18 seconds to win!

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"It was an amazing night for all of us women. I am crying because it is all because of you guys...To all of the ladies who fought tonight - you did incredible. We made history. I am proud of each and every one of you."

— Amanda Serrano after the all-women's boxing card and match against Katie Taylor at Madison Square Garden, which drew 6 million viewers. Taylor won their third match-up (after also winning the first two), despite Serrano's efforts to come with a different strategy.

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

1. Was the best story at Wimbledon the woman who didn't win? 🎾

In May 2023, Amanda Anisimova posted to Instagram: "It’s become unbearable being at tennis tournaments. At this point, my priority is my mental well-being and taking a break for some time."

She had been ranked as high as #21 and made the French Open semifinals in 2019 at the age of 17. But, by 2022, she was struggling after her dad passed away and was dealing with burnout and stress — playing constantly since she had moved to Miami for tennis at the age of 3. For a change, she stepped away from the sport indefinitely. She hung out with family, painted, listened to music. What she didn't do: Pick up a raquet.

"I learned a lot about myself, my interests off the court and just taking some time to breathe and live a normal life for a bit.

When she came back to tennis eight months later, she was unranked. But she was having fun 💜 Earlier this year she won her first WTA 1000 title at the Qatar Open and cracked the top 20 world rankings. And then last week she beat world #1 Aryna Sabalenka to make her first Wimbledon final

WINNER: In the end, Iga Swiatek dominated the Wimbledon final over an emotional and visibly nervous Anisimova in an astonishing 6-0, 6-0 victory in under an hour 🥇 — something that was not expected for a player who wins more on clay and dirt, and who was coming back after a one-month ban for a heart medication.

But, no one predicted either of those players! Is it time to move to best of five instead of three?

🤔 GOOD POINT: Maria Sharapova called on the media to do better in their coverage of women's tennis

🎾 ALSO: Venus Williams is making a return with a wildcard invite to the DC Open

2. The pink jersey comes down to 18 seconds 🚲

(Elisa Longo Borghini after her Queen stage attack. Photo: Giro d'Italia Women)

On the penultimate Queen stage, defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini 🇮🇹 sent it — going all out to create a gap on the race leader, Marlen Reusser, and pull ahead in the overall standings.

It proved to be a decisive move in a fast and hard race week, where Longo Borghini attacked again and again.

At the end of eight stages, she finished in a cumulative time of just 18 seconds ahead of Reusser and took home the winner's pink jersey.

One complaint: Reusser was given a yellow card on Stage 5 for yelling and gesturing at another rider as a gap opened in the sprint. But besides squinting during the highlights on Youtube, you can't find a playback video of the incident!

Was the Giro all about the comebacks?

Marlen Reusser 🇨🇭 After a 2024 marked by crashes, injuries, and illness, Ruesser has been back in force this year. She led until the second-to-last stage, ended up second, and cemented her position as a favorite going into the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
Sarah Gigante 🇦🇺 In December, she underwent surgery for external iliac artery endofibrosis and missed most of the first half of the year after dislocating her shoulder as she was returning. But was back on top at the Giro and won two stages.
Liane Lippert 🇩🇪 With two stage wins, she seems to have put a hip fracture and rocky last season behind her

🚲 And, yes, there's more exciting cycling to come this month!

😭 I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING: Reusser thanked her fellow competitor for comforting her in the moments after losing the pink jersey

3. WNBA All-Star Weekend heads to Indy

All-Star Weekend heads to Indianapolis this weekend with a three-point contest on Friday at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN and the All-Star Game on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ABC 📺

Who's on the All-Star teams?

Good question.

All-Star teams are picked via a combo of fan votes, other players voting, and media ranking. This year's voting has caused some debate due to the *large* discrepancies between who fans voted for and who other players thought was best. For example: Caitlin Clark was voted the #9 guard by fellow players, but was the fan's #1 pick. (In fact, Clark's entire Fever team seemed to get a huge number of fan votes.)

Clark and Lynx forward Napheesa Collier are serving as captains of the two teams and have selected their rosters from the All-Star line-up. Who will win?

🤔 OOPS: Paige Bueckers was the answer to a 'Jeopardy' question this week — which we thought was a pretty easy Q! but that stumped the contestants

CORRECTION: In last week's newsletter, we mistakenly wrote that the WNBA had signed a $2.2 million media rights deal. That should have been $2.2 BILLION 😳

Tip of the week

Official recommendations tell pregnant women too avoid all activities with any risk of impact and to stop participating in contact (or potential contact) sports — but there is a growing number of athletes trying to maintain not just their fitness and professional livelihood during pregnancy, but also their mental well-being and health. Which raise the question: What are the actual risks? What are the benefits? It's important that we have practical information — not just data from car crashes with monkeys! — so that women can make informed decisions.

A new paper has now surveyed 400 athletes, who continued playing contact or collision sports during their pregnancies, in order to quantify potential adverse effects against health benefits.

Participants said they played contact sports for an average 12.8 weeks with 84 individuals sustaining hard hits and 114 individuals sustaining cumulative low impact contact. There was 1.11 adverse events per 1,000 hours of exposure reported — and, importantly, the respondents also reported improved overall physical and mental health outcomes.

LEARN MORE: The Stanford team at FASTR also had suggestions for three more papers every active pregnant person should read

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The highlight reel

🏃‍♀️ Katie Schide set a new course record at the Hardrock 100 — a 102-mile loop around Colorado with 33,000 feet of elevation — breaking Courtney Dauwalter's previous record by 21 minutes and becoming the first woman to go under 26 hours. And 61-year-old Anna Orgena was the final finisher under the 48-hour time limit. ⛰️
The race was also marked by tragedy when 60-year-old Elaine Stypula, an experienced ultrarunner, died six miles into the event. 💜
🏃‍♀️ Marisa Lizak won the famous Badwater 135, which starts in Death Valley 🔥 and climbs to the trailhead of Mt. Whitney.
🚲 Molly Weaver became the first woman to take the overall record for the circumnavigation of Britain — circling the island in 21 days, 10 hours, and 48 minutes (taking 17 hours off the previous record).
Hannah Otto took the U.S. national title 🇺🇸 in XCM (cross-country marathon mountain biking).
🚲 Professional gravel racers are speaking out about women not getting their own starts in UCI Gravel World Series races and being dangerously mixed in with amateur men.
Leonie Periault 🇫🇷 beat out reigning world champ and her countrywoman, Cassandre Beaugrand, for the World Triathlon Championship Series title in Hamburg. But Australia 🇦🇺 took the mixed relay world championship title over France.
🏊‍♀️ The 10K open water swim race at the world championships in Singapore has been postponed to later this week due to water quality concerns.
A four-time Olympian, Joetta Clark Diggs is back running again at 62 and set a new American 100m Masters record (13.44).
⛳ Grace Kim won her first major LPGA title with three amazing final shots.
The ⚽ semifinals for the European Championships are set and start on Wednesday.
🥍 Premier League Lacrosse players played an exhibition 3v3 game on a boat ⛵ on the Chicago River. ESPN also announced a five-year media deal with the league starting 2026.
🏈 The Women's Football Alliance (one of the only tackle football leagues for women) is looking to expand to Canada now.
⚾ A brand new Women's Pro Baseball League announced tryouts for a new season starting next year with six teams.
The Talons also locked in their spot to the first Athletes Unlimited Softball League championship — and one of the players had 50 family members in attendance to watch.
And after the inaugural seasons of the PWHL 🏒, girls' hockey registration is up with record numbers in both Canada and the U.S.
🏈 The NFL Flag Championships take place this weekend, with girls and boys clubs and coverage on ESPN.
Addy Herman won the world championship title in the World Ninja League 🏆
Caster Semenya, the S. African runner, won a ruling this week saying her right to a fair hearing was violated back in 2020 as part of the long legal battle over athletes with differences in sex development. The case is complicated and not over yet.

Your Feisty recommendations

📺 What to watch: Final Finishers tells the story of the final runners at the New York City Marathon

🎧 What to listen to: "Boxing, Biking, and Breaking Records: Another Week in Women's Sports"

📚 What to read: This heart-breaking first-hand account of being swept away in the horrific Texas floods

💜 What we loved: This tribute to retiring USWNT player Tobin Heath ⚽

🤝 Where to join us: Get ready to do some mountain biking and join us at ROAM Fest this September & get ready to try an XTERRA off-road triathlon