A Humble Southern Hemisphere Hero #4: Ernie Els

Ernie Els, affectionately known as the "Big Easy," is a South African golfing legend whose career is marked by his big powerful golf swing, and his humility.  A four-time major champion and former world number 1, Els captivated audiences worldwide with his long drives, accurate iron play, and a calm demeanor that belies his fierce competitive spirit.  His relatively slow, yet powerful swing earned him the nickname, the "Big Easy".  Ernie did make the game look easy and never got rattled on the golf course.  He invariably had a smile on his face as he conquered each course he played, even in the toughest conditions and against the best opponents (normally Tiger Woods).

Solo sailing race supervised from space

The Vendée Globe is a single-handed, non-stop, and unassisted round-the-world yacht race. It's considered the ultimate test of human endurance and sailing skill. The race takes competitors through some of the most challenging waters on Earth, including the Southern Ocean with its fierce winds and dangerous icebergs.  The first race was run in 1989–90 and has been run every four years ever since. 

F1 heats up as Verstappen joins the immortals

Max Verstappen secured his fourth consecutive Formula 1 World Championship title at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix this Saturday night. The 27-year-old Dutchman finished fifth in the race, which was won by George Russell of Mercedes. This historic achievement places Verstappen alongside the immortals, legendary drivers like Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, Juan Manuel Fangio, Sebastian Vettel, and Alain Prost who have all won at least four world championship titles.

Here are the main take aways from the race in Vegas:

SailGP 2025: A New Era of High-Stakes Racing

The new SailGP sailing series is a go.  The season just started yesterday, November 23rd 2024, in Abu Dhabi with the first of 14 events getting underway. There will be one event in 2024 and the rest in 2025 culminating next November.  Team NZ beat Team USA in the finals yesterday.  This new season is off to a thrilling start, with new teams, new technology, and heightened competition.

Several significant changes have reshaped the SailGP landscape:

Now professional athletes can invest in their own leagues

Ever dreamed of owning stake in the sports team or league that you play for or work for?  That is beyond the means of most of us.  But what if you could invest in a team as an accredited investor, would you do it?  Now may be your chance.  Over the last ten years or so team valuations, salaries, and athletes’ own brands have grown tremendously, but not everyone has the ability to capitalize on this.  That may be about to change.  Specifically because the professional athletes themselves want to share in this equity upside and are pushing for ways to do that.

A Humble Southern Hemisphere Hero #3: Diego Elias

27-year-old Peruvian Diego Elias is the current squash world champion.  In Cairo, Egypt, in May 2024, this young athlete won the CIB PSA World Championship for the 2023-24 season.  Despite coming from a country with a small squash scene, Elias has defied the odds to become one of the best squash players in the world.

New Zealand take America's Cup for the 3rd time in a row

The America's Cup, at 173 years old, is the oldest international sporting trophy and stands as one of the hardest trophies for anyone to win in any sport.  It takes a dedicated team, significant resources, and a lot of time and effort to win this trophy.  The New York Yacht Club had those resources and put in the effort and won the event from its outset in 1851 and then held the trophy for 132 years up until 1983.  Since then only Australia, Switzerland and New Zealand have been able to wrestle the trophy away from Team USA.  Despite the US dominance for a long period of time, in recent years New Zealand have held the Cup, and they were certainly the team to beat last week.  

The Rippers of Oz win the LIV Team Championship title for 2024

The LIV Golf season concluded with a thrilling team victory for Cameron Smith's all-Aussie Ripper Golf Club. In the final round of the Team Championship in Dallas yesterday, September 22nd, 2024, Smith and Lucas Herbert delivered clutch putts to secure the win for their team. Ripper GC's triumph capped off an impressive season that included a home victory in Adelaide, a team playoff win in Singapore, and several other podium finishes. The other two team members of Ripper GC are Matt Jones and Marc Leishman. Smith, Leishman and Jones were all part of the same Australian team that competed on the LIV tour last season. Their team name was previously Punch GC.

A Symphony of Sound at the Paris Paralympics

The Paralympic Games, a global sporting event for athletes with disabilities, have a rich history dating back to the mid-20th century. The Games originated after World War 2 at a military hospital in London, where sports competitions for paraplegic war veterans were held. Since then, the Paralympic Games have evolved significantly, expanding to include athletes with various disabilities and gaining international recognition. 

Looking back at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games were a spectacle of athletic prowess and international camaraderie. While every event offered its own unique thrill, some stood out as particularly popular among spectators and athletes alike. Here's a recap of some of the most incredible moments from the Games.

OLYMPICS SUMMARY (AFTER PARIS)

Here is a summary of some of the biggest medal winning countries at the Paris Olympics: 

	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	40	44	42	126
2	China	40	27	24	91
3	Japan	20	12	13	45
4	Australia	18	19	16	53
5	France	16	26	22	64
6	Netherlands	15	7	12	34
7	Great Britain	14	22	29	65
8	South Korea	13	9	10	32
9	Italy	12	13	15	40
10	Germany	12	13	8	33

And here is the revised aggregate medal count from all Summer Olympic Games in modern history (last 128 years): 

	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	1101	874	780	2755
2	Russia	608	515	501	1624
3	Germany	450	470	499	1419
4	China	303	226	198	727
5	Great Britain	298	340	343	981
6	France	239	277	299	815
7	Italy	229	201	228	658
8	Japan	189	162	191	542
9	Hungary	187	161	182	530
10	Australia	182	192	226	600

Below are the medal winners at Paris 2024 for the sports covered on this site, namely: 

         soccer, rugby, golf, tennis, and basketball. 

There is no baseball or squash at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, but they will both appear in LA 2028, along with flag football.  

OLYMPICS SUMMARY (BEFORE PARIS)

Here is a summary of statistics and results from the Summer Olympics over the course of history (last 128 years).  The first table is the historical medal count for all Modern Summer Olympics prior to Paris 2024:

	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	United States	1061	830	738	2629
2	Russia	608	515	501	1624
3	Germany	438	457	491	1386
4	Great Britain	284	318	314	916
5	China	263	199	174	636
6	France	223	251	277	751
7	Italy	217	188	213	618
8	Hungary	181	154	176	511
9	Japan	169	150	178	497
10	Australia	164	173	210	547

Pre-Paris historical number of medals per million of population for the top countries (Russia includes former USSR, Germany includes former East and West):

Simultaneous sporting success for Spain

This past Sunday, July 14th, 2024, has to go down as one of the most incredible single day achievements by a nation in modern sports history. Spanish sportsmen and sportswomen won four major titles that day across four different sports.  In my previous article I wrote about the young Spanish tennis prodigy, Carol Alcaraz, winning Wimbledon for the second time.  Little could he have known that after his victory in London, later that same day, his countrymen would go on to win the European Championship soccer tournament versus England, then the LIV Golf tournament in Spain later that afternoon. And then that evening, the Spanish sailing team won the San Francisco Grand Finale and thereby were crowned SailGP Champions for the season. A remarkable sequence of events.

Spanish sensation Alcaraz beats Djokovic at Wimbledon for the 2nd year in a row

                  

Today Carlos Alcaraz dominated Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon Men's Singles final, winning 6-2, 6-2, 7-6. Alcaraz's powerful serve and improved net play overwhelmed Djokovic, who was limited by recent knee surgery. This victory marks Alcaraz's second Wimbledon title and his fourth Grand Slam overall. He joins an elite group of players to win both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year. He is also the youngest ever to achieve the "Surface Slam" by winning Grand Slams on all three major court surfaces - clay, grass, and hard court. For Djokovic, this loss marks his first straight-sets defeat at Wimbledon since 2013.

A Tour de France legend in the making

Slovenian cycling prodigy Tadej Pogačar is currently leading the Tour de France. He has taken the sport of cycling by storm, winning the Tour de France in both 2020 and 2021, he achieved the incredible feat of claiming all three jerseys (yellow, polka-dot for mountains, and white for young rider) each time, a rarity not seen in decades. 

First-time Floridians win Stanley Cup

The Stanley Cup, the oldest professional sports trophy in North America, boasts a rich history dating back to 1892. Donated by Lord Stanley of Preston, the trophy was originally awarded to Canada's top amateur team. Over time, it transitioned to professional leagues, becoming the NHL's championship prize in 1926. Witnessing dramatic comebacks, heartbreaking defeats, and legendary performances, the Stanley Cup remains a coveted symbol of hockey excellence.  The 2024 winners were decided this week.

The Boston Celtics win an unprecedented 18th NBA Championship title

The NBA professional basketball league in the US represents one of the most exciting and evenly balanced sporting competitions on earth.  There is no way one can predict the winners at the start of a season. This league showcases sporting competition at its finest. In the last 12 years, 9 different teams have won the Championships.  This week it was the turn of the Boston Celtics, but it is not their first time. They have, in fact, won more titles than any other team.  Let's look at this win in the context of history shall we.

A breakdown of who'll qualify for the Champions Cup rugby

Today, Saturday May 25th, 2024, saw Leinster's woes continue as French side Toulouse emerged victorious in a thrilling extra-time battle in the 2023-24 Investec Champions Cup Finals. This 31-22 victory marks a record-extending sixth European title for the French giants, leaving their Irish counterparts heartbroken for the third year running.

Manchester dominance of English Football continues

Manchester, a city in the north of England, has a proud football (soccer) tradition. There are two professional teams based in the city. Manchester United Football Club is commonly referred to as Man United, or just United.  United's nickname is the Red Devils and they were founded in 1878.  In 1880, Manchester City Football Club was founded.  They are referred to as Man City, or just City.  I've written about these two teams before, for good reason.  Last year Man City won the "continental treble" - the English Premier League, the FA Cup and the UEFA Champions League final.  The only other English team to have achieved that are their local rivals, Man United.

Female athlete inks groundbreaking NIL Deal

Livvy Dunne, a 21-year old gymnast from New Jersey, is now by far the highest paid female collegiate athlete in the US.  She just signed a deal with Passes (www.passes.com), a small internet publishing company based in Miami and LA.  This content creation company offers a platform that allows for creators to engage with their audiences via subscription, paid DMs, 1-1 calls, and livestream, etc. As recently as one month ago the company raised $40 million in a Series A funding round, enabling them to go after athletes like Dunne with multi-million-dollar deals.