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"The only ice Minnesota wants. Go Frost!"
— Anti-ICE signs from spectators were confiscated as they entered the arena for the Frost-Torrent PWHL game, after the killing of a woman by ICE officers in Minneapolis. The shooting has prompted widespread protests and indiscriminate crackdowns by federal agents throughout the region.
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Three big stories to know this week in women's sports
1. Figure skating history made ⛸️
First, Alysa Liu set the highest score ever in the short program at the U.S. national championships. Then, Amber Glenn set an even higher score.
Ultimately, the two went 1-2 — with Glenn becoming the first woman to win three consecutive national titles since Michelle Kwan. She's also the oldest woman, at 26, to represent the U.S. on an Olympic singles figure skating team and the first openly LGBT female skater to do so.
Are the U.S. women back on top? At least they're having fun with each other in the process.
🇺🇸 FUN FACTS: Get to know the whole U.S. team
And in Canada: 42-year-old Deanna Stellato-Dudek unveiled the first-ever figure skating costume from Oscar de la Renta. 👗 Then, she did the first-ever assisted backflip in pairs figure skating.
In 2024, Stellato-Dudek became the oldest woman to ever win a figure skating world title — after coming back to the sport following a 16-year break. Now, she'll try to repeat that history at the Olympics 🥇
📺 WATCH: The Netflix docuseries special on ice dancing, Glitter & Gold |
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(Photo: U.S. Figure Skating)
2. What will happen with the WNBA contracts? 🏀
The league and Players Association failed to reach a new collective bargaining agreement by the deadline. With teams needing to extend offers for the coming season, and the majority of veteran players opting for free agency (in order to take advantage of the growth in the league), both sides are considering a moratorium while they try to continue hashing out details.
In the wake of the WNBA chaos, the 3v3 Unrivaled league had a record-breaking first week — including Kelsey Plum tying the league record for single-game points and then Dearica Hamby breaking that record.
With athletes looking for a paycheck, will the competitor flashy well-funded Project B league take off? The first venue, in Tokyo for early 2027, has been announced.
3. U.S. Supreme Court hears cases on trans athletes
In the whole state of West Virginia, there is just one trans girl who wants to play sports — but, since the state banned trans girls from competing, she's not allowed to join the track team with her teammates. Now she's taking the ban to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's one of two cases being decided over whether the bans on trans girls playing sports will be upheld or overturned or (worse!) expand nationwide.
So far, the Supreme Court appears inclined to uphold the state bans.
Why is this a problem for all girls and women? Coach Jackie said it best:
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These bans almost all include provisions for people to report kids they suspect of being trans. Imagine that playing out at your local youth soccer practice at the park!
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This policing of femininity hurts all women, especially those who may not conform with traditional gender standards.
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Participating in youth sports and community is also a key part of growing up as a kid, and when trans girls, who face exceedingly high rates of depression and suicide, are excluded it hurts their sense of belonging and safety.
Let them play!
The new Feisty Women's Performance podcast
The lack of research on active women and female athletes is staggering. Less than 7% of sports science studies have been conducted exclusively on women. When we talk about women over 40 that number drops to 3%. Women need health and performance research (and advice) built specifically for them.
That's why we're relaunching the Feisty Women's Performance podcast with host Dr. Erin Ayala.
In the first episode, we're joined by Dr. Emily Kraus from Stanford, who outlines specific issues that women have to deal with: like an increase in bone stress injuries due to underfueling and hormone fluctuations. |
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🎧 Follow the Feisty Women’s Performance podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Youtube, or wherever you listen.
The highlight reel
- With Agnes Ngetich's win on the 10km course, Kenya 🇰🇪 took its 10th consecutive title at the Cross-Country World Championships — held in Florida this past weekend with unique obstacles. While Jess Hull and the Australian team 🇦🇺 won the 4x2km wild mixed relay.
- 🏃♀️ Olympic marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel has moved to the trails, breaking the women's course record in the Bandera 50km and winning the race overall. Next up? The Black Canyon 100K.
- 🏃♀️ 🏃♀️ 🏃♀️ And at the Houston Marathon, Calli Hauger-Thackery followed up a win at the Honolulu Marathon last month with a win in very different conditions this month — followed by Sara Hall, who was just supposed to be a pacer but didn't stop running! There were also a handful of new Olympic Trials qualifiers, including 49-year-old Dot McMahan, who just qualified for her 6th Olympic Trials.
- 🎿 Lindsey Vonn won her second World Cup downhill of the season. She's not just back...
- And Mikaela Shiffrin won her 70th slalom World Cup — breaking her own total record over and over.
- 🥇 Eileen Gu won the first halfpipe World Cup of the season last month — upping her total to 19 wins across freestyle ski and halfpipe.
- Chloe Kim also says she'll be back from a labrum tear in time for the Olympics.
- The U.S. 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 women swept the podium and the top four spots of the dual moguls World Cup 🎿 , with the final Olympic qualifying event this upcoming weekend. Who will get the competitive spots?
- 🎾 Ahead of the Australia Open, which will have a record $111.5 million prize purse equally split between men and women, Aryna Sabalenka won back-to-back Brisbane titles.
- 🏒 The New York Sirens will host the first PWHL game at Madison Square Garden.
- Canada named their Olympic hockey team 🏒, while the U.S. did over the holidays.
- 🥎 The AUSL announced all six cities for their inaugural softball season: Durham, NC; Chicago, IL; Oklahoma City, OK; Portland, OR; Round Rock, TX; Salt Lake City, UT.
- The opening night game for League One Volleyball (LOVB), which aired on USA, saw its highest ratings for opening day. 🏐
- 🏌️♀️ LPGA stars will play in the off-season indoor virtual golf league, WTGL, starting this winter.
- World champion Chloe Dygert 🚲 has launched a GoFundMe for good friend and track cycling icon Sarah Hammer-Kroening, who required emergency vascular surgery.
- Former Olympic track gold medalist Benita Fitzgerald Mosley has been named the new CEO of the U.S. Center for SafeSport.
- Strava has confidentially filed for an IPO.
Your Feisty recommendations
🎧 What to listen to: We'll say it again just in case you haven't listened yet: "How the Female Athlete Research Gap Affects *All* Women with Dr. Emily Kraus"
📺 What to watch: In 1980, a group of women completed the first winter female Presidential Traverse
📚 What to read: If you're looking for more hockey romance novels, may we suggest: Irresistible You
💜 What we loved: Could you squat an NFL quarterback? How about all of these players?
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