Five things to know from what happened in the world of sport last week. October 13-19, 2020.
- Kiwis triumph in Australia. In a big week for Australian sport it was mostly New Zealanders that took the wins. In front of over 40,000 spectators, the All Blacks defeated Australia 27-7 in the game 2 of the Bledisloe Cup (Rugby), in Auckland. In Australia, their most prestigious car race, the Bathurst 1000 was won by Shane van Gisbergen (NZL) and Garth Tander (AUS), while Scott McLaughlin (NZL) took the Supercars Championship. In Horse Racing, the Caufield Cup was won by Kiwi-born horse Verry Elleegant, ridden by Mark Zahra (AUS), while in New Zealand, Melody Belle took her 12th Grade 1 win at the Livamol Classic. But it will certainly be an Australian team that wins the AFL Final this Saturday, between Richmond and Geelong. (The Guardian’s Preview)
- Magnus wins but loses again. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) lost his first classical game in over two years last week at Norway Chess, but he then managed to rebound and secure the tournament win with a match to go. He did lose that last match, against Levon Aronian (ARM), who secured third place, behind Alireza Firouzja (IRN). Check the moves on Chessbase.
- Swimming Series return. The Para Swimming World Series returned to action in Germany, albeit with less than ten countries competing. Elena Krawzow (GER) broke the women’s 50m breaststroke SB12 World Record and Gina Böttcher (GER) broke it in the 200 Individual Medley S4. Spain took 12 golds and 35 medals in total. The International Swimming League also returned to action; it will be fully held in Hungary. Swimming World analyses its improvements.
- Extreme Canoeing. The ICF Slalom World Cup featured Extreme Canoeing Races, which they want to make an Olympic discipline. The men’s race was won by Pedro Gonçalves (BRA), who also took bronze in Slalom Canoe. Alsu Minazova (RUS) took the women’s gold. Another sport with a World Cup was Downhill Mountain Bike in Maribor, which France keeps on dominating: Loris Vergier (FRA) took both men’s golds. Watch the winning runs of Race 2 (Red Bull TV)
- Kyle Larson’s comeback. Kyle Larson was just reinstated by NASCAR and will be able to race in 2021. He has been suspended since April for calling a friend “nigger” during a simracing event. Since, he has engaged in several activities geared at positive social change, and rehabilitation. In sport, he rebounded and is the #1 Sprint Car racer, and last weekend he won the USAC Silver Crown Champ Car Series Bettenhausen 100 at Illinois State Fairgrounds. He completed the triple sweep of one-mile midwest ovals, having won at DuQuoin, and Indiana State Fairgrounds. Another triplet in dirt ovals was Russia’s third straight Speedway of Nations World Championship in Poland, which was almost rained out – watch (SpeedwayGP).
