Atlanta Braves players celebrate on the field at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas, after recording the final out of the World Series. The Braves defeated the Houston Astros in the best-of-seven series, finishing with a 7-0 shutout in Game 6 on Nov. 2, 2021.
Credit: Johnny Angelillo; UPI/Alamy

The ATLiens are celebrating in the streets. The Atlanta Braves won the World Series, defeating the Houston Astros in the best-of-seven series four games to two. They cruised to an easy 7-0 victory in Houston on November 2 to earn their first championship since 1995.

A titanic, three-run home run by outfielder Jorge Soler in the 3rd inning delivered a blow from which the Astros would never recover. The 446-foot blast deflated the hitherto electric Minute Maid Park like a laser beam piercing a balloon. Soler won the World Series Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award, going 6-for-20 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI in the series against the Astros.

Georgia-born second baseman Dansby Swanson added a two-run homer in the fifth. Veteran first baseman Freddie Freeman put the game out of reach with an RBI double in the fifth and solo home run in the seventh.

Atlanta starting pitcher Max Fried turned in a masterful performance, issuing no walks and limiting the Houston sons of swat to just four scattered singles over six shutout innings. Braves manager Brian Snitker then handed the ball over to the bullpen. The Atlanta arm barn allowed only three more singles the rest of the way. Closer Will Smith finished out the game by inducing a routine grounder to the Swanson.

The series began in Houston. Atlanta took game one by a score of 6 to 2, but at a heavy cost. Their veteran starting pitcher Charlie Morton took a line drive off his lower leg in the second inning. He came back out to pitch into the third, but had to be removed from the game shortly thereafter. X rays revealed a fracture in his fibula. Houston cruised to an easy 7-2 win in game two, evening the series as it moved to Georgia. Atlanta pitchers flirted with a no-hitter in a 2-0 game four victory and won the next night in a 3-2 squeaker. The Astros worked their way back to a 9-to-5 win in game five, pushing the series to a sixth game back in Houston. But journeyman manager Dusty Baker was ultimately denied in his quest to win his first World Series.

The Georgia franchise overcame nearly every indignity a team could suffer during the season. In January, Braves legend and towering baseball icon Hank Aaron passed away. The 2021 All-Star Game had been scheduled to be played in the Braves’ Truist Park, located on the outskirts of the city. But in March, the state of Georgia passed a bill imposing heavy restrictions on voting, most of which will most severely impact the poor and people of color. In response, MLB relocated the game to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. MLB continued to honor its commitment to community improvement initiatives around Atlanta.

The Braves, with their young stars Ozzie Albies and Acuña Jr., were expected to dominate a soft National League East division. But they struggled to put together wins. In late May, outfielder Marcell Ozuna was arrested on the heels of a violent confrontation with his wife. He was eventually placed on administrative leave and did not play for the rest of the season. On July 10, the Braves were just 43-44 as they faced off against the Miami Marlins. Acuña Jr. came down awkwardly while attempting a leaping catch, tearing his ACL.

Atlanta won that July 10 game but found themselves at .500 and without two of their starting outfielders for the rest of the year. Undeterred, the front office acted quickly to fill the holes in what they believed could still be a championship team. The Braves acquired Eddie Rosario from the Cleveland Indians, Joc Pederson from the Chicago Cubs, Adam Duvall from the Miami Marlins, and Jorge Soler from the Kansas City Royals. All four became vital parts of the offense. The Braves never completely caught fire in the regular season, reaching just 88 wins, but they shone in the playoffs, dispatching the strong Milwaukee Brewers and Los Angeles Dodgers before defeating the Astros.

The American automobile racing driver Bubba Wallace poses next to his car, number 43, before a race at Martinsville Speedway in Virginia in 2020. Wallace, who is a Black American racer, sported a Black Lives Matter theme on his car in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
© Jared C. Tilton, Getty Images

On Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, Bubba Wallace became the second Black driver to win a NASCAR Cup Series race. NASCAR driver Wendell Scott was the first Black person to win a Cup race in 1963. Wallace won the race at the Talladega Superspeedway in Lincoln, Alabama.

Wallace is an American automobile racing driver. Wallace competes in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, supervised by NASCAR. NASCAR is the organization that governs the most popular form of stock car automobile racing in the United States. The full name of the organization is the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race is considered the premier championship series of stock car racing. In the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, a 26-race regular season championship series leads to a 10-race playoff. At the end of the playoff, the four leading drivers race for the total season championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.

Wallace joined the series as a replacement for an injured driver in 2017. Wallace became the first Black American to race in NASCAR’s top series since Bill Lester in 2006. In 2018, Wallace joined the series full-time. He finished second at the Daytona 500 race in 2018 and third at the Brickyard 400 in 2019.

American automobile racing driver Bubba Wallace
© Grindstone Media Group/Shutterstock

Darrell Wallace, Jr., was born Oct. 8, 1993, in Mobile, Alabama. He grew up in Concord, North Carolina. He began racing at the age of 9. Wallace is a graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, designed to help women and nonwhite drivers gain entry to the sport.

Wallace joined the regional K & N Pro East Series in 2010. He was named the series Rookie of the Year, becoming the first Black American to win the honor in a NASCAR series. In 2012, he joined NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series, finishing seventh in the series in 2015. He joined NASCAR’s Camping World Truck Series in 2013. That year, he won the Kroger 200 race in Martinsville, Virginia. He became the first Black American driver to win a national touring series race since Wendell Scott in 1963.

In 2020, in the wake of the George Floyd killing, Wallace called on NASCAR to ban displays of the Confederate battle flag at its events, noting that the flag is seen by many as a racist symbol. NASCAR, which had been asking fans not to display the flag since 2015, quickly enacted a ban.

American football player Tyreek Hill
© Jamie Squire, Getty Images

With every September come the Friday night lights. It’s football season in America.

On the professional scene, Tyreek Hill is a star wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). In 2021, Hill entered his sixth season with the Kansas City Chiefs. Hill ranks among the fastest players in the NFL. He has also excelled as a kick and punt returner.

In the 2020 season, Hill scored 2 rushing touchdowns and 15 receiving touchdowns. He tied Dwayne Bowe for the Chiefs’ record for most receiving touchdowns in a single season. Hill also became the first wide receiver on the Chiefs to record at least 100 points in a season.

In 2018, Hill established himself as one of the best wide receivers in football. He gathered 1,630 rushing and receiving yards and scored 13 touchdowns, in a powerful offense headed by the quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Hill missed four games due to injury in 2019, but he remained one of the team’s top receivers as Mahomes led the Chiefs to defeat the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. Hill had another outstanding season in 2020, recording 1,399 rushing and receiving yards and a career-high 17 touchdowns.

The Chiefs selected Hill in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft, the 165th pick overall. The Chiefs used him as a return specialist and part-time wide receiver during his rookie year. He returned two punts and one kickoff for touchdowns and totaled 1,836 all-purpose yards, finishing fourth in the league. In 2017, the Chiefs stopped using him for kickoff returns to expand his use as a wide receiver.

Hill was born March 1, 1994, in Pearson, Georgia. He went to Coffee High School in Douglas, where he played basketball and football. He attended Garden City Community College from 2012 to 2014, before accepting a football scholarship from Oklahoma State University (OSU). He stood out as a utility player at OSU, excelling as a running back, wide receiver, and kick and punt returner. In December 2014, Hill was arrested following a violent confrontation with his girlfriend. OSU dismissed him from the football team as a result, and he later pleaded guilty to domestic abuse. Following the dismissal, Hill transferred to the University of West Alabama, playing football there his senior year.

Lorena Ochoa, a Mexican golfer, was one of the leading players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour. Ochoa’s success has made her a national sports hero in Mexico.
© Lisa Blumenfeld, Getty Images

People in the United States observe National Hispanic Heritage Month each year from September 15 to October 15. During this period, Latin American countries celebrate their independence. These countries include Cuba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Lorena Ochoa, a Mexican golfer, became one of the leading players on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) tour (now the KPMG Women’s PGA). Ochoa was named the Player of the Year in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. She was the first person other than Annika Sorenstam of Sweden and Karrie Webb of Australia to win the Player of the Year award since 1996. Ochoa’s success made her a sports hero in Mexico.

During 2006, Ochoa led the LPGA tour with six tournament victories. She also finished second six times. In 2006, 2007, and 2008, Ochoa earned more prize money than any other woman on the tour and also won the Vare Trophy awarded to the golfer with the lowest scoring average. In 2007, Ochoa won the Women’s British Open, becoming the first Mexican-born player to win a major championship on the LPGA tour. She won her second major championship, the Kraft Nabisco (now ANA Inspiration) title, in 2008.

Ochoa was born on Nov. 15, 1981, in Guadalajara, Mexico. She began playing golf at the age of 5. Ochoa was a star player at the University of Arizona in 2001 and 2002. She won the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Player of the Year award in both years. Ochoa won the 2003 Nancy Lopez Award, given to the best female amateur golfer from the previous year. Ochoa turned professional in 2002 and was named the Rookie of the Year on the LPGA tour in 2003. In 2004, she became the first Mexican-born player to win a tournament on the LPGA tour. In 2010, Ochoa announced she was retiring from competitive golf. She ended her career with 27 LPGA tournament victories.

Australian Aboriginal athlete and political figure Nova Peris
© Tony Feder, Getty Images

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

The Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, are still fresh in our memories. But Australia made history at another Olympics, when an Aboriginal athlete first won Olympic gold.

Nova Peris is an Australian Aboriginal athlete and political figure. As a member of the winning Australian women’s field hockey team at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games, Peris was the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal.

In 1997, Peris was named Young Australian of the Year. This annual award is given to a young Australian citizen by the National Australia Day Council, a government organization. Also in 1997, she received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), awarded by the government for service worthy of particular recognition.

Nova Maree Peris was born on Feb. 25, 1971, in Darwin, Northern Territory. She played on the Australian field hockey team that won the Champions Trophy in 1993 and 1995. The Champions Trophy is awarded to the winning team in a major international field hockey tournament. She also played on the Australian team that won the 1994 World Cup, an international tournament held every four years.

After the 1996 Olympic victory, Peris switched to track and field. She won the 200-meter race and was a member of the winning 4×100-meter relay at the Commonwealth Games in 1998. At the 2000 Summer Olympic Games, Peris competed in the 400-meter run, reaching the semifinals. She also ran on the Australian 4×400 meter relay team that finished fifth in the finals.

In 2013, Peris became the first Aboriginal Australian woman elected to the federal Parliament. She was elected as a member of the Australian Labor Party to represent the Northern Territory. She served until 2016. Peris’s autobiography, Nova: My Story, was published in 2003.

David Brown of the United States wins the gold medal in the 2016 Rio Paralympics event with his guide Jerome Avery (R). Credit: © Jason Cairnduff, Reuters

The 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, are being held from Aug. 24, 2021, to Sept. 5, 2021. More than 4,000 qualifying athletes will compete for gold in such sports as archery, cycling, equestrian, weightlifting, swimming, wheelchair basketball, and wheelchair tennis. To keep athletes and Tokyo residents safe, spectators will not be allowed to attend the events and additional safety measures have been put in place.

The Paralympic Games are an international sports event for male and female athletes with a variety of physical limitations. The Paralympic Games closely resemble the Olympic Games. They both are divided into summer and winter games and are held every four years. The Paralympics take place shortly after the regular Olympics conclude. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) organizes and governs the games.

Two women’s teams face each other in a basketball game during the Summer Paralympic Games. The Paralympics game follows the basic rules of regular basketball but with the players competing in wheelchairs.
© Bob Daemmrich, Alamy Images

The Paralympics are sometimes confused with the Special Olympics. The Paralympics primarily feature athletes with physical impairments. The Special Olympics concentrate on participants with intellectual disabilities. In addition, deaf athletes can compete in games called the Deaflympics, which started in 1924. These games are organized by the International Committee of Sports for the Deaf and recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

The IPC defines 10 types of eligible impairments for participating athletes. These include such conditions as impaired muscle power, visual impairment, and intellectual impairment. Each sport in the Paralympics allows athletes from particular impairment groups to participate. Many Paralympic events resemble those in the Olympic Games. Others are adapted to accommodate the disabilities of the athletes, such as wheelchair fencing and wheelchair curling.

The first disabled athlete to compete in the Olympic Games was probably George Eyser, a German-American amputee who won six medals as a gymnast in the 1904 Summer Olympics. The first organized competition for athletes with disabilities took place at the 1948 Summer Games in London. The organizers named the first games the Stoke Mandeville Games, after a British hospital that treated paraplegia (paralysis of the legs and lower body). The competition was then held annually, with increasing numbers of competitors. These early games were the forerunners of the modern Paralympics.

The first formal Summer Paralympic Games were held in 1960 in Rome, with 400 athletes competing. The games grew continually during the 1900’s and early 2000’s, with 4,300 athletes participating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016. The first Winter Games were held in 1976 in Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, with about 200 athletes participating. In the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, 567 athletes with disabilities competed. The 2020 Summer Games were postponed until 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic (worldwide epidemic).

Lauren Jackson shoots a free throw during the Seattle Storm 66-53 victory over the San Antonio Silverstars at Key Arena.
Credit: © Andrew Fredrickson, Southcreek Global/ZUMA Press/Alamy Images

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

Australian basketball legend Lauren Jackson was named to the 2020 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Jackson is one of the greatest players in the history of women’s basketball. Jackson has been an Olympian and WNBA champion. She was inducted into the Australian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019 and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020.

Jackson played both the center and forward positions. She stands 6 feet 5 inches (195 centimeters) tall. Jackson won many Most Valuable Player (MVP) awards in both Australia’s Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) of the United States. She led three professional teams to a number of titles and helped Australia win a world championship.

Lauren Elizabeth Jackson was born on May 11, 1981, in Albury, New South Wales. Her mother, Maree, was a superstar player for the Australian national women’s basketball team, and her father, Gary, was a skilled role player on the men’s national squad. At the age of 15, Lauren won a scholarship to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). She helped lead the 1998-1999 AIS team to the WNBL title. She led the WNBL’s Canberra Capitals to the championship the following season.

In 2001, the Seattle Storm made Jackson the first pick in the WNBA draft. She played 12 seasons for the Storm, winning MVP awards in 2003, 2007, and 2010. She also won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 2007. The Storm won league titles in 2004 and 2010. Jackson returned to the WNBL for several seasons, leading the Capitals to additional titles at the conclusion of the 2001-2002, 2002-2003, 2005-2006, and 2009-2010 seasons. She won MVP awards in 1999, 2000, 2003, and 2004. In four appearances at the Olympic Games, starting in 2000, she led the Australian women’s team to three silver medals and one bronze medal. Jackson won a World Championship in 2006 with the Australian national team and won EuroLeague championships with the Russian squad Spartak Moscow Region in 2008 and 2009 and with the Spanish team Ros Casares Valencia in 2012. She also played seasons in China and Korea. Jackson played her last WNBA game in 2012 and retired from professional basketball in 2016.

A memoir, My Story: A Life in Basketball and Beyond, was published in 2018. In 2019, she was selected as the head of women in basketball for Basketball Australia, the country’s governing body for the sport.

Emma McKeon of Australia competes during the women’s 100m butterfly final of the swimming competition at Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, July 26, 2021.
Credit: © Du Xiaoyi, Xinhua/Alamy Images

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

Finishing her latest latest Olympic run with seven medals, Emma McKeon became the most decorated swimmer at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. The 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian swimmer went home with four gold medals (breaking three Olympic records and one world record) and three bronze. In the 400-meter medley relay, Australia set an Olympic record with 3 minutes and 51.6 seconds, and McKeon achieved her seventh medal in Tokyo, becoming the first female swimmer to win as many in one Olympic Games. Only the male swimmers Matt Biondi, Michael Phelps, and Mark Spitz have taken home seven or more medals in a single Games. Seven also tied gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya for the record female Olympian medals in one Games. McKeon had previously won gold at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. Her wins make her the most decorated Australian Olympian ever.

McKeon was born May 24, 1994, in Wollongong, New South Wales. Her parents, Ron and Susie, were both competitive swimmers. Ron competed in the 1980 and 1984 Summer Olympics and Susie competed in the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Emma’s brother, David, swam for Australia in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics. McKeon first competed internationally in 2010, winning silver and bronze medals at the 2010 Junior Pan Pacific Championship in Hawaii. That year, she also won gold as a part of the 400-meter medley relay at the Youth Olympics in Singapore. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, McKeon won gold for the 200-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle relay, 400-meter medley relay, and 800-meter freestyle relay. At the 2016 Olympics, McKeon won gold for the Women’s 400-meter relay, placed silver in the 800-meter freestyle relay and 400-meter medley relay, and won bronze in the 200-meter freestyle.

Following the 2016 Olympics, McKeon spent time focusing on strength training in order to prepare for the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2018, McKeon won eight gold medals, four at the Commonwealth Games and four at the Pan Pacific Championship in Tokyo. At the 2020 Summer Olympics, McKeon won gold in the 100-meter freestyle, 50-meter freestyle, 400-meter freestyle relay, and 400-meter medley relay. She won bronze in the 100-meter butterfly, 800-meter freestyle relay, and the 400-meter mixed medley relay. In addition to competitive swimming, McKeon and her brother host swimming clinics at McKeon’s Swim School in Unanderra, New South Wales.

Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus
Credit: © Stefan Wermuth, Reuters/Alamy Images

Australia is famous for its unique culture, metropolitan cities, and unusual wildlife, among other things. Each week, this seasonal feature will spotlight one of Australia’s many wonders.

In just 1 minute and 53.5 seconds, rising star Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus broke the Olympic record for the Women’s 200-meter freestyle competition. She won two gold medals at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. (The games were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Titmus defeated her American rival Katie Ledecky, winning her second gold in the Women’s 400-meter freestyle competition.

Titmus has enjoyed a friendly rivalry with Ledecky. Titmus first defeated Ledecky at the 2019 World Championships in South Korea. Her win in the 400-meter freestyle in Tokyo also marked the first time since 2013 that Ledecky had lost that event.

Titmus was born Sept. 7, 2000, in Launceton, Tasmania. She began swimming at age 7, and at age 14 her family relocated to Brisbane, Queensland, to further her training.  A year later, in 2016, Titmus became a member of the Australian Dolphins national swim team. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Titmus won silver in the women’s 200-meter freestyle and won gold for the women’s 400-meter freestyle, women’s 800-meter freestyle, and as a member of the Australian women’s 800-meter relay team. She also set a world record in the 400-meter freestyle at the World Short Course Championship in 2018 in Hangzhou, China.

Armand Duplantis will represent Sweden in the pole vault.
Credit: © Denis Kuvaev, Shutterstock

Armand Duplantis is a Swedish-American pole-vaulter. He chose to represent Sweden at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Duplantis has set a number of world records. He became the youngest person to ever pole-vault over 6 meters when he vaulted 6.05 meters (19.84 feet) in 2018 at the age of 18. In 2020, Duplantis broke a long-standing outdoor pole-vaulting world record when he vaulted 6.15 meters (20.17 feet).

Duplantis was born on Nov. 10, 1999, in LaFayette, Louisiana, to an athletic family. His father Greg was a pole-vaulter, and his mother Helena also competed in track and field. Armand started pole-vaulting at the age of three, picking up the sport from his father. Armand’s older brothers, Andreas and Antoine, as well as his younger sister, Johanna, have all been competitive in the field of pole-vaulting. His brother Antoine was drafted as a baseball player for the New York Mets organization.

Armand’s record-breaking career began in middle school. At the age of 10, his vault of 3.86 meters (12.66 feet) broke the world record for his age and also exceeded that for 11- and 12-year-olds. In 2015, Duplantis won the title of International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Youth Championship. Duplantis was both a European Champion and U20 (Under 20) Champion in 2018. Duplantis enrolled in Louisiana State University in 2018. In 2019 he was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Field Athlete of the Year and Freshman Athlete of the Year for both indoor and outdoor sports. He earned a gold medal as a 2019 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Indoor Track and Field Championships. In June 2019, Duplantis announced via Twitter that he would be going professional, effectively ending his collegiate sports career after one season.