The three big stories to know this week in women's sports

**1. Courtney Dauwalter sets another record at Hardrock 100** 🏃‍♀️

She's 39 years old, but she's just getting faster?! For the third year in a row, Courtney Dauwalter won the famous high-altitude Hardrock 100-mile race in Colorado and was 4th overall (and seemed to have fun doing it).

She broke her course record for the clockwise direction by over 30 minutes — the route changes directions each year
And she broke her overall course record for either direction by just two-and-a-half minutes

While Dauwalter has helped elevate women's ultrarunning, it's not just her. Three women finished Hardrock in the top 10 overall.

Check this out: Nine of the top 10 fastest times in history at Western States (which happened two weeks ago) have been run in the last TWO YEARS! By seven different women! That's the whole field getting faster 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

WATCH: This video from Salomon about Dauwalter's three iconic 100-mile wins in one summer (Western States, Hardrock, and UTMB)

LISTEN: Ultrarunning still suffers from a deep lack of diversity and a focus on uber-exclusive events, which Stef & Carolyn talk about in this episode of 'Making Strides'

(Photo: Matt Shapiro/Hardrock 100)

2. Is flag football the next big sport for girls?

In 2028, flag football will debut at the Olympic Games for both men and women — and, with growing concerns about the longterm health impacts of tackle football, the flag alternative has been gaining even more traction.

Especially with girls. 🏈

According to USA Football, the number of 6- to 12-year-old girls playing flag football has increased by 200% in the last ten years, and high school participation is up over 60% in the last five years. 25 states have made it a sanctioned high school sport or are running a pilot program. And interestingly, NFL Flag reports that half of the high school girls who play flag football were previously not participating in other sports.

WATCH: ESPN will air a NFL Flag Championship this weekend (kinda like the Little League World Series) with both boys and girls divisions equally televised.

What's next?

The American Flag Football League launches its inaugural pro season with men's and women's teams in the spring 2025.

3. Ten days to the start of the Olympics

On July 26, the Paris Opening Ceremonies will kick off — in a massive boat parade down the Seine River (if nothing goes wrong) — and then it'll be two weeks with 10,500 of the best athletes (50% women!) competing in 32 sports. The Olympic torch has scaled Mont Blanc and officially arrived in Paris.

Stay tuned: We'll have a breakdown next week of what events you don't want to miss & details on how to be a part of the fan club and get daily updates from France 🇫🇷

In the meantime, here are some of our favorite Olympics tidbits:

The oldest and youngest athletes: An 11-year-old Chinese skateboarder is believed to be the youngest athlete at the Paris Olympics. And this 58-year-old table tennis player will be making her Olympic debut.
How the Olympic Village feeds all those athletes 🥐
Flavor Flav is officially the five-year sponsor for the U.S. water polo team
The U.S. Olympic gymnastics uniforms will have 10,000 crystals on them (which seems like it would weigh you down!)
What it's like to go through kitting out day with Team GB
The most events? Dutch runner Sifan Hassan is officially entered in the 1500m, 5,000m, 10,000m, and marathon 😳

💜💜💜: For the first time there will be a nursery in the Olympic Village and &Mother will be funding travel grants to offset the cost for athletes to bringing their kids and childcare with them.

READ: 'They Called It 'Improper' to Have Women in the Olympics. But She Persisted'

LISTEN: "The Paralympics: From Rehab Event to Elite Global Competition"

Tip of the week

A new study — and the first to measure these levels — found heavy metals in tampons (both organic and not). And people are, understandably, concerned about putting arsenic and lead up their vaginas.

But, it's important to note that the levels found in this study are very (very!) low. The problem isn't tampons, it's that there are heavy medals in our soil and water, which means they get into our foods and vegetables and cotton, which is what tampons are made out of.

Other studies examining the levels of metals in the blood of women who use tampons and those who don't found no significant difference. So while it's definitely concerning that there are heavy metals in our environment (!) and we definitely need to have more research done on women's health, you probably don't need to toss the tampons yet!

WATCH: Our Selene Yeager breaks down the study — and what you need to know

The highlight reel

🚴‍♀️ Giro d'Italia Women: Going into the final stage, Elisa Longo Borghini had just ONE SECOND over Lotte Kopecky 😳 and many thought she'd get outsprinted by the reigning world champ. But Borghini made her move in the final stretch and became the first Italian to win since 2008 — in her 13th start at the race!
🚴‍♀️ This past weekend should have been the Crusher in the Tushar gravel race, the next in the Life Time Grand Prix series — but it was canceled because of wildfires. The overall series will now be a best four of six.
🎾 Barbora Krejčíková became the 8th different woman to win the Wimbledon title in the last 8 years.
⚽ The USWNT beat Mexico 1-0 in a friendly ahead of the Olympics — but, most importantly, looked like an entirely different team with the new coach and new line-up.
⚽ The historic 1999 World Cup-winning team was also honored and recognized for all they did to pave the way for women's sports.
A week after she became the 5th fastest 1500m runner in history, Jess Hull broke the 2,000m world record. 🏃‍♀️
🚲 Hannah Otto Finchamp unveiled the movie of her FKT on the 137-mile Kokopelli Trail.
🏊‍♀️ Katie Humphrey completed a historic 24-mile swim from the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the inner Baltimore harbor.
Kat Matthews won Ironman Vittoria — but we especially loved the friendly chat she and 3rd place (and good friend) Ruth Astle had during transition.
🥇 World Triathlon Championship Series - Hamburg: The last Olympic tune-up race for triathletes turned into a potential preview with French favorite Cassandre Beaugrand taking the win.
🤸 A former U.S. gymnast made a bunch of comments after the Olympic Trials about how girls used to work harder and SafeSport regulations have made it tough for coaches to really coach 😳 Everyone — including Simone Biles — thinks this is dumb.
An investigation into allegations against the San Diego NWSL team from former employees about bullying and harassment found they did not violate league policy.

Your Feisty recommendations

What to read: "Such Great Heights: Women Ascend to Slopestyle's Highest Level"

What to listen to: Alison Désir on climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with a group of all Black women

What to watch this weekend: The U.S. women's national team 🏀 will take on the WNBA All-Stars in their final Paris send-off game on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET airing on ABC

It's funny 'cause it's true: "Very sad to announce I was also not selected for the Olympic Games"

"I probably shouldn't have been the first woman to win that award...How did Serena never win it?"