Ten things to know from what happened in the world of sport. August 24-30, 2021. Paralympic Games, the shortest F1 race, Mountain Bike Worlds...
  1. Paralympic Games. The People’s Republic of China leads the Paralympic medal tally after the first week. There have been spectacular performances. Ihar Boki (BLR) has won medals in five competitions, reaching a total of 16 gold medals in swimming since London 2012. Suzuki Takayuki (JPN) won a swimming gold for Japan since his last Paralympic gold in 2008. Lu Dong (CHN) had an impressive win, taking the Women’s 50 meters S5 honors by almost 6 seconds and a World Record.
  2. Paralympic streaks. Several Table Tennis players have repeated their titles. Liu Jing (CHN) won her 7th gold medal, winning since Beijing 2008. Feng Panfeng (CHN), Zhang Bian (CHN), Lei Li Na (AUS) and Zhou Ying (CHN) won their 6th golds since Beijing, respectively. In Rowing, James Fox (GBR) and the rest of the British crew won the mixed coxed four. He is also a five-time World Champion. Others with 4 consecutive gold medals include: Raua Tlili (TUN, Shot Put F41), Oksana Zubkovska (UKR, Long Jump T12) and Jason Smyth (IRL, 100m T13). There are also some newcomers. For example, Nick Mayhugh (USA) took up athletics just two years ago and now became the first athlete to break the 11 seconds barrier in the 100m T37, with a Paralympic gold medal along the way.
  3. Jacques Rogge died. Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (BEL, 1942-2021) deceased this week. He had Parkinson’s Syndrome. Rogge was the IOC President from 2001 to 2013, when he became Lifetime Honorary President. He was previously a Yachting World Champion and Olympic sailor. Some of undertakings under his tenure include the Youth Olympic Games, as well as programs to combat corruption, doping, violence and racism.
  4. Dame Sarah Storey. the most successful Para-cyclist of all time won her 10th Paralympic gold medal in para Cycling by taking the honors in the C5 Individual Pursuit, extending her record. This was her 15th Paralympic gold medal, considering the 5 she previously won in swimming. One day later she also won the C5 Time Trial gold medal, to further increase her legacy.
  5. Sir Lee Pearson. Great Britain remained unbeaten in the Paralympic Dressage team event, having taken every single gold medal from the first edition in Atlanta 1996 to Tokyo 2020. Lee Pearson won three out of three competitions he took part in at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games: the Individual Dressage Championship Test, the Individual Dressage Freestyle Test and the Team Dressage Test to Music. These three gold medals increase his total count to 14, which make him the most successful rider at the Paralympic Games of all time. Lee Pearson rode Breezer, Natasha Baker rode Keystone Dawn Chorus and Sophie Wells rode Don Cara M.
  6. Four golds in four divisions. Amalia Pérez (MEX) became the first Para Powerlifter to win gold in four different categories after she took an upset win in the Women’s -61 kg at Tokyo 2020. This is her fourth consecutive gold medal and sixth consecutive podium, since 2000. Fatma Omar (EGY) equalled her a few days later in 4 golds and 2 silvers after taking the second place in the women’s -67 kg. Liu Lei (CHN) also won his 4th consecutive gold, in the men’s category.
  7. Shortest F1 race ever. The Belgian Grand Prix consisted of only three laps behind the safety car, after safety concerns deemed the track conditions unsafe for racing. Max Verstappen (NED, Red Bull) won, ahead of George Russell (ENG, Williams) and Lewis Hamilton (ENG, Mercedes), just as they qualified. Half points were awarded. This is the first podium for Williams since 2017.
  8. Russians without a flag. The Russian Football Union could not use its national flag as the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup but their fans did sport the flags as they saw their team beat Japan 5-2 in the Final in Moscow. This is the third time a Russian team has taken the title.
  9. Cliff Diving. The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series had its traditional meet at Mostar (BIH), and the winners were not a surprise: Gary Hunt (FRA) reached a record of 40 victories while Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) won her 10th event in a row, this time ahead of wildcard Adriana Jiménez (MEX), who made a good comeback.
  10. Mountain Worlds. The 2021 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships were held in Val de Sole (ITA). 39 year-old Greg Minnaar (ZAF) won the Mens’ Downhill while Myriam Nicole (FRA) won the Women’s event by almost 5 seconds. In Men’s Cross-Country, it was a Swiss duel with Nino Schurter beating Mathias Flückiger (SUI) on the line. Olympic Champion Thomas Pidcock (ENG) was absent but Great Britain did win a gold, as Evie Richards (ENG) won the Women’s race, which included the three Swiss Olympic medalists.