A win six months postpartum and breastfeeding mid-race 🏃‍♀️

Zero women.

— The number who made this year's list of 50 Highest Paid Athletes, for the second year in a row.

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

1. Postpartum, breastfeeding, and from the very last wave 🏃‍♀️⛰️

This weekend, Stephanie Case won the 100K at Ultra-Trail Snowdonia six months postpartum, while breastfeeding her daughter at aid stations along the route, and from the back in the very last wave of runners.

LOVE TO SEE IT: This is what that looks like 💜

Why did she have to start at the back?

Case has been open about the ups and downs in her fertility process. She’s gone through multiple miscarriages and IVF attempts over the last 2.5 years.

Because of that, she had ZERO points in her world ranking and couldn’t get a start in the elite wave.

Instead, she started in wave three — 30 minutes after the first runners. That meant when she crossed the line, organizers didn't know who had won. They had to go look at the times from the runners' chips!

“There is no “comeback” after childbirth. There is just the next phase. And whatever it looks like, whether on or off the trail, it’ll be right for YOU.”

ALSO: Case is also a human rights lawyer with the U.N., founder of the organization Free to Run, and she’s making a movie about her fertility struggles and her return to running to help bring the conversations into the open for other female athletes, too. 💜

2. The first game of the first new WNBA team since 2008 🏀

(Photo: Golden State Valkyries)

Feisty was on the sidelines — along with 18,064 fans! — for the inaugural game of the brand new WNBA team, the Golden State Valkyries, in San Francisco this past Friday. It's the first new team for the league since 2008 — but with two more planned for next year (Toronto & Portland), it won't be the last...

The slogan for the night: "First of a lifetime" 👑

🎧 LISTEN: Bounce — chronicling the new team's first season

Highlights from opening weekend:

At 6:30 p.m. PT, Napheesa Collier tied the most points ever for a season opener. And by 9 p.m. PT Kelsey Plum had beaten that number!
Caitlin Clark & Angel Reese faced off — and a flagrant foul called on Clark has now sparked controversy, but both of them say it was just a basketball play, move on! (We love to see them both play; we do not love to see the racist comments directed towards Reese 😠)
Paige Bueckers made her WNBA debut and her dad choked up

💫 WNBA popularity is booming. Can the league grow, renegotiate its collective bargaining agreement, and stay true to its roots?

3. Rohan Dennis avoids jail time in death of his wife

In 2023, Australian Olympic cyclist Melissa Hoskins was killed when her husband, also an Australian cyclist and Olympian, Rohan Dennis, drove over her in his car.

This past week, he was issued a suspended sentence — meaning he won't spend anytime in jail as long as he doesn't violate the conditions of his "good behavior" bond. The court also ruled the death an accident and charged him with "committing an aggravated act likely to cause harm."

What happened?

In 2023, after an argument, Dennis left their house in Adelaide and started to drive away in his car. Security camera footage shows that Hoskins followed him and grabbed onto the hood of the car in an attempt to stop him. He proceeded to drive down the block with her on the hood; he then slowed, she came around and opened the door; he closed the door and started driving again. At this point, she fell and he drove over her.

The court ruled this an accident — the footage shows it all happened in a matter of seconds — and that he didn't intend to cause her death. However, Dennis was known previously for anger issues as a pro cyclist, which came to light when he abruptly abandoned racing in 2019. Hoskins' mom also wrote to Dennis, which was read in court, that "your anger is your downfall."

READ: Her family remembers Hoskins as a "freewheeling spirit"

Tip of the week

Last fall, FIFPro (the global organization that represents soccer players) came out with comprehensive postpartum return to play guidelines.

It's supposed to represent a framework for trainers and team managers, with a graduated step-based approach for athletes to work their way back to the field. Why was it time? Because more and more players are taking time in the middle of their careers to have kids — not waiting until they're retired — and they need more research-based recommendations to get back to their jobs.

🎧 LISTEN: "Moms in the Olympics: How to Return to Elite Sport Postpartum"

🧠 LEARN: A four-phase approach to postpartum return-to-run

The highlight reel

🚲 Sarah Ruggins broke the overall record (man or woman) for biking the length of the UK and back — and craziest of all: doctors once told her she might never walk again.
🏃‍♀️ And in a rare instance when the 150m was raced by top athletes, Favour Ofili 🇳🇬 broke the world record (15.85 seconds).
In the age groups, 85-year-old Kathy Bergen set a new record for the high jump and Lily Janmohamed just ran the fastest 5K for an 8-year-old in the world (20:16).
💦 At the U.S. diving national championships, 13-year-old ElliReese Niday won the national title in the women's platform — becoming one of the youngest national champions to win an overall senior title. But she's too young to compete at the world championships later this year!
🏒 The two underdogs have made the PWHL Finals: Ottawa v. Minnesota face off tonight at 7 p.m. ET in the first of a best of five series.
💪 Tia-Clair Toomey might be on the retirement path for Crossfit, but she's setting records in Hyrox. Toomey and her partner, Joanna Wietrzyk, set a world record for the women's doubles this past weekend.
At a rainy World Triathlon Championship Series race in Yokohama, the defending world champ crashed and Jeanne Lehair 🇱🇺 won her career first championship series race.
🏊‍♀️ 🚴‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️Women in Tri released a report analyzing the top amateur performers — and found female Ironman athletes consistently outperformed their male counterparts.
Paige Onweller won Stetina's Paydirt 🚲 — which has a $10,000 prize purse for just the women's podium.
🎾 Jasmine Paolini became the first Italian winner of the Italian Open since 1985. 🇮🇹 And then won the doubles the next day, too.
🏉 The new Women's Elite Rugby league announced its national championship, the Legacy Cup, to be held at the end of June.
In the Pacific Four Series, U.S. rugby star Alev Kelter was thrown out in a game against Australia and will face a length suspension after stomping on a competitor's head.
⚽ A week after Angel City FC player Savy King was carried unconscious off the field during a game, she's been released from the hospital. Doctors discovered a heart abnormality and performed surgery — but an the NWSL is still coming under criticism for continuing play after her collapse and falling to have protocols in place.
The Olympique Lyonnais Féminin team ⚽ (one of the most famous and successful women's teams in the world) is dropping the "women" from its name.

Your Feisty recommendations

📺 What to watch: Sally — the new documentary about Sally Ride from National Geographic 🚀

📚 What to read: Is HRT doping?

🎧 What to listen to: Shoutout to the Gist for their episode on Ironman's reversal on equality

🙌 What made us laugh (so we don't cry): "State Department Designates WNBA a Terrorist Organization" — don't worry it's The Onion 😬