1) The World Athletics Championships kick off in London on Friday and it will serve as Usain Bolt’s final act. The worlds have provided some of Bolt’s most memorable moments down the years, most notably his astonishing (Michael Johnson was speechless) goosebump-inducing 100m and 200m records in Berlin, which remain intact eight years later, and his disqualification in Daegu. Johnson himself peaked at Seville in 1999, setting a 400m world record which stood until Wayde van Niekerk’s stunning Rio run.
A flick through the history books suggests the jumping disciplines may have had their heyday: the longest standing athletics world record set at a world championships is Stefka Kostadinova’s 1987 high jump, in a memorable battle with her rival Tamara Bykova. Similarly, Mike Powell’s monstrous 1991 long jump in Tokyo to win his duel with Carl Lewis still stands, while Jonathan Edwards’ brush with triple jump perfection in Gothenburg four years later also remains – he knew immediately – as does Inessa Kravets’ hop, skip and jump three days later.
2) Speaking of world records, Neymar appears to have his heart set on swapping the Camp Nou for the Parc des Princes in an eye-watering €222m (£198m) transfer. Here he is being interviewed as a shy 12-year-old, showing off some tricks a couple of years later, and here’s that goal for Santos as a teenager.
3) “He flipped into the bullpen!” Cleveland’s Austin Jackson with one outrageous catch (it makes Andrew Benintendi’s look like a walk in the park):
4) Moeen Ali spun his way into cricketing history earlier this week, becoming only the fourth player ever to end a Test match with a hat-trick as England clinched victory over South Africa at The Oval in dramatic style. When it comes to classic Test hat-tricks few come better than Peter Siddle on his birthday tearing through England in the first Test of the 2013 Ashes; Harbhajan Singh mesmerising Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and a fuming Shane Warne; and Irfan Pathan in Karachi in 2006. The short format of the game is also in full swing with the T20 Blast, showcased by the thriller between Northamptonshire and Warwickshire this week which went all the way to the last ball.
5) A group of surfers tried out an innovation called The Dock, a long rubbery ramp which avoids paddling and helps ride the waves, but it took on a rather dangerous life of its own. As we’re in the sea, here’s a kiteboarder casually riding over a humpback whale.
6) And while we don’t like to blow our own trumpet, it would be remiss not to nudge you towards this wonderful story of Brighton & Hove Albion’s journey from nowhere to the Premier League:
Highlights from last week’s blog
1) Stupid ways of getting sent off, number 263.
2) This is the best Man vs Beast video.
3) The Florida Panthers make the worst line change in NHL history.
4) Super Rugby is coming to its crunch, but this is super rugby...
Spotters’ badges: LeeWall, TomDaBrit, GrahamClayton, whobroughtorganges.
