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Use this link and the code FEISTY to get a free Headwind Smart Fan (value $300) with the purchase of a Wahoo treadmill. And get ready to up your indoor run game!

"When you grow up and you don’t have those options, you know, you just watch the boys doing stuff and you’re just the cheerleader. It was just thrilling once I could do my first 5K and race and ride a bike with other people."

— Natalie Grabow, who at 80 became the oldest woman to complete the Ironman World Championships. See our interview with her before the race and hear the full chat on our Feist podcast episode.

Three big stories to know this week in women's sports

1. Go watch the winning Rampage runs 🚲 💥

This is primarily to tell you that if you missed out on the second ever women's Red Bull Rampage on Friday, then it's time to go watch the wild and impressive rides:

• Robin Goomes' winning run (with her mic'd up for it)

• And the POV camera on Hannah Bergemann's second place run

In the end, Goomes 🥇 beat out Bergemann 🥈 by .17 points, with Georgia Astle 🥉 in third. 

Runs are scored not by time, but by difficulty of line, tricks and style, air and amplitude, and control and fluidity. And athletes (and their teams!) spend all week digging in the desert to build out their lines and features — then it's time for the biggest freeride competition in the world. In just their second year with a women's competition, the level of women's riding is already skyrocketing 💪

READ: The Big League: Breaking barriers for women freeriders to compete on the biggest stage

(Robin Goomes. Photo: Long Nguyen / Red Bull Content Pool)

2. "What is happening!" A wild World Triathlon championship 🤯

You have to appreciate the announcers' enthusiasm as the World Triathlon championship finals race blew apart on Saturday. 

We explain why exactly it was so crazy on this week's The Feist podcast, but in short:

• The World Triathlon world champion (Olympic-distance racing — like you see in the Games) is the athlete who wins the Championship series over the course of the season

• The last two defending world champions were tied for #1 going into the Finals race

• In order for someone else to win the world title, both the favorites would have to really drop off in the Finals race and one of the athletes close enough behind them in points would have to pull off an upset win

And that's exactly what happened! First the defending world and Olympic champ fell off the pace and eventually DNF'd. Then the 2023 world champ and a former Olympic runner was dropped during the run and finished 15th. Ultimately, Lisa Tertsch 🇩🇪 (ranked #4 going in) ran to the win and the surprise world title.

World Triathlon Championships week also includes U23, juniors, amateur, and para triathlon world titles. Shoutout to the para winners — classifications are by degree of physical impairment, with lower numbers indicating more severe impairments:

👑 PTWC (wheelchair): Lauren Parker 🇦🇺 winning her 5th world title on home soil

👑 PTS2: Anu Francis 🇦🇺 with a close win ahead of the Paralympic PTS2 champ

👑 PTS3: Elise Marc 🇫🇷

👑 PTS4: Camille Seneclauze 🇫🇷

👑 PTS5: Grace Norman 🇺🇸 continuing an epic undefeated streak with her 6th world title

👑 PTVI: Susana Rodriguez 🇪🇸 a legend (and TIME Magazine cover woman) with seven world championships

3. The first athletes to walk in the Victoria's Secret fashion show

This other sports-adjacent news this past weekend: WNBA star Angel Reese and Olympic gold medal gymnast Suni Lee became the first athletes to walk in the (revamped) Victoria's Secret fashion show.

If you didn't know Victoria's Secret fashion show was back, you're not alone. The icon of the early 2000s made a rebooted return that featured athletes, pregnant models, K-pop singers, and of course lots of sparkles and wings.

But. Did we need it to return? As more than one person has pointed out, not many people were clamoring for this particular spectacle to come back. And was the inclusion of female sports stars helpful or not to its problematic past? As Out of Your League wrote:

"Reese and Lee’s inclusion in the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show may be historical, but I’m struggling to understand how it can be seen as forward progress. I don’t doubt that these women feel empowered and strong as individuals, but VS and its Fashion Show reinforce real harm on a macro level."

We discuss the question at length on this week's The Feist podcast episode. And dive into other recent stunts, like reigning 100m and 200m world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden taking on "100 random guys" in a MrBeast YouTube challenge to win $100,000.

🎧 LISTEN: On this week's The Feist episode — "Victoria's Secret, MrBeast, Red Bull Rampage, and this week in women's sports"

Tip of the week

If you're doing running or cycling races, then odds are you're probably not eating as much as you think you are.

A new study looked at what athletes planned to consume during running and biking events, what they actually consumed, and what they thought they had consumed. Not only were they underfueling from what they had planned to eat — but they also perceived and believed that they were closer to their plan than they really were.

Why the discrepancy? Nerves and sleep quality most impacted the amount that athletes were able to consume before and during the race. Cyclists were also better able to consume more carbs (possibly because they are able to carry more with them on the bike). And certain types of sports nutrition had higher leftover rates — ie. athletes thought they had consumed xx number of gels, but in reality had left portions of the gel in the package.

🤔 LEARN MORE: Discrepancies in Race-Day Carbohydrate Intake Among Endurance Athletes

The highlight reel

• 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️ At the 24-Hour World Championships, Sarah Webster 🇬🇧 set a new world record for the most distance run in 24 hours: 278.622 km (173.13 miles) — with the top three women all running farther than the previous record. There was also confusion leading into the event, with former world record holder Camille Herron reportedly needing to officially turn down her spot on the U.S. team in order for an alternate to be named. However, Herron put out a statement saying she had been in communication regarding accommodations for her autism & ADHD and those requests had not been met. Miscommunication! Ultimately, an alternate was named; but Great Britain, Australia, and Japan topped the team results. 
  
  
• 🚲 The UCI Cycling Track World Championships start in Chile today. The para athletes competed last week — with Claudia Cretti 🇮🇹 winning four gold medals. Cretti went through a bad crash when racing in the Giro Rosa back in 2017 and transitioned to para cycling.
  
  
• In a shortened final race (due to storms), Sofia Gomez Villafañe locked down her third Life Time Grand Prix title. (And brought her knife earrings to the fight 🔪)
  
  
• 🇨🇦 Maria Zambrano set a new Canadian Masters marathon record, running 2:49:47 in the 55-59 age group.
  
  
• Aynalem Desta 🇪🇹 and Bertukan Welde 🇪🇹, both 21, led an Ethiopian sweep at the Amsterdam Marathon (2:17:37 and 2:17:56). Uniquely, athletes run through the city's art museum during the race.
  
  
• The Cape Town Marathon was canceled this weekend, 90 minutes before it was set to start, due to high winds.
  
  
• After running a 2:49:54 at the Twin Cities Marathon, Courtney Dauwalter is set to try another road 26.2 at CIM in California. 🏃‍♀️
  
  
• Sara Bäckström won the 5K Spartan Race obstacle course world championship.
  
  
• 🥾 Jessica Guo became the first woman to complete the 3,600-mile Continental Divide Trail and Great Divide Trail linkup.
  
  
• Jess Rowe and Miriam Payne became the first all-woman team to row across the Pacific Ocean unsupported and nonstop. It took them 165 days at sea to make it from Peru to Cairns, Australia.
  
  
• 💪 Jade Henderson did 733 pull-ups in one hour, setting a new world record.
  
  
• ⛸️ Ami Nakai, making her senior figure skating debut, upset the three-time world champion to win the Grand Prix de France (which kicks off the Grand Prix figure skating season).
  
  
• 🏄‍♀️ At 14, Tya Zebrowski became the youngest surfer to ever qualify for the Championship Tour.
  
  
• The women's college basketball season tips off in November.
  
  
• ⚾ The first four teams in the Women's Professional Baseball League were announced.
  
  
• The Northern Super League playoffs are set and start Nov. 1. ⚽ And two teams are fighting for the final spot in the NWSL playoffs.
  
  
• ⚽ Gotham FC will face Corinthians of Brazil at the first-ever FIFA Women’s Champions Cup in London next year, which is a precursor to the first-ever FIFA Women's Club World Cup in 2028 (to name the best club team in the world).
  
  
• The Sports Illustrated Women's Games, which were supposed to be held at the end of the month, are postponed indefinitely.

Your Feisty recommendations

🎧 What to listen to: "Victoria's Secret, MrBeast, Red Bull Rampage, and this week in women's sports"

📚 What to read: Get ready for the soccer playoff season with Megan Rapinoe's memoir, One Life

📺 What to watch: Sisters — the story of two sisters, one a professional athlete (Heather Jackson) and one who offers her unwavering support (Becca), as they chase two of the biggest trail race finish lines

😂 What made us laugh: Can an average Joe hang with the best long jumpers in the world? No, he can not.

💜 What we loved: Competing on the uneven bars at 72 years old

The Feist is written by Kelly O'Mara. Ads by Ella Hnatyshyn

Live Feisty Media Corporation, 2031 Store St #30, Victoria, British Columbia V8T 5L9, Canada

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