Ten things to know from last week. July 5-11, 2022 included: the World Games, Wimbledon, F1...
- Ice, road & track. Bart Swings (BEL), current Winter Olympic Champion in Speed Skating, had a very impressive World Games participation. He won four gold medals in Road and Track Speed Skating, and in three of them, the competition wasn’t even close. One day he won the 10,000 m elimination race on the track and he followed up a few hours later with the road 10,000 m point race, where he won with 27 points, to Daniel Zapata’s (COL) 8. Johana Viveros (COL) also won four gold medals in the women’s long-distance events.
- More figures. Other figures of world sport reiterated their status as the best, winning gold medals at The World Games. Sara López (COL) won Archery’s Compound team competition with Daniel Muñoz, although she was upset by Ella Gibson (ENG, GBR) in the women’s individual final. In Powerlifting, Oleksiy Bychkov (UKR) won his seventh world-class gold (Men’s Super heavyweight) and Yukako Fukushima (JPN) her sixteenth (Women’s Lightweight), while Bonica Brown (USA) was upset by Rhaea Stinn (CAN) in the Women’s Super heavyweight, after a close call in Brown’s last attempt. Agata Sitko (POL) won gold in Women’s Heavyweight and broke the Equipped World Records in Bench Press, Deadlift, and Total.
- World Games on water. Kiszli Vanda (HUN), a six-time World Champion, won gold in the women’s Kayak Sprint in Canoe Marathon. Another Hungarian, Petra Senánszky, won two gold medals in Finswimming and one in Lifesaving’s Women’s 4 × 50 m obstacle relay, where Hungary and Poland tied and had to share the gold. Max Poschart (DEU) won two golds in Finswimming, while Germany won nine gold medals in Lifesaving, including a World Record in the Men’s 4 × 25 m manikin carry relay. 17-year-old Sofiia Hrechko (UKR) won gold in the Women’s 200m surface in Lifesaving.
- Urban sports. Break dancing made its debut in a global multi-sport event at The World Games two years before its Olympic debut. It was an All-American final in the men’s division, with Victor Montalvo (USA) beating Jeffrey Louis (USA) for gold, while Ami Yuasa (JPN) denied Sunny Choi (USA) in the women’s final. Another urban sport making a debut in these kinds of games was Parkour Gymnastics, where Noa Diorgina Man (NED) and Miranda Tibbling (SWE) exchanged gold and silver in women’s freestyle and speed, respectively. Ioakeim Theodoridis (GRC) won the men’s freestyle and Bohdan Kolmakov (UKR) won Men’s Speed. The other was Drone Racing, which was won by Killian Rousseau (FRA).
- Wimbledon. Novak Djokovic (SRB) became the first player in the Open Era to win Wimbledon after being down in Quarterfinals, Semifinals, and the Final. He came back from being two sets down against Nick Kyrgios (AUS) to win his 21st Grand Slam tournament, extending his record. He became the fifth man to win four tournaments in a row in a major tournament, he also broke the men’s record for most finals in a Grand Slam tournament -with 32-, and also became the first player to surpass 80 matches won in these kinds of tournaments. The women’s singles tournament saw Elena Rybakina (KAZ) win her first Grand Slam tournament, beating Ons Jabeur (TUN), the first Arab and African woman in a Grand Slam Final. Matthew Ebden and Max Purcell (AUS) won an excellent five-set Men’s finals game against Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic (HRV). Ebden had lost the Mixed Doubles against Neal Skupski (ENG) and Desirae Krawczyk (USA). FInally, the women’s Doubles was won by Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková (CZE).
- Wheelchair tournaments. Shingo Kunieda (JPN) continues to extend his legacy as the best men’s wheelchair tennis player of all time, winning his 49th and 50th Grand Slam titles, at Wimbledon 2022. In Singles, he completed a Golden Slam, by winning the Paralympic Games and each Grand Slam tournament in a row. He also won the Men’s Doubles tournament with Gustavo Fernández (ARG), beating Alfie Hewett (ENG) and Gordon Reid (SCO), who had won ten Grand Slams in a row. He is now second of all-time in Men’s Doubles Grand Slams. Diede de Groot (NED) was also impressive. She won in Women’s Wheelchair Singles, in her 10th consecutive tournament win including Grand Slams, the Masters, and Paralympic Games. She and Aniek van Koot (NED) were beaten in the Women’s Wheelchair Doubles Finals by Yui Kamiji (JPN) and Dana Mathewson (USA). Sam Schröder (NED) did the Double in Quads, winning the Singles and Doubles tournament, with Niels Vink (NED).
- Motorsport. Charles Leclerc (MCO) won Red Bull home’s Austrian Grand Prix over Max Verstappen (NED, Red Bull), and is now second in the standings, as Sergio Pérez (MEX, Red Bull) collided with George Russell (ENG, Mercedes) in the first lap and had to retire. Lewis Hamilton (ENG, Mercedes) was third. In the World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Monza, the Alpine of André Negrão (BRA), Matthieu Vaxivière, and Nicolas Lapierre (FRA) took advantage of the success ballast to beat the Toyotas. In NASCAR, Atlanta’s Chase Elliott (USA) won his home race to continue leading the Championship. In Motorcycling’s TrialGP Toni Bou (ESP) won yet again in the German round and continues to lead.
- Dancing stars. Gabriele Goffredo and Anna Matus (MDA) just won their 9th World Championship or World Games title in Latin Dance at The World Games 2022, which puts them in the discussion for the best DanceSport partnership of all time. They have won every world-level event since 2015. They have won 54 of the last 56 major tournaments they have entered, including the last three World Games gold medals.
- Wild ending in Bowling. The PBA League’s Elias Cup had an astounding finish. The Portland Lumberjacks overcame a 2-0 deficit for their third consecutive win of this Cup, this time against the Dallas Strikers. After very strong performances by both teams, the fifth game saw consecutive splits by both teams. In the ninth frame, Portland’s Kris Prather (USA) missed a nine-pin, opening the door for Matt Ogle (USA) to win for Dallas but he left a seven-pin, which allowed Wes Malott (USA) to take the win for Portland. Then came seven-time PBA Major winner Norm Duke (USA) to close the game and his PBA League career with a strike. The other members of the Lumberjacks were Kyle Troup (USA) and Arturo Quintero (MEX). At The World Games, Denmark had a good performance, winning the two gold medals in Doubles (Men’s and Women’s). Shannon O’Keefe (USA) lost the Doubles finals but had already won the Women’s singles. Sam Cooley (AUS) won the Men’s singles.
- Debut win. Causeway (USA) won the Belmont Derby on his Turf debut. He was mounted by Julien R. Leparoux (USA). A classic agains Emmanuel (USA) could not happen, as he was suspended from the race on on veterinarian record violations.