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.

Katie Ledecky is a champion American swimmer. Ledecky has set world records in the women’s 400-, 800-, and 1,500-meter freestyle events. © Jae C. Hong, AP Photo

Two swimmers raced neck and neck down the lane in the women’s 400-meter freestyle in Tokyo, Japan, for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Representing America was Katie Ledecky. She received a silver medal, hitting the wall just 0.67 seconds after Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus. Hope was not lost for Ledecky. Just one hour after a fifth place finish in the 200-meter freestyle on July 27, 2021, she dove back into the pool for the 1,500-meter freestyle finals. In a shining example of stamina, Ledecky snatched the gold medal in the longest race in the pool and the first time women competed that distance in the Olympic Games.

Ledecky is a champion American swimmer. Ledecky set world records in the 800-meter and 1,500-meter women’s freestyle races in 2013, and a world record in the 400-meter freestyle race in 2014. She later broke each record at least once. Ledecky was a star of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She won individual gold medals in the 200-meter, 400-meter, and 800-meter races, setting world records in the last two events. She also won a gold medal as a member of the 800-meter freestyle relay and a silver medal as a member of the 400-meter freestyle relay.

Ledecky first gained international recognition in 2012. In that year she was the surprise winner of the gold medal in the 800-meter freestyle at the age of 15 at the Summer Olympic Games in London. She was the youngest American athlete to participate in the 2012 games. Ledecky won 4 gold medals at the 2013 FINA World Swimming Championships in Barcelona, Spain, and 5 gold medals at the 2015 championships in Kazan, Russia. FINA is the world governing body for the sport of swimming. At the 2017 championships in Budapest, Hungary, Ledecky won 5 more gold medals. She won another gold medal at the 2019 championships in Gwangju, South Korea. Her total of 15 career gold medals is a record for women swimmers.

Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky was born in Washington, D.C., on March 17, 1997. She became a national swimming star in high school in Bethesda, Maryland. She set American records in the 500-meter freestyle twice, and the national high school record in the 200-meter freestyle twice. Following the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, Ledecky entered Stanford University on an athletic scholarship. In 2018, Ledecky announced that she was turning professional. Her decision meant she would be ineligible to swim in college events, but she would still be eligible for the Olympic Games.

Philippine weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz
Credit: © Yang Lei, Xinhua/Alamy Images

Hidilyn Diaz made history this week in Tokyo. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, she became the first Filipino ever to win an Olympic gold medal. Diaz is a Philippine Air Force officer and weightlifter. She won in the 55-kilogram weightlifting category.

Hidilyn Francisco Diaz was born on Feb. 20, 1991, in Zamboanga, in the southern Philippines. She was the second youngest of six siblings. She began weightlifting with her brothers and cousins when she was 11 years old. The family fashioned weights out of concrete before receiving donated barbells. As a 17-year-old, Diaz was recruited to compete for the national team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. Diaz joined the Philippine Air Force in 2013.

Diaz won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, after coming back from an injury. At the 2020 Olympics, she lifted 97 kilograms in the snatch and 127 kilograms in the clean and jerk event. Her combined score of 224 kilograms broke the Olympic record.

Stephanie Gilmore of Australia made a splash on her country’s team in the surfing event.
Credit: © Louis Lotter Photography/Shutterstock

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.

Washing up to the shores of Tsurigasaki Beach in Japan is a brand new Olympic event—surfing. The sport made its first appearance at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Representing Australia is the professional surfer Stephanie Gilmore. Gilmore qualified to join the Australian surfing team, called the Irukandjis, for the 2020 Summer Olympics Games. Gilmore dropped in on a poor wave during the women’s surfing event. She was eliminated in the third round on July 26, 2021.

Gilmore has won the Association of Surfing Pros World Title seven times. She has tied the Australian surfer Layne Beachley for most women’s surfing world titles. Gilmore is also known as an activist for equal pay and opportunity for women surfers. Critics have noted her effortless, feminine style.

Stephanie Louise Gilmore was born Jan. 29, 1988, in Murwillumbah, in the northeast of New South Wales, Australia. She began surfing around the age of 10. She started competing in 2005 at the age of 17 as a wild-card competitor. A wild-card competitor is an individual who participates in a competition without qualifying. In 2007, her rookie year as a professional surfer, Gilmore won the world title at the Billabong Pro tournament in Hawaii. She went on to win the world title in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2018. In August 2010, at the age of 22, Gilmore became the youngest person inducted into the Surfers’ Hall of Fame.

In December 2010, Gilmore was attacked outside her home in New South Wales, resulting in a broken wrist and head injury. Her early success, the attack, and her comeback to surfing were the subject of the documentary motion picture Stephanie in the Water (2014).

Margielyn Didal of the Philippines will compete in the new street skateboarding event.
Credit: © Cheng Min, Xinhua/Alamy Images

Skateboarding is making its Olympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympic Games. A star skateboarder representing the Philippines is Margielyn Didal. Didal has become the first Filipino to participate in several international skateboarding tournaments. She qualified for the women’s street skateboarding event, which took place on Sunday, July 25, 2021. Didal placed seventh overall.

Didal is a Philippine professional street skateboarder. Street skateboarding is a type of skateboarding performed in urban settings, using stairs, rails, and ramps for tricks. Critics have noted her energetic and controlled style. She has become one of the top skateboarders in the world.

Margielyn Arda Didal was born April 19, 1999, in Cebu City, Philippines. She began skateboarding with friends when she was 12 years old. She began her professional career under the coaching of Daniel Bautista, a Philippine freelance photographer and skateboarder. Bautista loaned Didal skateboards and coached her through local tournaments starting in 2012. Didal competed in tournaments in part to win prize money to support her family. In 2014, she injured her arm and ankle while skateboarding, limiting her ability to compete.

In 2018, Didal became the first Filipino to participate in Street League Skateboarding, an international street skateboarding competition, finishing eighth overall. Didal competed in the 2018 X Games in Minneapolis, Minnesota, becoming the first Filipino to do so. She won the gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games in the women’s street skateboarding event.

In 2019, Didal won gold in the women’s street event at the first Philippine National Skateboarding Championship. She also won two gold medals in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

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

The legendary torch was lit in Olympia, Greece, in March 2020 and has been kept safe for over a year awaiting the delayed start of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan. The games officially begin after the opening ceremony on Friday, July 23, 2021. The ceremony takes place at the Olympic Stadium, which was rebuilt on the site of the stadium for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. The theme of the ceremony—“United by Emotion”—points to sport as a connection for people around the world, even during a pandemic.

Margielyn Didal of the Philippines will compete in the new street skateboarding event.
Credit: © Cheng Min, Xinhua/Alamy Images

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. Much of the ceremony was pre-recorded, to decrease the number of people present. Athletes and support staff—including coaches and trainers—were tested for COVID-19 before and after arriving in Japan. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not require athletes to be vaccinated, but they estimated that 80 percent of athletes were fully vaccinated. Athletes were given a Playbook outlining the rules for COVID-19 safety at the games, which include social distancing, masking whenever possible, frequent testing, and avoiding tourist attractions.

In their design and planning, the Tokyo 2020 Olympics have focused on sustainability. Only 8 of the 42 event sites were built specifically for the 2020 games. To minimize the use of new materials, 25 sites were updated from the 1964 Olympic Games. Event planners also made efforts to use recycled materials and renewable energy and lower CO2 emissions. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics mark the first time that the Olympic medals are made from recycled materials, recovered primarily from old smartphones and computers.

Stephanie Gilmore of Australia will lead the country’s team in the surfing event.
Credit: © Louis Lotter Photography/Shutterstock

New events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics include karate, skateboarding, softball, sport climbing, and surfing. Softball returned to the roster after it was removed for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

The mascot of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is named Miraitowa, from the Japanese words meaning future and eternity. Miraitowa’s design features the indigo blue and white checkered pattern which also makes up the Tokyo 2020 Olympics emblem.

Giannis Antetokounmpo
Credit: © Matthew Stockman, Getty Images

On Tuesday, July 20, the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA) defeated the Phoenix Suns 105-98 to win the team’s first NBA championship in 50 years. The Bucks won the best-of-seven finals four games to two. Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied 50 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the deciding Game 6 and won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award.

The Bucks opened Game 6 with a 13-point first quarter lead, to the delight of 17,000 fans in attendance at Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum and some 65,000 supporters at a watch party outside the arena. The Suns charged back to take a 47-42 halftime lead, but the Bucks outscored their opponents by 12 in the second half and capture the team’s first championship since 1971.

The 1971 Bucks team had been led by star center Lew Alcindor and fellow Hall of Fame members Oscar Robertson and Bob Dandridge. Alcindor publicly announced his name change to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar soon after winning the league title. Teammates Jabbar, Robertson, Dandridge, and Jon McGlocklin attended Game 4 in Milwaukee, a Bucks win that evened the series at two games apiece.

The Suns had opened Finals play with a 118-105 Game 1 victory. Guards Chris Paul and Devon Booker combined for 59 points. After the Suns prevailed, 118-108, in Game 2, chants of “Suns in four”—predicting a four-game sweep—echoed through the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Over the next four games, however, the taller, more physical Bucks squad wore down an overmatched Suns front line led by 7-foot center Deandre Ayton and journeyman forward Jae Crowder. Behind 41 points from Antetokounmpo, the Bucks won 120-100 in Game 3. In Game 4, the Bucks, with 40 points from wing Khris Middleton, overcame a fourth quarter deficit and 42 points from Booker to prevail 109-103. The Suns forged a 37-21 lead early in Game 5, but the Bucks dominated the middle two quarters en route to a 123-119 win.

Following the Game 6 victory, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver presented the Bucks with the Larry O’Brien trophy. Coach Mike Budenholzer lauded Antetokounmpo and Middleton, who have played together since the 2013-2014 season. Point guard Jrue Holiday, pesky guard-forward P.J. Tucker, and center Brook Lopez completed the starting lineup. Forward Bobby Portis and guard Pat Connaughton provided scoring and energy off the bench. Antetokounmpo, who signed a five-year contract extension before the season, had high hopes for further Bucks success. “I want the team to build off this and hopefully we can do it again,” he said.