Ten things to know from what happened in the world of sport. June 15-21, 2021. US Open, Red Bull F1, Rugby, Cricket...
- Rahm retakes #1. Jon Rahm (ESP) became the first Spanish golfer to win the US Open, after edging out Louis Oosthuizen (ZAF) by one stroke and he regained the Status as World’s #1 golfer, which he briefly had last year. Former #1, Dustin Johnson (USA), was T19 while Phil Mickelson (USA) was T62 in this tournament that eludes him. In women’s golf, Nelly Korda (USA) won the Meijer LPGA Classic to become the first two-time winner of the season.
- Red Bulls. Red Bull Racing extended its F1 Constructors lead with a 1-3 at the French Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen (NED) beating Lewis Hamilton (ENG, Mercedes) for the win and Sergio Pérez (MEX) beating Valtteri Bottas (FIN, Mercedes) for third in the last laps. In North America, Kyle Larson (USA) won his fourth straight NASCAR Cup race. Also, 62 year-old Larry Roeseler (USA) was named the winner of the Baja 500 Off-Road race, after the McMillin brothers were penalized. His first Baja 500 was in 1972.
- Super Max Upset. Paola Longoria (MEX) has rarely lost a Racquetball match in the last 10 years. This weekend she was beaten by young, fellow Mexican Montserrat Mejia -#10 seed- in the LPRO’s TaeamRoot.com Super Max Grand Slam. Mejía also teamed up with Alexandra Herrera (MEX) to win the Doubles Final over Martínez / Rodríguez (GTM).
- Rugby Finals. Benetton (ITA) did not win a single match in the Pro14 Regular Season yet they won the Inter-Continental Pro14 Rainbow Cup, upsetting the Bulls (ZAF) with a 25-8 Final score. This sets the stage for the upcoming United Rugby Championship. In the Southern Hemisphere, Auckland’s Blues (NZL) beat Highlanders (NZL) 23-15 to win the Trans-Tasman Rugby Final.
- Esports. In Counter Strike:Global Offensive, Gambit (RUS) won their first consecutive Major tournament, by defeating Na’Vi (UKR) in the BLAST Spring Finals. In Call of Duty, Atlanta FaZe won the Stage Four Major over World Champions Dallas Empire and secured the #1 seed for the Championships. In DOTA 2, T1 (KOR) won the ESL One Summer 2021 a week after finishing third in the WePlay AniMajor.
- India closing in. India has taken advantage over New Zealand in the Final of the first ICCC Test Cricket World Championship. Rain delayed two days of play meaning the series will go into this weekdays.
- US domination in Water Polo. Team USA won its 14th FINA Women’s Water Polo World League Super Final -7th in a row- out of 17 editions of the tournament. They won their three group stage games and then went on to beat Japan (20-6), Russia (17-8) and Hungary (14-8) en route to the title.
- Shot Put World Record at last. Ryan Crouser (USA), Olympic Champion, broke the Shot Put World Record that had stood since 1990, set by Randy Barnes (USA) in 1990, two years before Ryan was born. His 23.37m mark was set at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
- Motorcycling’s Spanish Comebacks. Marc Márquez E(ESP) won his first Moto GP race in almost two years, after overcoming injury and taking the German Grand Prix. Off road, Laia Sanz (ESP) had two weeks of incredible comebacks. Last week she came back to Trial GP for the first time in 13 years and directly beat 7-time World Champ ion Emma Bristow on Day 1 in Tolmezzo. Bristow came back to win a day later but it was still impressive. This past weekend Sanz came back to another discipline, Enduro, and won her first Enduro World Championship event since 2017.
- Classical O’Brien and Dettori. Jockey Frankie Dettori (ITA) and Trainer Aidan O’Brien (IRL) passed 75 Ascot wins, respectively. Dettori and O’Brien. Dettori also won the Grades 1 Commonwealth Cup riding Campanelle (IRL) and the Queen Anne Stakes riding Palace Pier (ENG). O’Brien was also successful France, winning the Prix de Diane with horse Joan of Arc (IRL), ridden by Ioritz Mendizábal (ESP). He has now every classic in Britain, France, and Ireland at least once.