Shownotes
It's the last episode of the year! And Kelly and Sara are closing out the season with a full-on countdown of the best races, records, performances, and picks in women’s sports this year.
From #16 all the way down to our #1 women's sports moment of 2025!
What did we miss? What was your moment of the year? Send us a voice memo at podcasts@livefeisty.com and we'll be back in the new year.
Subscribe to The Feist, our Free Weekly Newsletter covering Women's Sports: https://feisty.co/feistnews/
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Transcripts
All right, feisties.
Speaker A:Happy holidays.
Speaker A:This is your favorite and feistiest women's sports show.
Speaker A:The last episode of the year.
Speaker A:I'm Kelly o'.
Speaker B:Meara.
Speaker B:And I'm Sarah Gross.
Speaker B:And today we have our very special end of the year show where we're going to count down some of our favorite and best women's sports moments of the year.
Speaker B:But first, a couple highlights.
Speaker B:Kelly, what's your highlight of this week?
Speaker A:It actually is so crazy.
Speaker A:It did end up making my list for the year.
Speaker A:Lindsey Vaughn.
Speaker A:She won a World cup up at 40 1.
Speaker A:What was it, seven years after her last win, five years after she retired and had knee surgery.
Speaker A:I guess the whole question, like, can Lindsey Von still hack?
Speaker A:It is yes.
Speaker A:Answered, answered.
Speaker A:Officially, she got second.
Speaker A:Then the next day, so it wasn't like a fluke.
Speaker A:And then she got fourth in the super G, like a daily.
Speaker A:So, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Lindsey Vaughn.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I love that she did it.
Speaker B:I love that everyone was celebrating.
Speaker B:She was 41 also.
Speaker B:I don't think 41's that old, but, like, part of me is just like, of course she did.
Speaker A:Well, this is like a couple years ago when the oldest woman to ever win a world championship in figure skating won, and she was 40.
Speaker A:And in our comments, everybody was like, 40 is not old.
Speaker A:And you're like, okay, look, it is in the context of figure skating and downhill skiing.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I think figure ski.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah, that's true.
Speaker B:But okay, I think figure skating potentially a little bit more.
Speaker B:I don't know, because there's so many.
Speaker B:There's a lot of teenagers, Right.
Speaker B:I guess there's a lot of teenagers in downhill, too.
Speaker B:But I feel like skiing.
Speaker B:Skiing is like riding a bike.
Speaker A:I think both sports, it's basically you've beaten your body up.
Speaker A:Like, nobody lasts that long because you have no, like, cartilage left, you know?
Speaker A:So an interesting question will be because obviously Lindsay's back on a, like, bionic knee and she has said, you know, not that that makes it easy, but she has said, like, once she had the knee surgery, all of a sudden she could, like, she literally couldn't ski recreationally before.
Speaker A:And then she could ski recreation.
Speaker A:And then she was like, oh, this doesn't hurt anymore.
Speaker A:So, you know, if, if, if we make advancements and medical advances improve, are we going to see all these 41 year olds?
Speaker A:Is that going to happen?
Speaker B:Like, I think, I think we can totally say this is to do with modern medicine and we will see.
Speaker B:And not, not just that, but also sports science research.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think we're also going to see, because sports science research is moving much quicker for women right now, too.
Speaker B:Like, we suddenly have studies that are being done and focusing on women or including women in a male and female study.
Speaker B:And so I think we're going to see that move pretty quickly.
Speaker A:So that's my kudos.
Speaker A:Lindsay.
Speaker A:I don't think she's officially qualified for the Olympics because that's, like, very.
Speaker A:There's like, specific things you have to hit.
Speaker A:But I feel confident NBC started running promos with her in them over the weekend, so.
Speaker B:So there you go.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker A:I mean, it is definitely holiday time.
Speaker A:So there's not a lot.
Speaker A:Everybody sort of wrapping up, but the other person still going.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Katie Ledecky.
Speaker B:So the first woman to go under 15 minutes for the not.
Speaker B: Not quite the: Speaker B:Is it because it's a 25 yard?
Speaker A:No, no, it's meters.
Speaker A:But I think it's my, like, you know how.
Speaker A: You know how there's the: Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A: So I think: Speaker A:Got it.
Speaker B:So it's like just very fractionally longer than a mile, and she's the first woman to go under.
Speaker B: So it's not for the: Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And she did it at her image.
Speaker A:She puts on this invitational now.
Speaker A:It's just like a smaller swim meet, but to, like, you know, support up and coming athletes.
Speaker A:And she swims it though the.
Speaker A: e only event she Swam was the: Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:Just to.
Speaker A:Just to set an American record.
Speaker B:Show up, set a record.
Speaker B:Amazing.
Speaker B:And I guess she did it in front of a lot of, like, the folks who have been around her her entire career, too.
Speaker B:So I think that's kind of fun.
Speaker A:The other American record said this weekend, it's not in our list.
Speaker A:So you're gonna be like, what is again?
Speaker A:Like, it's holiday season.
Speaker A:There's this.
Speaker A:It's called the Merry Mile in Honolulu where they do it as a head start.
Speaker A:Like, the women get a head start on the men.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:Like winner takes all.
Speaker A:And winner takes all.
Speaker A:And all these forerunners do it as their, like, last race of the year because they get a free trip to Hawaii and it's totally like a vacation holiday thing.
Speaker A:And Sinclair Johnson just went out there and set an American record and won by, like, a lot.
Speaker A:You're like, whoa.
Speaker B:Saving it up for the.
Speaker B:What was it called?
Speaker B:The very merry.
Speaker A:The Merry Mile.
Speaker B:The very mile.
Speaker A:So I just thought that was like.
Speaker A:I saw that and I was like, oh, well.
Speaker A:Or like, now I'll have my vacation.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:I feel like for some people, that's what it takes.
Speaker B:Like, just a little extra.
Speaker B:Like, okay, you're going into the holidays.
Speaker B:You might be resting more.
Speaker B:I just more likely to set a record.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So I just thought that was funny because, you know, it feels like we're already done.
Speaker A:Like, we already had made our list of best moments of the year.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And people are still out here.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:Same with my Strava year in sport.
Speaker A:It told me what I did for the year, and I'm like, I got two more weeks left.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Seriously, I have serious athletic goals with my.
Speaker B:Kelly, remember how I was trying to do.
Speaker B:First I was trying to do one swim per month.
Speaker A:Oh, and then you cut it down.
Speaker B:And then I cut.
Speaker B:No, I didn't cut it down.
Speaker B:I made it 12 for the year because I found that they were, like, in condensed, you know, like, if I go to visit my friend Karen, who swims a lot, I might do two swims in one weekend, and I wanted to count them both.
Speaker B:Or when we were in Hawaii, I did.
Speaker B:So I'm at 11.
Speaker B:So I still have one more swim.
Speaker B:There's still.
Speaker B:I still have so many goals to achieve.
Speaker A:This is like, a friend of mine posted this.
Speaker A:Like, oh, I have this great hack.
Speaker A:You know, you have to run 30 minutes every day, and if you skip a day, you just have to add it to the next day.
Speaker A:You is working great for me.
Speaker A:Tomorrow I have to run 12 hours.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:I actually saw what that was.
Speaker B:That was even longer than that.
Speaker B:It was like, tomorrow I have to run for three weeks, two days.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, great, great.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:But it is the end of the year.
Speaker A:We did make a list of our favorite women's sports moments of the year.
Speaker A:The best.
Speaker A:Like, and at first, Sarah, I mean, we're going to count down.
Speaker A:At first I thought, you know, we didn't even have an Olympics this year.
Speaker A:We didn't have, like, a soccer World Cup.
Speaker A:This is going to be really hard to come up with 16 moments.
Speaker A:And then it was not hard.
Speaker B:Well, yeah.
Speaker B:Which is 16 was how many we came up with, Right?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I thought I was only gonna come up with 10.
Speaker A:And then I kept being like, oh, but we have to add.
Speaker A:We have to add.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Especially since, I mean, one of.
Speaker B:I was gonna say One of your complaints, but I think it actually was a complaint about, was that there seems to be a record being set every week in women's sports, which has partially to do with the fact that there's so many records, but also to do with the growth of women's sports.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So I will say we did not include every record set.
Speaker A:We did not include every world championship.
Speaker A:This was just, you know, kind of our pick of the best 16, our top 16.
Speaker A:So number 16.
Speaker B:I'm doing number 16, Tia Claire Toomey, winning her eighth CrossFit Games title.
Speaker B:I actually watched a day in the life of Tia Claire Toomey yesterday as she was playing these games.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:On her YouTube.
Speaker B:And I had never watched one before.
Speaker B:And honestly, I, like, was insanely impressed.
Speaker B:Like, she having trained for Iron man for many years, you know, like, we both know how that goes.
Speaker B:And it's both, like both, both CrossFit and Ironman kind of require this like, all day of training thing happening.
Speaker B:She.
Speaker B:But when I would train, I would.
Speaker B:If I went to the track in the morning and did a hard workout, which.
Speaker B:Which Tia Claire did on the day.
Speaker B:That was the day in the life.
Speaker B:I would like, have breakfast and go home and have a nap and then do my second workout, whatever.
Speaker B:But she just like, continued on.
Speaker B:I think the thing I was the most impressed by was how much there's a bigger variation in work than in training for triathlon.
Speaker B:But how much work she did.
Speaker B:Just like she sat at that gym with her lunch in a Tupperware.
Speaker B:Nice.
Speaker B:And just like ate it and waited to be ready to lift again.
Speaker B:Whereas I like, what I would, like, eat.
Speaker B:There was much napping in my.
Speaker B:And that was part of the recovery process.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But I did.
Speaker B:I definitely had to teach myself to nap in order to be a pro athlete.
Speaker A:She also just announced that she's pregnant again.
Speaker A:Don't know if she's going to come back to CrossFit or.
Speaker A:I have no idea.
Speaker A:But do you think she's going to start implementing more naps now or future fewer naps with two kids or maybe.
Speaker B:The days with naps don't get on the YouTube channel?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:She's also way more cagey about what she's actually doing than I thought.
Speaker B:She is very cagey.
Speaker B:And yeah, I don't think I really realized that.
Speaker B:So I was like, oh, this tells me absolutely nothing about the actual work that she did.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think you have to like, buy their program if you want to be like.
Speaker B:But then do you know what she did.
Speaker B:I don't think you know exactly what she did.
Speaker B:But anyway, wildly impressive.
Speaker B:Tia Claire is the.
Speaker B:You know, is the most impressive CrossFit athlete of all times.
Speaker B:Coming back after her pregnancy and dominating again is incredible.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yay.
Speaker A:Yay.
Speaker A:Tia.
Speaker A:Tia Claire.
Speaker A:All right, number 15.
Speaker A:There were others, like we just said, other swim records this year.
Speaker A:Lots of other swim records.
Speaker A:World championship.
Speaker A:But I need to talk about Summer McIntosh.
Speaker A:The Canadian trials this year.
Speaker A:She set three world records in five days.
Speaker A:No, that.
Speaker A:That's right.
Speaker A:Three world records in five days.
Speaker A:And then her other two were just.
Speaker A:Her other two races were just the second fastest of all time.
Speaker B:Yeah, and she did.
Speaker A:That is.
Speaker B:She did it right here in Victoria.
Speaker B:And I have massive regret about.
Speaker A:For not going.
Speaker B:Not going.
Speaker B:And not really.
Speaker B:I was very, very busy.
Speaker B:I even had a friend whose kid was in the trials, and I meant to go see her.
Speaker B:We had trouble finding a time.
Speaker B:Like, I kind of.
Speaker B:I knew it was happening, but I just.
Speaker B:I don't think I realized that.
Speaker B:If I'd known Summer McIntosh, if you.
Speaker A:Had known she was going to set.
Speaker B:That many, I probably would have made a bigger effort.
Speaker B:So there's some regret there.
Speaker B:Always going to women's sports events.
Speaker A:Always go to your women's sports events.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:It was, I think, the most impressive meet ever.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:She said a 400 free world record, a 200 IM world record, a 400 IM world record, second fastest all time, 800 free, second fastest all time, 200 fly.
Speaker A:That's just like.
Speaker A:That's just like a lot of swimming.
Speaker B:And a lot of different swimming.
Speaker B:You know, like, it's not all free.
Speaker B:You're all, you know, like, fly.
Speaker B:I am.
Speaker B:You're doing everything out there.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I think.
Speaker A:And then I think she was.
Speaker A:I think we've now learned that she was sick at the World Championships.
Speaker A:Or I was coming off being sick, but she's only 18.
Speaker A:Or she was when she did this.
Speaker A:So I feel like we have a lot of Summer Macintosh still left.
Speaker B:I still remember it was the first event that we attended at Paris in the.
Speaker B:And it was the light show, you.
Speaker A:Know, at the Aquatic Center.
Speaker B:At the Aquatic Center.
Speaker B:And then Summer Macintosh coming in, like, winning the very first.
Speaker B:I think it was the 400 IM, but I could be wrong.
Speaker B:My memory's not great, but it was like, oh, my God.
Speaker B:We just showed up to our first event of, like, two whole weeks of Olympics, and there she is winning.
Speaker B:It's great.
Speaker A:So kudos to Summer.
Speaker A:Summer.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Number 14.
Speaker A:Are we ready for number 14, I think we are.
Speaker A:I have to give a shout out to Katherine de Brunner.
Speaker A:Who, the Paralympic runner, Wheelchair athlete.
Speaker A:She won the London Marathon, she won the Tokyo Marathon, she got second at Boston, and then she won five world championship titles at the para track and field world championships.
Speaker A:From the 100 meter all the way to the 5,000.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:That's insane.
Speaker B:That's insane.
Speaker B:If you think of any athlete who.
Speaker B:I mean, we were just talking about Summer, right?
Speaker B:And saying she does everything, but she kind of does everything except true sprinting.
Speaker A:You know, like, we don't see her do the 50.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Whereas this doing everything from the marathon to the 100 meter is crazy.
Speaker A:I mean, she was also like third at Boston.
Speaker A:Like, part of me is like, maybe take a break.
Speaker A:That's a lot.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:Rest up, Catherine.
Speaker A:Rest up.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I wonder, I wonder.
Speaker A:I don't know this.
Speaker A:I wonder if there's something about.
Speaker A:Because you know how you just like, could.
Speaker A:Probably couldn't do that many marathons on the legs.
Speaker A:I wonder if wheelchair wise, you can like recover differently.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:I mean, probably because you don't have the impact.
Speaker B:Like it's the eccentric damage.
Speaker B:But I don't wanna, I don't wanna underplay this because as someone who does like in CrossFit, we do lots of like, tons of shoulder stuff.
Speaker B:And the amount of soreness that I carry with me from that, like, I. I'm only assuming that repetitive motion and your upper body, body is going to be difficult to recover from.
Speaker B:Require massive strategies.
Speaker B:Like it's a. I wonder if they.
Speaker A:Get shoulder injuries, you know.
Speaker B:Oh, I'm sure.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:And there's like a pretty nice rivalry.
Speaker A:Rivalry, whatever.
Speaker A:But it's like, like they go back and forth between her, her and Susanna Scaroni at the marathons, though Susanna doesn't do the 100 and 400 and 800 as well.
Speaker B:Does it also sprint very good on a track?
Speaker B:And those bikes.
Speaker B:Have you ever tried one of those track bikes that they use or the wheelchair racing tours?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, it, like, I tried one once and actually if you move out of position even slightly and lean backwards, you can just like flip right backwards.
Speaker A:Oh, really?
Speaker B:It was very difficult to figure out.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because at the same time as you're learning how to propel forward and you know how they kind of like use their knuckles and they have that, like.
Speaker B:So I was actually taught by a wheelchair athlete how to use it and like just getting even, just getting into the position and you're like, crouching forward in this aero position, and then you kind of like using your knuckles to, like, hit the wheels to move.
Speaker B:And then you start moving very, very quickly, which is also in itself terrifying as you're moving and you're so low to the ground that it was.
Speaker B:I had a new respect for racing in those chairs, for sure.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Gotta give that a shout out.
Speaker B:Number 13.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker A:I was like, what was that?
Speaker A:Number 14.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:What is number 13?
Speaker A:Sarah, I feel like.
Speaker A:I feel like this is really all for you.
Speaker A:This is.
Speaker A:This is your.
Speaker B:This is mine.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:This is, like, a lot in one number.
Speaker B:Like, lucky number 13.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:All the new teams and new leagues that happen this year.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So we have, like, the Northern Super League.
Speaker B:We have the new WNBA team.
Speaker B:We have records for the most valuable women's team, which was one of the new.
Speaker B:Your very own.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:New team, the Valkyries, that valued at 500 million.
Speaker B:We have new NW.
Speaker B:Once I get deep into the acronyms, I start to fall apart.
Speaker B: eams in Boston and Denver for: Speaker B:We have new WNBA teams coming to.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:PWHL teams in Vancouver and Seattle this year.
Speaker A:So, yeah, I feel like we just got to give a shout out.
Speaker A:This year, a major women's sports tournament was like, all these new teams, all these expansions.
Speaker A:Like, obviously that's been the case kind of every year for the last.
Speaker A:For the last three years.
Speaker A:Sounds so long, but.
Speaker B:But it's still a long history of women.
Speaker A:Yeah, but I mean, still, you know, to have the first women's sports team ever valued at $500 million, to have, like, all these leagues continue to be able to expand.
Speaker A:And it's not just continue to be able to expand, but it's like, how quick, like, everybody wants a team now.
Speaker A:It's like, how quickly can they add teams and more teams.
Speaker B:I went to the Sports Bra this week.
Speaker A:Oh, did you?
Speaker A:The one in Portland?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:This is connected.
Speaker B:Because that's.
Speaker B:I was just thinking that's another thing everybody wants to expand is, like, the women's sports bars and Portland's, like, the OG One at the Sports Bra.
Speaker B:And it was fun just to be there and see it.
Speaker B:I feel like we joked just a minute ago about, like, the long history.
Speaker B:Slash, not so long history, you know, like, they've probably been there for, what, four, four years?
Speaker A:Something like that.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And yet it feels like.
Speaker B:Oh.
Speaker B:Like a pilgrimage to, like, the motherland of women's sports.
Speaker A:So, I mean, I do feel like we just, like, obviously when, like, there Is a long history of women's sports.
Speaker B:It's just.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And sometimes I feel like not.
Speaker A:We don't forget that, but people.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Forget that.
Speaker A:But they are really getting their day in the sun, their moment.
Speaker A:Now, speaking of our number, what are we on?
Speaker A:12.
Speaker A:Number 12 moment.
Speaker A:WNBA, obviously hyping the finals this year.
Speaker A:The Aces just swept it.
Speaker A:And I have to say, Ajay Wilson, she became the first player to win mvp, best defensive player, finals MVP and the title all in the same year.
Speaker B:And the time athlete of the year.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:So then she was the time athlete.
Speaker A:There's all these stats.
Speaker A:She's like the first player to X number of points, the first player to have the most, like.
Speaker A:What's the word?
Speaker A:Rebounds and points in the postseason, combined steals.
Speaker A:And plus, like, she was just.
Speaker A:She basically was like, we are going to win.
Speaker A:I'm going to make sure it happens.
Speaker A:And she did it right.
Speaker A:It was like, very impressive.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker B:The WNBA is a difficult environment to stand out, you know, because the athletes are so, so good now at the players.
Speaker B:So, yeah, kudos to her, I think.
Speaker A:Because they won, what was it, two or three years ago, and then last year they did not.
Speaker A:And I think there was kind of like an, oh, the Aces are done, because they'd been so dominant for a little bit.
Speaker A:And she was just like, no, we are not done.
Speaker A:Yeah, we are.
Speaker B:We are not.
Speaker A:She also got like her own signature shoe.
Speaker A:So I feel like all that.
Speaker A:All that need, that was.
Speaker A:It was pretty.
Speaker A:I mean, I watched a decent amount of the WNBA playoffs and I do feel like it was way more hyped this year.
Speaker A:And it was a pretty.
Speaker A:And then of course, you, like, you, like, in your head, you want a final playoff to be closed.
Speaker A:And they just swept it.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:That's what I was gonna say.
Speaker B:I was like, you know, definitely on our list.
Speaker B:And like, yay, Aces.
Speaker B:However, next year maybe it'll be.
Speaker B:Could we just have a.
Speaker B:Could we go to at least game five?
Speaker A:Well, I think.
Speaker B:Not asking for.
Speaker B:Not asking for much.
Speaker A:Like a little closer.
Speaker B:Just one more game.
Speaker B:Just give.
Speaker B:Just give them something, you know, so.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Number 11, tennis.
Speaker B:We have Ariana Sabanka's US Open win.
Speaker B:And she was the first woman to repeat, to be a repeat champion since Serena.
Speaker B:And it was her fourth Grand Slam win.
Speaker A:It was.
Speaker A:And I feel like she really solidified both her number one status and also, like, the US Open was.
Speaker A:Maybe you don't know this as a Canadian, but it was like the place to be this year.
Speaker B:Like, in what way?
Speaker A:It was very, like, all of the, like, New York fashiony people, they were, like, celebrities there, and they were, like, doing, like, New York Times style section things about.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And there was like, I can't.
Speaker A:I can't remember if Trump showed up or not, but, like, there was a whole bunch of celebrities and there was a whole bunch of security, and, like, it was.
Speaker A:It was a thing.
Speaker A:And I feel like when Coco got 1, 2 years in 23, there was this, like, idea that, oh, well, it was really, really big.
Speaker A:And the women's final out viewed the men's final, but then it was like, well, Coco is an American.
Speaker A:Like, Americans.
Speaker A:Like, Americans.
Speaker A:And it's like, no.
Speaker A:Like, clearly, this is a thing we have.
Speaker A:Like, women's tennis is a big deal.
Speaker A:Like, we talked about, you know, the top 10.
Speaker A:10 of the top 15 female athletes, paid athletes, are tennis players.
Speaker B:So do you think it's kind of.
Speaker B:I never thought about this before, but it's kind of interesting to think, like, the intersection between tennis itself, itself and this women's sports wave that we're seeing and we're talking about now that's been happening over the last three years that, like, tennis was one of those places where, you know, women had equal prize money in a lot of the places, they often had viewership numbers that were bigger than the men's viewership, especially at finals.
Speaker B:It's things like the US Open already before this wave came.
Speaker B:And I feel like they're benefiting a little bit, too.
Speaker B:That's part of it.
Speaker B:Like, now it's like that next level of, like, the.
Speaker B:The celebrity place to be.
Speaker A:Oh, it's for sure the celebrity place to be.
Speaker A:I will say now, Erenia, I don't feel like I'm saying that right.
Speaker A:Is doing her battle of sexist, too, which we talked about so many episodes ago, and we were like, it doesn't really feel like we need it anymore.
Speaker A:She is getting a lot of pushback now because I think a lot of people are like, well, it doesn't really feel like we need that.
Speaker A:Like, why are you like this?
Speaker B:Well, when I saw Billie Jean King kind of even said that, which is kind of a bit of.
Speaker B:You're like, why?
Speaker A:Why are we doing this?
Speaker A:Yeah, I feel a little bad for her because I think she just thought it would be fun.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker A:And now everyone's kinda, what.
Speaker A:What are you doing?
Speaker A:So I feel like we should just.
Speaker A:Just accept that you're the number one player in the world.
Speaker A:You don't need to.
Speaker A:You don't need to beat some, like, man, 55th ranked.
Speaker A:Whatever.
Speaker A:Like, no, you're.
Speaker A:You're gonna be great no matter what.
Speaker A:Like, it doesn't matter.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, totally.
Speaker B:Well, we'll see what happens.
Speaker B:Like, probably someone's paying her a lot of money to do it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Kudos to her.
Speaker B:Take the paycheck.
Speaker B:Take the paycheck.
Speaker B:I'm good with that.
Speaker A:You're good at that.
Speaker A:Of course you are.
Speaker A:All right, we are top 10.
Speaker A:We are down to the top 10.
Speaker A:All right, number 10.
Speaker A:This was a call.
Speaker A:I got to say, one of our colleagues has been super hyped on this all year.
Speaker A:Olivia Reeves.
Speaker B:I'm super hyped on Olivia Reeves.
Speaker A:Are you?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:I mean, you guys saw her at the Paris.
Speaker B:You weren't with us that day.
Speaker B:We sat accidentally.
Speaker B:I just.
Speaker B:I knew I had bought tickets that were quite close to the stage where they lift the platform, but I.
Speaker B:We ended up in the front row because there was some wheelchair seating in front of us where people didn't show up.
Speaker B:So we were, like, there.
Speaker B:We could see her sweat.
Speaker B:And she set two.
Speaker B:She set one world record there at the Paris Olympics.
Speaker B:At the Paris Olympics.
Speaker B:And then.
Speaker B:And then after she moved to this new weight class, set a bunch of new records.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Which obviously part of me.
Speaker A:It's a new weight class, so she's gonna.
Speaker A:But then she just kept breaking her own world records all year.
Speaker B:She was.
Speaker A:So she just keeps setting world records in weightlifting.
Speaker A:I feel like we have to share the numbers.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because if you.
Speaker A:If you have ever weightlifted, you're like.
Speaker A:So in the snatch, she lifted 123kg, which is 271lbs.
Speaker A:And clean and jerk.
Speaker A:She lifted 155kg, which is 341lbs.
Speaker A:How much can you clean and jerk?
Speaker B:Which can I clean and jerk?
Speaker B:I think probably like 125 or.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I was gonna say, I think I'm at, like, £60.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:At 120.
Speaker B:Yeah, maybe 120.
Speaker B:Yeah, I did 125 once.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:So not 341.
Speaker B:Like, honestly, I.
Speaker B:Like, can you even.
Speaker A:I can't deadlift £340.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Or 270, maybe.
Speaker B:Maybe.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:I don't even think I could deadlift her snatch number.
Speaker B:Like, I can't even get it.
Speaker B:I can't even pick it off the ground.
Speaker B:And she's putting it overhead in one fell swoop.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So she's very impressive.
Speaker A:I also feel like.
Speaker A:I feel like I've been hearing more and more and more about weightlifting on the back of Olivia Reeves.
Speaker A:Like, I do think she's really reached a new group of people.
Speaker B:Yeah, she's definitely broken out of just a weightlifting.
Speaker B:Would you call it, like, fandom?
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Into, like, not too far.
Speaker B:Like, I don't think the average person in their home knows her name, but, like, into some of these other space, especially as strength training has become more popular for women, you know, and then invariably in your algorithm, you end up with, like, Olivia Reeves content.
Speaker B:Like the time that.
Speaker B:The day that she squatted £500, and that was all over my Instagram, people commenting and.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So into, like, the CrossFit world and other, like, powerlifting world.
Speaker B:Like, other places where that.
Speaker B:That's.
Speaker B:Yeah, she's a known quantity.
Speaker B:For sure.
Speaker A:She's a known quantity.
Speaker A:She also obviously has talked a lot about how she has.
Speaker A:Has shared the details of her training and has talked a lot about how lifting less frequently but heavier really helped her, you know, and really recovering.
Speaker B:Which.
Speaker A:Was just like, totally crazy.
Speaker A:Revolutionary in the weightlifting space.
Speaker A:So crazy.
Speaker B:Okay, at number nine.
Speaker A:Number nine.
Speaker A:This is one of my picks, I gotta say.
Speaker A:Alyssa Louis, the figure skater.
Speaker A:It's hard, I think, for people who don't, like.
Speaker A:What's the word?
Speaker A:Like, last, if I follow figure skating, for people who don't really fight low figure skating.
Speaker A:It's hard to emphasize how crazy it was when she won the World Championships earlier this spring back in April.
Speaker A:And now, obviously, she's won the Grand Prix final, and she's like, a favorite going into the Olympics.
Speaker A:But to retire and quit elite figure skating and come back two years later and wit not.
Speaker A:And everyone was like, oh, that's great.
Speaker A:Like, good for her.
Speaker A:And then she won the nationals, and it's like, oh, maybe she's gonna be okay.
Speaker A:And then she won the World Championships, and that's just insane.
Speaker A:And I think it's insane.
Speaker A:It's insane.
Speaker A:And all of that.
Speaker B:She's still a teenager.
Speaker A:Well, yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, now she's like, 21 or 20 or whatever.
Speaker A:Yeah, she quit it.
Speaker A:She quit at, like, 17, 18, 19.
Speaker A:I.
Speaker A:For whatever.
Speaker A:She quit in her teens, went to college, came back at the ripe old age of 23 now, but she's also doing it, I don't know, want to say her own way, because obviously it's still figure skating.
Speaker A:You still have to comply with all the rules.
Speaker A:But she clearly is having fun, you know, training the way she wants to train.
Speaker A:Just, like, enjoying it again.
Speaker A:And you can tell, like, she's having a lot of Fun with the competitors.
Speaker A:Like, they seem to enjoy themselves when they're, like, out at competitions.
Speaker A:And so I just, I'm just like, very excited for her.
Speaker A:I think it was, like, really awesome for other girls in figure skating to see, too, because I think figure skating is one of the sports where you can get down some pretty unhealthy paths.
Speaker A:And, like, a lot of people don't see great examples.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And there's a lot of young women.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:You know, like, so it's like, if you're.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:By not great paths, I'm assuming you mean around body image.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And it's a very structured.
Speaker A:It's also a sport.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Where, like, if you want to be good, you have to start very, very young.
Speaker A:And then you have like 10 and 11 and 12 year olds training all day and already kind of over training in the same way, like, gymnastics works.
Speaker A:And I think, I think that's why you feel like why she quit when she was 18.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And why you have like this burnout.
Speaker A:So to be like, you know what?
Speaker A:And the same.
Speaker A:We saw the same thing with Simone Biles.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:To be able to be like, you know what?
Speaker A:Actually, you can be a little bit healthier, have a little more fun.
Speaker A:You don't have to just buckle down at 12 and never, never do anything else again.
Speaker B:Life ever again.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Until you're 40, apparently, which is the new age of retirement for figure skaters.
Speaker B:Okay, number eight, we have.
Speaker B:I love that we picked this one, the breaking four attempt, where Faith.
Speaker B:Kip Young on.
Speaker B:Yeah, Kip, you gone.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Ran the fastest mile ever, which was actually 406.
Speaker B:So from the name, you can tell it was supposed to be an attempt to go under four minutes for the mile.
Speaker B:A woman has never done that.
Speaker B:Nike put big money behind it.
Speaker B:She had all the special equipment.
Speaker B:She had pacers, et cetera, and went out and obviously being off by six seconds was quite a lot.
Speaker B:However, it was still the fastest mile ever that a woman has ever run.
Speaker B:And so she's our number eight.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I also think.
Speaker A:I mean, we were watching it on our phones when we were.
Speaker A:Because we were out somewhere and everybody around us was watching it on their phones.
Speaker A:People, like, were gathered around the phone.
Speaker A:I just really appreciate that.
Speaker A:You know, Nike also put a lot of.
Speaker A:Even though there was an argument within the deep running circles that she was never going to break four minutes.
Speaker A:This was all just like PR and hype and marketing.
Speaker A:That's fine.
Speaker A:Put some hype and marketing behind, like the best female runner right now.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Why not?
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:And of course, she also broke the actual official world record, too, in a different meet.
Speaker A:Like, she also won her world titles and broke her records and did all her other stuff.
Speaker A:But it was just nice to see a global.
Speaker A:Global hype.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Around.
Speaker A:Around this.
Speaker B:Around a woman's record attempt.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker B:And the place where we were, we were at the press conference for our number seven.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Basically.
Speaker B:So we were at the press conference ahead of time, and that's where we watched the mileage we were at.
Speaker A:You're saying we were at the press conference for Western States, which is our number seven pick here.
Speaker A:And we were watching on our phones the breaking for attempt, which so was.
Speaker A:So were a lot of people to be.
Speaker A:We, like took a break in the middle of the press conference so everyone could watch.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Our number seven was Western States.
Speaker A:Abby hall won Western States.
Speaker A:And I think, again, like, we didn't pick every winner of everything because there was a lot of winners or a lot of records.
Speaker A:But I think Abby Hall's win is worth celebrating, both because it was like the fourth fastest time ever, because it's not just, you know, Katie and Courtney who are setting records in, you know, these ultra races.
Speaker A:And also Abby broke her leg two years ago, had a really rough comeback.
Speaker A:Like, the last time she did Western States, it took her, I don't know, five hours longer.
Speaker A:She had never.
Speaker A:She wasn't even supposed to be on the start line.
Speaker A:She had tried multiple times to qualify and didn't qualify.
Speaker A:And then she only got a roll down because somebody.
Speaker A:Pregnancy deferred.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so I think all those things are like.
Speaker A:It's crazy.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And then she took advantage of the.
Speaker B:Opportunity and she also, you know, being there and being at the finish line, you know, and watching her come over the line.
Speaker B:She was.
Speaker B:And hearing her interviewed after, she was clearly.
Speaker B:She clearly is beloved in the sport.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like that.
Speaker B:That's the kind of the.
Speaker B:About the.
Speaker B:The thing that.
Speaker B:The things that you get when you're at a sports event that you don't necessarily see when you're just seeing the headlines, like stuff like that.
Speaker B:Like she.
Speaker B:When someone is received by their peers in the way that Abby was crossing the line, you're like, okay, she's.
Speaker B:She's probably been trying.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, she's been trying a lot.
Speaker B:She's garnered a lot of support even from her competitors.
Speaker B:You know, like, this is the kind of person that you'd love to see win.
Speaker B:Even though I went from, like, knowing nothing about her to seeing her and Suddenly was like a super fan.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:And she was of course just part of this like wave of records that we kind of like hinted at and made fun of a little bit.
Speaker A:But in the ultra space, I mean the Leadville record went down.
Speaker A:The Hard rock record went down, the 100 mile record went down.
Speaker A:The 100k world record went down.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like all of these records went down.
Speaker A:One of the like super niche trail riding publications put together this list of all the major records that went like course records that went down this year.
Speaker A:And obviously there's races that like we may not care as much about, you know, like bandera or javelina, but it was just, it was a lot like.
Speaker A:It's hard to ignore that the women are running far, very fast.
Speaker A:Like.
Speaker B:And honestly we saw it coming.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like in the years I've been covering women's sports for like 10 years.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And the from the beginning when you talked about what are the places, the types of races that women could actually beat the men.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Or women could give men a run for their money.
Speaker B:You know, in terms of physiology wise, where are we going to see that?
Speaker B:Ultra running always came out in that list.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like over 100 miles.
Speaker B:You know, you can see the women and we've.
Speaker B:I'm not surprised that we've seen the times continue to fall and we'll probably see even more of it.
Speaker A:And everybody's very excited now because we're going to see a Katie Sheid vs Courtney Doe Walter matchup at Hard Rock this year, which everyone's been waiting, everyone's been waiting for for like three years.
Speaker A:We'll see what happens, everyone.
Speaker A:Which brings us of course record wise to what are we at?
Speaker A:Number six.
Speaker A:Number five.
Speaker A:Six.
Speaker A:I feel like records were just falling in Leadville this year because Kate Courtney also broke the Leadville hundred mountain bike record, which is another kind of historic one that's been around for a really long time.
Speaker A:It's one of the few hundred mile mountain bike races that has predated everybody biking really, really far.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It was one of the originals.
Speaker A:And she broke it by 11 minutes.
Speaker A:And in this way that everyone pulls each other along.
Speaker A:No one had gone under seven hours, no women.
Speaker A:And then, what was it, two or three of them went under seven hours this year.
Speaker A:And then of course Kate, I mean she did it coming off a broken wrist, which is again always impressive when people come.
Speaker A:And then she followed it up with a world champs win in the mountain bike.
Speaker A:Mountain bike marathon race.
Speaker A:So I think it was Kate Courtney is one of those Athletes that, like, we've talked a lot about how to hear the athletes who transcend their sport.
Speaker A:Like, if anyone knows a mountain biker.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:They know Kate Courtney.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And so when she goes and does these things that also are very historic and again, like, transcend the nich.
Speaker A:Ness of the sport, a lot of people pay attention.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I think we're going to see more from Kate Courtney.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, so, like, I live kind of by where she grew up.
Speaker A:And there's a reason you see, like, all of these girls mountain biking out here.
Speaker A:Like, it's very, very, very popular with young girls here.
Speaker A:With all the young kids here, actually, like the boys, too.
Speaker A:And I. I think that's not a coincidence.
Speaker A:I mean, there's also other things that, like, there's a reason, like, she came up through there's programs and stuff, but.
Speaker A:But she's a very big deal.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:This.
Speaker B:That's definitely.
Speaker B:If you can see it, you could be it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Sorry to, like, go back to that, like, oh, way overused phrase.
Speaker B:Maybe not totally true.
Speaker A:It is not totally true.
Speaker B:But because some people can be things that they've never seen.
Speaker A:If you can't see, if you can't be something you can't see, no one would ever do anything new.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I would update it to updating the phrase to something much less, you know, much less going to be shared, for sure.
Speaker B:But like, but like, when.
Speaker B:When someone does something, like, when you see it, when kids see it, a whole bunch more people try to be it.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:You know, like, it does create numbers for sure.
Speaker B:Rather than like, that first person who makes a breakthrough, which is like, she didn't see it and she did it anyway.
Speaker B:It's like.
Speaker B:But if you can see it, a whole pile of kids are going to be able to be it.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:Number five.
Speaker B:Speaking of, I think.
Speaker B:Number five, I think all of our things can fit into all of our, you know, top 16 can fit into that category in some way.
Speaker B:But we have the Rugby World cup, which happened in England this year, and England won with a home crowd.
Speaker B:But the ticket.
Speaker B:And Canada came second.
Speaker A:Just like, shout out.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker B:But they won in front of a home crowd.
Speaker B:Like I said, they sold three times the number of tickets as the last World Cup.
Speaker B:81,800 people who were at the.
Speaker B:Were in the final.
Speaker B:Watch the final.
Speaker B:It was just huge.
Speaker B:Like, you got the impression that women's rugby.
Speaker B:Because I do know that, like, in the UK there, the conversation about women's sports has been large, like, has been centered around, like, A debate around rugby, right.
Speaker B:Because the BBC pledged to put rugby on television in some amount.
Speaker B:In some amount that like male rugby fans were like, no, we don't want this.
Speaker B:Like, and rugby is also such a.
Speaker B:Like, it's not the same as putting a more traditional women's sports into in numbers on tv, like, where it's more for traditional minded people.
Speaker B:Like, more.
Speaker B:Oh, we're used to seeing women doing like gymnastics or figure skating, whatever these things are.
Speaker B:It's like rugby, you know, it's the, the association with masculinity and rugby is really strong.
Speaker B:And the idea that like, that is being shook up and people are watching in England, which is one of rugby's like, epicenters, is just amazing.
Speaker A:So number five, I think the final was the second most attended rugby game ever, men's or women's.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:And it was at like Twickenham.
Speaker A:Twickenham.
Speaker A:And so, you know, it was really, really big in England and it was a good game.
Speaker A:England kind of rolled Canada, but that's fine.
Speaker A:It's fine.
Speaker A:Still.
Speaker B:We crowdfunded.
Speaker B:They had 20 million in funding and we had one plus another million that we raised.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:And I think there was a lot of question of, you know, is the rugby hype going to continue like post Olympics without Ilona Mayer?
Speaker A:Because Alona was there, but the US Got out like super, super early.
Speaker A:And the answer is, you know, yes.
Speaker B:So 100% yes.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Number four.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:We don't have to talk about this too much.
Speaker A:We already mentioned, but I do think it needs a shout out.
Speaker A:Lindsey Vonn coming back, getting that, what is it, 83rd World cup win at 41.
Speaker A:It's just, it's hard, right?
Speaker A:It's like, that's insane.
Speaker A:That's insane for skiing.
Speaker A:That's really, really hard to do.
Speaker A:And I think there was a lot, a lot, a lot of question when she announced she was coming back back in the spring and you know, came back to a handful of races, did okay in.
Speaker A:It was like, what is she doing?
Speaker A:Why is she, why is she pulling a Michael Jordan here?
Speaker A:Like, this is not going to go well.
Speaker A:It went fine.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:But didn't Michael Jordan try to play baseball?
Speaker A:Yeah, then he, he came back later, like, much later.
Speaker B:Oh, he did.
Speaker B:That was after the baseball.
Speaker A:There was an.
Speaker B:But I feel like that would be like Lindsey Vaughn being like, I'm going to take up figure skating.
Speaker B:Like, sure.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker A:And at some point here, though, is I. I also do enjoy, like, her and Michaela Shiffrin.
Speaker A:They race different events, but the two of them together and Michaela winning, you know, 104 World Cups record number is also insane.
Speaker A:And it doesn't get enough hype.
Speaker A:So the duo there is just top notch.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Excellent.
Speaker A:No notes.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:On that note, number three, we have our very own sport, the Ironman World championship race, which, saw it was basically an unprecedented race and crazy.
Speaker B:I think we can put it down to.
Speaker B:I'm gonna say what it is in a moment, but I think we can put it down to the two women having their own race on the day, going head to head.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And so you have the best in the world just duking it out.
Speaker B:And so Lucy Charles Barclay and Taylor Nib were starting on the bike.
Speaker B:The 112 mile bike were just like, pushing, pushing, pushing, and put a huge gap.
Speaker B:I think it was 14 or 15 minutes on most of the rest of the field.
Speaker B:And a lot of the favorites came off the bike and were running.
Speaker B:And essentially in the final miles, you know, Lucy kind of would sit nine miles or so to go and.
Speaker B:Or nine, I don't know, eight, nine miles to go.
Speaker B:And then Taylor, with less than two miles to go, ended up basically collapsing, and we were standing in the finish line.
Speaker A:I don't feel like you're, like, hyping this enough.
Speaker A:I feel like you're like they were running neck and neck, and one took the lead and then the other took the lead.
Speaker A:And then Lucy's, like, stumbling around and everyone's like, oh, and Taylor pulls ahead.
Speaker A:And then Lucy, like, just like her husband has to pull her off the course and put her.
Speaker A:And then you're like, it's Taylor's to win.
Speaker A:And Taylor's so far ahead.
Speaker A:You're like, nobody can catch her.
Speaker A:Like, it's not like we're all like, oh, Taylor's one right, people.
Speaker A:Everyone's going to the finish to watch Taylor come in, like it's done.
Speaker B:And then on the big screen, we're watching, and Taylor's like, stumbling, stumbling.
Speaker B:And the whole crowd, thousands of people are like, oh, like, grasping their faces.
Speaker B:Like, I don't think I've ever been in an environment where, especially on a screen where so many people are just following, like, this emotional journey of, like, will she, won't she?
Speaker B:In terms of Taylor getting to the finish line, I.
Speaker A:Because you couldn't hear it really, like, what she was saying on the screen because the announcers and everything.
Speaker A:I was watching a different clip recently, and what she says is she sits down and then she doesn't remember any of this.
Speaker A:It's all like, neither her nor Lucy remember anything.
Speaker A:But what she says is she sits down kind of and stumbles is I just want to be done.
Speaker B:Oh, really?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:She's like, like at the time, she just like says that to the person standing.
Speaker A:She's like, I just want to go.
Speaker A:I just want to be done.
Speaker A:You're like, I get that.
Speaker B:I feel that.
Speaker A:So it was a very dramatic race, easily the craziest race of the year.
Speaker B:Solvay Loveseth came, who was running in third, was getting updates.
Speaker B:Now you're second, now you're first.
Speaker B:And just such a strong, powerful athlete herself, who was a short distance athlete before coming to the Ironman, came through for the win.
Speaker B:So I think we're also seeing like this great future for Solvay as well.
Speaker A:So it was very exciting, very crazy race.
Speaker A:Um, and I have to say our most popular story of the year by far, like, because I was pulling all our stats, we put up like a feisty wrapped over the weekend, you can see on our Instagram.
Speaker A:And the most popular story by far was the 80 year old woman who finished the Ironman World Championships became the first 80 year old to ever finish the Iron Man World Champions because you have to do it in 17 hours and that is challenging.
Speaker A:And she did in 16 hours and 45 minutes.
Speaker A:And we interviewed her beforehand and then so obviously we were following her.
Speaker A:I talked to her briefly after at the awards.
Speaker A:She is definitely a little flummoxed that like she's become such a hit now because she's been on like npr, in the New York Times, on like Good Morning America, like she's on all the.
Speaker B:Big podcasts, you know, like I saw her on.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, it was the soccer players podcast.
Speaker B:Megan Rapinoe.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Or whatever.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And she's everywhere now.
Speaker A:And I talked to her just as she was starting to blow up when we were leaving the awards ceremony and you could tell this was like going to go viral.
Speaker A:She was like, I don't know, because she kind of stumbled and fell as she was coming down the finish line.
Speaker A:She's like, I think people just liked it because I fell down.
Speaker A:Yeah, Like, I don't think that's why people liked it, Natalie.
Speaker B:It's, it's kind of like a lot of the older, like people that we've interviewed in the past, like, she's just doing her thing.
Speaker B:Like, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:Like, she's not.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, we've joked about this a few times beforehand when she was Natalie Herbo, when she was talking to us about how she picked up running in her 40s and then bought a book on swimming in her 50s.
Speaker A:She was like, I just thought it'd be a neat challenge.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, she doesn't go through every day thinking, I'm 80.
Speaker A:This is impressive.
Speaker B:No, she's just swimming, biking, and running.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:She's like, I just thought it'd be fun.
Speaker A:So, anyway, that was obviously the most popular story of the year by far.
Speaker A:And you can still, like, we have our whole interview with her on our podcast that you can go listen to, too.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker A:Our number two pick.
Speaker A:Just because, again, super, super big, super went crazy.
Speaker A:Pauline Ferrand Perros win at the Tour de France Femmes.
Speaker A:It is hard, again, to characterize how big this was in France.
Speaker A:I mean, she won the mountain bike Olympic gold medal last year.
Speaker A:Then she won Paris Roubaix earlier this spring.
Speaker A:And she's certainly, like, beloved in France.
Speaker A:And I think people thought, oh, she might win the Tour next year or in two years.
Speaker A:She was a favorite.
Speaker A:But she wasn't, like, the favorite.
Speaker A:And she didn't just win.
Speaker A:I mean, she just, like.
Speaker A:I don't know if you watch the Queen stage, she just, like, took off.
Speaker A:She was like.
Speaker A:She was like, went.
Speaker B:She's just like, this is mine.
Speaker B:See you later.
Speaker A:And then she got called by the president, you know, congratulated her.
Speaker A:And it was a little unfortunate that literally, if you go and Google it right now to get, like, some of the stats, you get the whole debate about her weight that came after her win there was that kind of Then dominated headlines, which is not.
Speaker A:Not the primary thing I think you want to take away, because she was very, very, very dominant outside of the.
Speaker A:The whole weight debate.
Speaker A:She.
Speaker A:She won a lot of things in the last year.
Speaker A:Many things.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:And the Tour de France fans keeps growing and growing and growing.
Speaker B:It does, yeah.
Speaker A:All right, Sarah, number one pick.
Speaker B:Number one pick.
Speaker B:India winning the Cricket World Cup.
Speaker B:There were 185 million viewers on the app.
Speaker B:21 million watched the whole game.
Speaker B:They beat Australia.
Speaker B:They beat all the favorites, basically, to come through and win on home soil.
Speaker B:Such a huge celebration and really, like, a global celebration for women's sports.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Cricket, I think the number 185 million watching on their, like, streaming app.
Speaker A:And it's something like, once you add up all the digital numbers and the live TV is like hundreds and hundreds of million, kind of captures how big cricket is globally.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, you're like, holy shit.
Speaker A:So it's a huge part globally.
Speaker A:They had to beat Australia who were the number one super heavy favorites in the semifinals and they did it and it come from behind.
Speaker A:It's like again we're not cricket super fans so it's like hard to explain how crazy it was when they came from behind the one Jemima Rodriguez made like 180 runs by herself like and she was so tired.
Speaker A:You could see how tired she was because these games just are, you know six, seven hours.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And the whole country, it was crazy.
Speaker A:So number one pick India Cricket World Cup.
Speaker B:We did it.
Speaker B:Our top 16 of the year.
Speaker A:All right, let us know.
Speaker A:We will if you have if we missed your favorite pick we missed a lot of things.
Speaker A: d in your favorite moments of: Speaker A: And we will be back in: Speaker A:Have a good holidays.
Speaker A:Sam.
