Football - Sam Kerr wins Golden Boot for Women’s Super League victors Chelsea

Australian Matildas Captain Sam Kerr helped English heavyweights Chelsea to their second consecutive Women’s Super League title yesterday with a 5-0 victory against Reading FC.

Chelsea finished the 22-game season two points above second-placed Manchester City, with a win on Sunday proving imperative for the Blues’ domestic glory. Kerr found the back of the net in the 71st minute at Chelsea’s Kingsmeadow home with an impressive volley, marking a league-best 21st goal to secure the WSL golden boot.

Kerr’s Super League golden boot will now join her corresponding accolades in the US and Australian domestic leagues, where she has now proven to be a prolific goal scorer in three different club competitions.

Kerr has scored 27 goals in all competitions this year, helping her side to a League Cup win as well as the Super League. The Western Australian’s season stands to grow increasingly fruitful next week, when Chelsea faces Spanish powerhouse FC Barcelona in the Champions League on Monday morning.

Surfing - Stephanie Gilmore claims second at Margaret River Pro

Seven-time World Champion Stephanie Gilmore has finished second behind Brazil's Tatiana Weston-Webb and the Margaret River Pro.

After finishing ahead of Sally Fitzgibbons in the quarterfinals and Carissa Moore in the semifinals, Gilmore had a slow start to her match up against Weston-Webb, posting scores of 0.63, 6.83, 6.00, 0.53 to Weston-Webb's 0.50, 8.50, 5.00 and 7.73.

Gilmore finished strong with a score of 8.17 to Weston-Webb's 4.33 but it wasn't enough to take out the title with Gilmore finishing with 15.00 points and Weston-Webb with 16.23

Tennis - Ash Barty defeated in Madrid Open Final, Australian contingent set for Italian Open campaign

Ash Barty was stunned in the Final of the Madrid Open yesterday, falling to Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 in a nail-biting affair. The top-seeded Barty entered the match at Madrid’s Caja Mágica as the overwhelming favourite, having beaten Sabalenka in last month’s Stuttgart Open in a three-set thriller.

Sabalenka began the pair’s Madrid reunion in irrepressible fashion, registering just one unforced error to garner a 6-0 first set advantage. Barty regrouped to clinch a 3-6 second set victory and looked set to take hold of the match in the deciding set when the Queensland native led 4-3, 30-15 in the third set, just two points from serving for the title.

But Sabalenka produced a resilient, hard-fought finish to the match, winning the last 11 consecutive points to deliver Barty her first defeat on red clay since 2019. After playing 14 games in 18 days, Barty travels to Rome for the Italian Open, where she appears to once again be on a collision course with Sabalenka, this time in a potential quarterfinal.

Joining the 25-year-old in the Italian capital will be compatriots Ajla Tomljanović, Alex de Minaur, John Millman, John Peers, Luke Saville, Max Purcell and Ellen Perez.

Equestrian - Tokyo hopefuls crowned victorious at Sydney International 3-Day Event 

Tokyo hopefuls met at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre this week to prepare for potential Olympic selection. 

Olympian Stuart Tinney secured victory in the Ariat CCN4*-S competition while riding Elisabeth Brinton’s chestnut gelding ‘Celebration’ with a sub 30 score of 28.40. Tinney also finished in third place on his second ride, Leporis. 

“I am very thrilled with both the horses, they went really, really well,” Tinney said. “I just want to build on their fitness now moving forward and see how we end up and how the other riders go.” 

Fellow Olympian Shane Rose finished the event in second place with a score of 30. 

The Bates Saddles CCI14*-S was won by Sam Lyle riding ‘BF Valour’, with the pairing proving formidable throughout the three days of competition. Gemma Tinney, daughter of Ariat CCN4*-S winner Stuart, placed second, with Jessica Rae closing out the podium. 

A challenging Kohnke’s Own CCI4*-L class was eventually won by Sam Woods and ‘Cage Fighter’, with EA High-Performance NEXT Squad rider Andrew Cooper and Hayley Frielick respectively finishing in second and third place. 

Seven-time Olympian Andrew Hoy also claimed fourth place in the CCI4*-S on horse Vasilly de Lassos at Eventing Marbach in Germany from a competitive field of 79 combinations.

Weightlifting - Australia’s best back in action at Cougars DK Duo Competition

Two of Australia’s Olympic hopefuls both registered personal bests this weekend at Cougars Weightlifting Club’s DK Duo Competition in Brisbane.

Erika Yamasaki entered the competition after a 15-month hiatus but proved little trouble regaining top form before a potential Olympic debut. The 33-year-old marked a new personal best in the Clean & Jerk, lifting 107kg to better her previous 106kg mark.

Yamasaki’s performance lifted a total figure of 188kg to secure victory in the F64kg division, headlined by a perfect 6 for 6 lifts at Saturday’s event.

Matthew Lydement’s new 167kg Snatch personal best registered a new Queensland and Australian record on Saturday.

Paired with a 180kg lift in the Clean & Jerk, Lydement earned first place in the M109kg event and looks to be hitting strong form ahead of a prospective Olympic campaign.

Athletics - Ollie Hoare registers personal best and victory at USATF Golden Games 

Tokyo hopeful Ollie Hoare registered a new personal best at the USATF Golden Games in Walnut, California yesterday.

Hoare earned top honours in the 1500m event in a time of 3:33:19, a personal best that places the 24-year-old in strong form ahead of a prospective Olympic campaign.

Hoare’s success this weekend builds from a stunning result at February’s New York Indoor Grand Prix, when the largely unknown Australian took out the 1500m event with a time of 3:32:35 - a figure bettering both the national and Oceania records, and the seventh-best time ever recorded in the event. It was a highly impressive performance that Hoare has continued to build on with Tokyo growing ever closer.

Mother’s Day - Australian Olympians celebrate on Sunday

With Mother’s Day falling on Sunday, Australian Olympians spoke about what their mothers - or being a mother - means to them.