acknowledge that we don’t want to be that team any more. We want to be better. The grit of this team, the toughness, I believe we’re better, and we’re able to accomplish something more than we did in Tokyo.”
Australian basketballer Patty Mills after the Boomers beat France 83-82. The Boomers scored in the final moments of the game, courtesy of Dyson Daniels. They will take confidence from the win given France won Silver at the Tokyo Olympics. The Boomers won bronze in Tokyo, the team’s best-ever result at the Olympics.

Random fact of the day

The women’s marathon was not an Olympic event until the Los Angeles 1984 Games. The first winner was American Joan Benoit Samuelson. Samuelson qualified for the Games at the U.S. Olympic Trials just 17 days after having knee surgery. 

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In case you missed it…

🚴‍♂️ Tadej Pogačar won his third Tour de France on Sunday. The 25-year-old Slovenian won the last three stages of the race in dominant fashion and finished with a cumulative six-minute lead over two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (2022, 2023). Pogačar is the first cyclist to win the Giro d’Italia (the professional cycling tour of Italy) and the Tour de France in the same year since Marco Pantani in 1998. 

🏀 The U.S. Women’s Basketball team were beaten by Team WNBA 117-109 in the WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday night. Team WNBA is made up of players from the league who are either ineligible for or did not make the U.S. Olympic team. Arike Ogunbowale starred for Team WNBA, scoring an All-Star Game record 34 points.

🏉 Nathan Cleary returned to the NRL on Sunday and led the Panthers to a 28-26 victory over the Dolphins. Cleary kicked a 42m field goal in extra time to snatch a win in his first game after an extended stint on the sidelines with a hamstring injury. 

🏉 The Wallabies beat Georgia 40-29 in their third straight win under coach Joe Schmidt on Saturday. They will now prepare for the Rugby Championship which begins against the world number one team South Africa at Suncorp Stadium on 10 August.

🏃🏼‍♀️Three Aussie athletes, Nina Kennedy (women’s pole vault), Mackenzie Little (women’s javelin), and Oliver Hoare (men’s one-mile) all won their respective events at the London Diamond League track and field meet on Saturday. All three are competing in Paris and will now head to Montpellier in France for a pre-Olympics camp before the athletics events begin on 1 August.

🏉 The Brisbane Lions won their seventh straight game, beating the Sydney Swans 79-77 at the Gabba in Brisbane on Sunday. The Lions now sit in third on the AFL ladder. The Swans, who are still first on the ladder, lost Dane Rampe and Tom Papely to injury midway through the game. They have lost three of their last four matches by less than a goal (6 points). 

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Super Netball finals commenced over the weekend. The Adelaide Thunderbirds secured their spot in the Grand Final while the Sunshine Coast Lightning’s season came to an end. 

Major Semi-Final

The Adelaide Thunderbirds defeated the Melbourne Vixens 68-43. The margin of 25 goals is the largest in the Super Netball finals history. 

The Thunderbirds’ Lauren Frew was named player of the match. The 22-year-old scored 16 goals.

The Vixens will now play in the Preliminary Final against the West Coast Fever, the winners of the Minor Semi-Final. The Thunderbirds will play the winners of the Preliminary Final in the Grand Final on Saturday 3 August. 

Minor Semi-Final

The Fever beat the Lightning 72-62 in Perth to advance to the Preliminary Final next week and end the Lightning’s 2024 season. 

Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard was named Player of the Match after she scored 67 goals for the Fever. 

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Oscar Piastri won his first-ever Formula One race at the Hungarian Grand Prix overnight. The 23-year-old is the fifth Australian to win an F1 Grand Prix. Piastri’s McLaren teammate, Lando Norris, finished second and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton finished third. 

Piastri v Norris

Piastri started the race in second position behind Norris who secured pole position in the qualifying session on Saturday. Piastri overtook Norris on the first corner but lost his lead due to McLaren’s pit-stop strategy. Norris was given priority to pit-stop on Lap 46 to ensure Hamilton would overtake him.

The McLaren team called for Norris, who sits in second behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen on the overall Driver Standings, to give up his lead to Piastri over the team radio. Norris showed reluctance but eventually gave up his lead on Lap 68 of 70 and Piastri finished the race more than two seconds ahead.

Verstappen drama

Verstappen had a dramatic collision with rival Hamilton late in the race as he aggressively tried to make up ground from fourth position. The crash sent him off track and he lost a place, eventually finishing fifth. Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc finished fourth.

What they said

Piastri said, "[It's] very, very special, This is really the day I dreamed of as a kid, standing on the top step of an F1 podium. Obviously a bit complicated at the end but I put myself in the right position at the start, and thank you to the team for an amazing effort, and an amazing car.”

Overall Standings

As stated earlier, Max Verstappen still leads the Driver Standings on 265 points. Norris is second on 189 points and Leclerc is third on 162 points. 

In the Constructor Standings (the team championship), Red Bull leads with 389 points, Mclaren is second with 338 points and Ferrari is third with 322 points. 

What’s next?

The Belgian Grand Prix is next weekend with the race scheduled for Sunday at 11pm (AEST). You can watch F1 on Foxtel or Kayo. 

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Is it too late to become an Olympian?

Watching young sportspeople on TV can make you wonder if your Olympic dreams are fading. That voice in your head saying you might represent Australia one day is getting quieter. If you’d stuck with it in high school, you could be in Paris now!

Dr. Lyndell Bruce from Deakin's School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences has analysed the age limits for Olympians. Endurance athletes peak in their early-to-mid 30s, while gymnasts and divers peak in their teens or early 20s.

Research shows many Olympic athletes try several sports before specialising, and ‘talent transfers’—switching sports—can be successful. For some Paralympians, the path to elite sport can be swift.

Talent scouts know there's no single path to becoming an elite athlete. Even you could still make the Australian team, though perhaps not for Paris.

Read more of Dr. Bruce’s research on the age of elite athletes and talent identification here.

Looking back…

Looking forward…(All times are AEST)

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