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$4 billion

- The missed opportunity from a lack of women's sports merchandise, according to a new analysis. But don't worry, we've got some merch coming for you 😉

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

1. The women at Western States are getting faster and faster 🏃‍♀️

For most of the day on Saturday, Katie Schide was ahead of course record pace at the 100-mile Western States race — which goes from the Olympic Valley ski resort up and over the mountains to end in Auburn, California. It's the world's oldest 100-mile race — having started as a race against horseback riders. 

In the end, Schide won in 15:46:57 — a time that also made her the 13th runner *overall* across the line on a very fast day — and she looked smooooth doing it.

But what's amazing is how fast all the women were and how quickly the sport is progressing now. 

The progress of the course records

In 2012, Ellie Greenwood set a course record at Western States of 16:47, which then stood for over a decade. It wasn't until last year that both Courtney Dauwalter and Katie Schide went under that time, which had been thought nearly untouchable.

In 2023, Dauwalter became the first woman to run under 16 hours — absolutely destroying the previous course record. 

This year, in 2024, Schide won the race and became the second woman to ever go under 16 hours. But behind her all of the top three women also went under that old mark set by Ellie Greenwood. That includes Fuzhao Xiang in second, who went 16:20 on debut (ie. the first time she'd ever run this course!). And even 4th place, Emily Hawgood, ran 16:48 — a time that would have won nearly every other year.

What's happening?

Sure, it was a fast day overall. The men's race was also blistering. But that's not all that's happening.

Partially, although the race is still only around 27% women, more women are racing ultras and getting on trails — which raises the overall level of competition. More women = more women who will turn out to be amazing at this.

Partially, the sport is expanding globally — Fuzhao Xiang was the first female runner from China to crack into the top 10 — which also brings in more people and makes the races more competitive.

Partially, we're also seeing more investment in the women's race, including streaming it, supporting it, and promoting it. We are 100% here for the women's race.

What can still be done?

Trail running and ultrarunning, and Western States especially, are still overwhelmingly white. 95.4% of respondents in the Trail Ultra Project survey last year were white.

Changing that to reach more people and more communities will also expand the sport — which, ultimately, will help it grow and make it more competitive. Think about all the amazing runners from countries in Africa who haven't even gotten into ultras yet!

Changing that will also take some time and focused resources. 

That's why we love to see the first Hijabi runner to finish the Western States 100 💜 More of this please.

READ: 'Meet the Woman Who's Really Running Western States'

(Photo: Western States Endurance Run)

2. 'woke up an Olympian' 💁‍♀️

We promise this isn't going to become a running newsletter, but! The U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials were so emotional and dramatic, we're going to need to catch our breath now that it's over.

1500m madness

If somehow you missed the replay of this race, watch it. Five of the top ten best times in U.S. history were run in this race on Sunday. Eight women ran under 4 minutes! It took running a 3:55 to even make the Olympic team!

And Nikki Hiltz's kick in the final stretch was next level. 

Hiltz, who has always raced in the women's category, came out in 2021 as identifying as non-binary and as transgender — meaning they don't identify as the gender they were assigned at birth. They've since said being open about who they are has been a weight lifted off their shoulders and helped with their running. 

"woke up an Olympian"

The other best highlights

• Weini Kelati won the 10,000m, at the same track where she left a youth world championship in 2014 and defected from Eritrea to seek asylum in the U.S.
  
  

• Behind her, Florida NCAA standout Parker Valby grabbed her first Olympic spot (which will likely be confirmed after rankings are finalized) — after taking 4th in the 5,000m earlier last week. "I didn't come this far to just come this far"
  
  

• What happens when there's no clear favorite and everyone thinks they have a shot at qualifying? The chaotic (and exciting) women's 3,000m steeplechase final.
  
  

• Gabby Thomas 👑 won the 200m — making the first time the U.S. will send six different women in the 100m and 200m (ie. no one qualified in both events).
  
  

• And there was a reason the 10-day Trials closed with the women's 400m hurdles. In which Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone tied her existing world record. Let's put it this way: She's so good at the 400m hurdles that she ran the Olympic standard for the open non-hurdling 400m!
  
  

• BTW, 58-year-old Michelle Rohl won't be going to the Olympics — she doesn't have the standard — but she did take 3rd (!!!) in the 20km race walk.

WATCH: Anna Cockrell using her post-race interview to recognize Dalilah Muhammad for revolutionizing the 400m hurdles and changing the event for all the women who came after her had us like 😭

Other Olympic qualification news:

- The U.S. Olympic soccer team was announced — the first under the new coach Emma Hayes and with some surprising names. And the Canada soccer team was announced.

- Jamaica also held its Track Olympic Trials this week (though their system leaves some room for discretion and not every athlete has to be top three). Shericka Jackson dominated the 100m & 200m and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price qualified for her 5th Olympics!

- An 11-year-old skateboarder from China will be the youngest to compete at the Olympics.

3. Injury after injury at U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials 

It was the last big Olympic Trials, and it was a doozy.

First, we got word that Skye Blakely (a member of the last two U.S. teams that won gold at the world championships) ruptured her Achilles during training two days before the Trials were set to start. Then, in a 30-minute span, Kayla DiCello (an alternate at the Tokyo Olympics) was out with a different Achilles injury and Shilese Jones (who was likely to be second behind Simone Biles) was out with a knee injury and could only compete in the bars.

That was three of the top gymnasts out before the Trials even started! The team is only made up of five athletes!!

Who was going to step up and make it then?

In the end, the U.S. team will be headlined by Simone Biles (of course!) and Tokyo Olympic all-around champ Suni Lee (back after kidney disease) + Olympians Jordan Chiles (who almost quit until Simone took her under her wing!) and Jade Carey. And, 16-year-old Hezly Rivera took the last spot because of both her solid overall performance (meaning she could hop into any event if needed) and because of her particular expertise in the beam and bars (where the U.S. is slightly weaker).

Adorable: A young Hezly once met her now-teammate Simone Biles — who says they'll mentor her and maybe teach her to drive!

(Biles also apologized to her former teammate for jokingly calling her "grandma" back in the day.)

WATCH: Simone Biles' epic floor routine starts with Taylor Swift's 'Are You Ready For It?'

READ: Meet the two women who picked the U.S. team

Other gymnastics news: A new global professional gymnastics league is looking to give women an option for continuing their development

Tip of the week

Older women with low bone density are more likely to experience their first hip fracture in their 60s rather than at older ages — likely because older women are taking more precautions — according to new research that also reports osteoporosis worsening nationally. 

Get your bone density checked! And take measures like resistance and plyometric training, and hormone therapy as needed, to keep your bones healthy.

One of our favorites: Rucking — or performing exercise with a weighted vest.

One study of adults in their 60s found that those who wore a weighted vest during easy exercise for an hour a week (or more) increased their bone density by 1% after 20 weeks compared to their non-vest wearing peers, who saw their bone density decline 0.6% over the same period. The vest wearers also reported fewer aches and pains and better functioning overall. 

In another study postmenopausal women who performed jumping exercises in a weighted vest three times a week for most of the year maintained their bone density in their hips over a period of 5 years.

WHAT MORE RESEARCH LIKE THIS: Sign up for our Feisty 40+ newsletter

The highlight reel

• 🏊‍♀️ Two-time Paralympic champ Morgan Stickney set a new world record in the 400m freestyle S7 division (4:51.50) and Elizabeth Marks tied her own world record in the 100m backstroke in the S6 division (1:19.57).
  
  

• 80-year-old Daniela Barnea broke two national 80-84 age-group records during the U.S. Masters Nationals — swimming the 200y butterfly in 3:43.59 and the 50y breaststroke in 43.68. It was one of a number of Masters records set during the meet 🏊‍♀️ 🏊‍♀️
  
  

• 🏀 The Canadian women's national basketball team set a new home game attendance record as they were sent off to the Paris Olympics.
  
  

• 🚲 17 riders from the Cherokee Nation completed a 950-mile route retracing the Trail of Tears route as part of a remembrance ride. 
  
  

• 🚵‍♀️ Estelle Charles won the multi-stage E-Enduro World Cup in Combloux. 
  
  

• Sure, the men's Tour de France is happening right now, but the Giro d'Italia Women starts this weekend too with an individual time trial! 🚲 Will four-time champ Annemiek van Vleuten defend? Will the race change now that it's over the eight stages (reduced from the previous ten stages)?
  
  

• Wimbledon also started this week 🎾 — with a number of top players hoping to battle it out. (Will Iga Swiatek be able to win on grass? Will Coco Gauff dominate the weaker half of the draw — especially now that Aryna Sabalenka has withdrawn with a shoulder injury?)
  
  

• Team EF's Veronica Ewers is taking a leave for the rest of the season to recover from RED-S.
  
  

• After an investigation into allegations of a toxic culture, the long-time University of Colorado running coaches will not be returning. 🏃‍♀️
  
  

• 🏀 The WNBA's Commissioners Cup should have been held at the New York Liberty's home court at the Barclays Center, but was pushed out to New Jersey due to the NBA draft being scheduled at Barclay's — something the WNBA could have planned for. The Minnesota Lynx ultimately won the game the second half 94-89 and will take home the $500,000 prize.
  
  

• While male athletes and teams are still more represented in the ESPY nominations, there are a number of amazing female athletes and plays up for awards — led by Caitlin Clark in multiple categories.
  
  

Your Feisty recommendations

What to read: Just Add Water — Katie Ledecky's new book

What to listen to: "Return to Play Post-Gynecological Surgery Without Prolapse, Pain, Or Peeing Yourself" 

What to watch: The new Netflix doc following Simone Biles' comeback drops July 17

What made us go 'ahhhh': How divers manage not to dive on top of each other during warm-up at competitions

The Feist is written by Kelly O'Mara and edited by Millie Perry. Ads by Ella Hnatyshyn

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