The Final Four stage is set, and personally, I’m hoping UConn’s Paige Bueckers can stamp her college legacy before heading to the WNBA. Off the court, Angel Reese reminded everyone why she’s that girl, and Hailee Steinfeld had a few choice words about the Buffalo Bills’ biggest rivals. Meanwhile, David Beckham’s (early) 50th birthday looked like the Met Gala of sports (but like, actually fun). Oh, and one college may have just cracked the code on how to keep football fans happy (no, it’s not by winning). Now, let’s get to the other sports highlights…
— Claudia Rupcich / Writer / Richmond, VA
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What to look out for in our latest episode.
Wait, What Just Happened on the Ice?
What’s going on: If figure skating hasn’t been on your radar, you’ll want to change that. For the first time ever, the US team won three of the four events at a single world figure skating championship. The highlights: Alysa Liu became the first US woman to win at Worlds since 2006 (even she was in disbelief). Also on the podium: Ilia Malinin, who landed six quads (yes, six of these) to win the men’s title. And Madison Chock and Evan Bates captured their third straight ice dance world championship (the crowd’s response says it all).
Our take: The US’s performance is nothing short of a comeback, creating momentum ahead of next year’s Winter Olympics. Whether it can continue depends on a lot, including if Russia — historically a skating powerhouse — is allowed to return to Olympic competition. Still, there’s a lot of hope for a sport that’s been in a gold-medal drought. As Liu put it: “I mean, ‘Go Team USA,’ that’s kind of all I can say.” We couldn’t agree more.
