Ten things to know from last week. May 17-23, 2022 include: the greatest women's football team, the PGA Championship, EuroLeague...
Five things to know from last week
  1. PGA Championship. Justin Thomas (USA) won his second golf major, as he won the PGA Championship for the second time (he also won in 2017). The win was not straightforward, as he had to overcome a seven-stroke deficit to force a playoff against Will Zalatoris (USA), and this was aided by a mistake by debutant leader Mito Pereira (CHL), hit his drive into a water hazard and made a double-bogey in the 72nd.
  2. EuroLeague. The Anadolu Efes Sports Club (TUR) won its second Basketball EuroLeague in a row by defeating another big Spanish team in the Final. Last year they beat Barcelona and now they beat Real Madrid, on an exciting 58-57 in Belgrade.
  3. A gift? Max Verstappen (NED, Red Bull) now leads the Formula 1 Driver’s World Championship after having won the Spanish Grand Prix. This win was not without controversy, though, as he inherited the lead after a mechanical problem in Charles Leclerc’s (MCO) Ferrari, and then he left the track. This allowed his teammate Sergio Pérez (MEX) to take the lead. Eventually Max was given a preferred tyre strategy and caught Sergio. The team asked the Mexican driver to hand him the lead and Max escaped at the front. Third was George Russell (ENG, Mercedes). In the US, Dave Blaney (USA) won NASCAR’s All-Star race after an overtime. He thought he had won before that overtime and had taken his window net down, before being told that a yellow flag came out before he crossed the finished line. Somehow, he managed to put it back and win the race.
  4. Preakness. Early Voting (USA), mounted by José Ortiz (PUR), won the Preakness Stakes, which had the notable absence of Kentucky Derby winner, Rich Strike (USA). In France, Docteur de Ballon and Bertrand Lestrade (FRA) repeated their Grand Steeplechase de Paris win. The jockey also won the Group 1 Grande Course de Haies d’Auteuil, with Hermes Baie (FRA). Another Frenchman, Christophe Lemaire, won the Yushun Himba (Japanese Oaks) for a third time, now mounting Stars On Earth (JPN). In Ireland, a thrilling Gold Cup was won by Alenquer (FRA), mounted by Tom Marquand (ENG).
  5. PBR. Daylon Swearingen (USA) won his first PBR World Finals (Bull riding), which lasted for several days, after catching Ricardo Vieira (BRA), who had won the season point standings. Swearingen bucked off his first bull but eventually Vieira bucked off three, and the new Champion rode away with the win.
  6. The greatest women’s team. Olympique Lyonnais Féminin is consolidating itself as the most successful women’s football club ever, as they won the UEFA Women’s Champions League for a record-extending 8th time, having won six of the last seven editions of the tournament. They beat FC Barcelona (ESP) in the Finals and only lost once during the tournament. Sarah Bouhaddi, Eugénie Le Sommer, and Wendie Renard (FRA) have been part of the team in all eight title wins.
  7. Monstrous. Tom Meents (USA), in his famed Max-D, won record-extending 13th and 14th Monster Jam World Championships in Monster Trucks, as he won his record sixth freestyle title -his first since 2013-, and the second Two Wheel Skills. He had also won the other edition of that event, in 2019. Grave Digger’s Brandon Vinson (USA) won the Racing event, while Son-uva Digger’s Ryan Anderson (USA) won the High Jump, with 38.906 feet, a new World Record.
  8. The best in two sports. Beau Baron (USA) dominates not only in one sport but two. He won both the SXS Pro Production and the ATV Pro categories at the World Off-Road Championship Series in Cedar City (Utah), which extend his record as the winningest competitor in WORCS and consolidates his lead in the Championship.
  9. ONE Comeback. Having made his pro debut in 2011, Joseph Lasiri (ITA/MAR) lost his first four fights in the ONE promotion, from 2018 to 2019 but some wins allowed him to contend for the ONE Muay Thai Strawweight Championship against Prajanchai P.K.Saenchaimuaythaigym (THA). He seized the moment and pulled the upset with a TKO by retirement after three rounds, as he had batter the World Champion’s face. A lesson to not give up. In the big fight for the ONE Muay Thai Featherweight Championship, Petchmorakot Petchyindee (THA) won a split decision against Jimmy Vienot (FRA), in his third title defense. He has been the only ONE World Champion in the division.
  10. Three last-lap wins! The World Superbike races in Estoril, Portugal featured sensational last lap passes to define the wins. In race 1, Álvaro Bautista (ESP, Ducati) passed World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (TUR, Yamaha) on the final straight, then Jonathan Rea (NIR, Kawasaki) passed Razgatlioglu after a mistake with a few corners to go, and finally Rea won won the race 2 ahead of Bautista, with five passes amongst them on the last lap.