Remember the Backyard Ultra?

It’s an extreme endurance event that requires athletes to run a 6.7-kilometre loop (also known as a ‘yard’) on the hour, every hour until there is just one athlete standing.

The World Team Championship began on Saturday, which saw teams of up to 15 runners from 67 nations all begin Backyard Ultras simultaneously in their respective countries. The Championship goes to the team that can tally the most combined yards.

The Australian team, running a loop in Wollongong, finished with a total of 1069 team yards, its best-ever effort.

The last Aussie standing was Dan Camac, who completed yard no.87 alone. That means he ran a total of 582.9 kilometres over three days and 15 hours.

At the time of writing, the U.S. is in first (1073 yards), Australia is in second and there are 13 runners from five countries (U.S., Belgium, France, Japan, Great Britain) still going.

You can follow it here.

47
The number of points scored by Abbey Ellis for the Townsville Fire in its 86-68 win over the Adelaide Lightning in the WNBL on Wednesday night. Ellis’ individual effort marks the equal-fifth-highest score in WNBL history and the highest in 21 years.

“It’s perfectly appropriate if part of his deal is they’re going to supply a helicopter to him as long as it’s just a deal between the Fanatics and LeBron and no team is involved.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver responding to a question on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show” about LeBron James using a helicopter to commute from his residence in New York City to Philadelphia, where the team he plays for, the 76ers, is based. The helicopter, provided to him by sports apparel company Fanatics, has raised questions about whether or not it meets the league’s salary cap regulations. James’ commute takes between 30 and 45 minutes, as compared to about two hours by car. The 41-year-old made his 76ers debut, winning 106-100 against reigning NBA champions, the New York Knicks.

Earlier this month, former U.S. national team swimmer Catherine Breed became the first person to swim the entire length of the 1,448-kilometre California coastline. The 33-year-old swam from north to south, completing roughly 16 kilometres a day for 111 days.

🏏 Australia’s women’s cricket team has retained the Rose Bowl, defeating New Zealand by 40 runs in the second T20 of the three-match series. The Rose Bowl is a trophy awarded to the winner of the annual One-Day cricket series between Australia and New Zealand’s women’s cricket teams. This year, it has been expanded to include the winner of the T20 series. Ash Gardner starred for Australia, scoring 84 runs and taking two wickets as Australia secured an unassailable 2-0 series lead. The final T20 will be played on Thursday.

🏏 South African men’s cricket captain Temba Bavuma has helped his side complete a stunning turnaround on day three of the second Test against Australia in Gqeberha. Bavuma began the day on 41 runs and with his team on shaky ground at 5-97 before producing a batting masterclass and career-high score of 179 runs from 334 balls. The 36-year-old was helped by tail-end batters Marco Jansen (85 runs) and Simon Harmer (82 runs) before being dismissed by Australia's Mitchell Starc. South Africa declared at 9/425 and sent Australia in to bat at the end of the day, which proved successful as opener Nic Maddinson was dismissed for a duck (0 runs). The Aussies will resume their first innings tonight at 1/3.

🚣 Bella Scammell has won Australia’s first-ever gold medal at the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals in China. In her debut in the coastal women’s solo event, Scammell defeated China’s Zhu Wenjie in the final. Scammell, who has rowed for about 10 years, said it was “the most fun” she had ever had rowing. Australia was among six nations to win a gold medal, and also took home two silver and one bronze. Coastal Rowing will make its Olympic debut in 2028.

🏉 Australia will field its first women’s wheelchair rugby team this December. The team is set to compete at the inaugural Women’s World Wheelchair Rugby Championship in Paris. Paralympian Shae Graham will captain the team, marking another milestone after becoming the first Australian woman to compete in Paralympic wheelchair rugby at Tokyo 2020. Australia’s squad includes four women who were selected for the 2026 World Championship in Brazil, the most of any nation. Graham said “we’re making history,” adding the team hoped to set a standard for future generations.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi and George Finlayson.

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Officials have unveiled the logo and jersey for the PNG Chiefs, as the NRL’s newest expansion team prepares to enter the competition in 2028.

The unveiling comes days after New Zealand Rugby unsuccessfully challenged the PNG Chiefs in New Zealand’s High Court over a trademark dispute.

Here’s what to know.

The Chiefs revealed their colours and playing jersey in Papua New Guinea earlier today.

The team’s jersey will be predominantly black, while its red, white and gold logo was designed by local graphic artists. Renowned local artist TABU designed the jersey, incorporating cultural drawings.

Last week, New Zealand’s High Court rejected New Zealand Rugby’s (NZR) bid for an interim injunction over the franchise’s name.

In an earlier statement, NZR said “if the NRL uses ‘Chiefs’ as the name for its expansion team playing and trading in those same markets, it will cause significant confusion and damage”.

NRL’s executive chairman Peter V’landys responded, saying “the hypocrisy is mind-blowing”. He referenced Super Rugby’s Auckland Blues team using the NSW Blues name with no “consultation or approval” in 1996.

On the High Court’s decision, NZR CEO Steve Lancaster said “it is not a judgement on the strength of our case, and the matter will still be heard in full”.

PNG’s logo and jersey unveiling comes as the franchise prepares to enter the NRL in 2028.

Reporting by Pavitra Ravi.

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American racecar driver Fred Lorenzen, who died in 2024 at the age of 89, has become the first NASCAR driver to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).

The degenerative brain disease is linked to repeated blows to the head and can only be diagnosed after a person has died.

Here’s what to know.

NASCAR, or the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, runs the major car racing series in North America, using race cars styled on everyday road vehicles. It was founded in 1948, and its top division is the Cup Series, which includes the Daytona 500.

Nicknamed “Golden Boy”, Lorenzen raced in NASCAR’s top series between 1956 and 1972, winning 26 races from 158 starts, including the 1965 Daytona 500. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015.

The Concussion & CTE Foundation announced this week that researchers at the Boston University CTE Center had examined Lorenzen’s brain and found stage three of the disease, on a scale of four.

Lorenzen’s family says he was diagnosed with dementia in his 60s. He pledged to donate his brain for research in 2016, after fellow driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. announced he would do the same.

Earnhardt Jr., one of the most popular NASCAR drivers this century, had at least two serious concussions during his racing career and was inspired to donate his brain by athletes from other sports such as American football and soccer.

Lorenzen’s diagnosis follows an announcement last month by the family of three-time Cup champion Darrell Waltrip, who said he has frontotemporal degeneration, a form of dementia, complicated by “possible” CTE. That case is suspected rather than confirmed.

Lorenzen’s children, Chris Lorenzen and Amanda Lorenzen Gardstrom, have donated $US1 million to the foundation to help fund a helpline for drivers and their families and speed up research into diagnosing CTE in living people. The family said NASCAR declined to join the initiative.

Gardstrom said: “While he may be the first race car driver diagnosed with CTE, we know from outreach to other drivers that he isn’t the only one suffering.”