Melanie Troxel is the world's fastest female drag racer, needing just more than four seconds to reach 533kph.
On Monday, she slowed down enough to accept the Women's Sports Foundation's individual sportswoman of the year award. Pro beach volleyball players Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh were selected in the team category.
Inducted into the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame were: Diana Nyad (long-distance swimming) and Shane Gould (swimming), Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer (basketball) and Nawal El Moutawakel (track).
PHOTO: AP
Tennis great Billie Jean King participated in a breakfast ahead of Monday night's annual gala. Sheryl Crow is to perform at the event featuring more than 100 athletes.
The Women's Sports Foundation, founded by King, is marking its 32nd anniversary. The awards dinner raises more than US$1 million annually for education and grant programs for girls and women in sports.
Troxel held the NHRA top fuel points lead through the first 12 events of the season and is fourth in the standings behind leader Doug Kalitta. Shirley Muldowney was the last woman to win the title in 1982, and Troxel is trying to reach that goal.
The 33-year-old Troxel hit the highest speed for a woman in May at Atlanta. In February, she became the sixth woman in NHRA history to capture a Top Fuel event by winning the season-opening NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, California.
Twelve days after winning her second Grand Slam title at the French Open, Coco Gauff fell at the first hurdle on grass in Berlin on Thursday as beaten Paris finalist Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the quarter-finals. Recipient of a first round bye, American Gauff lost 6-3, 6-3 to Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu as world number one Sabalenka beat Rebeka Masarova 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) in her second round tie. Winner of 10 main tour titles, including the US Open in 2023 and the WTA Finals last year, Gauff has yet to lift a trophy in a grass-court tournament. “After I won the first
Sergio Ramos on Tuesday outfoxed two Inter players and artfully headed home the first goal for Monterrey at the FIFA Club World Cup. The 39-year-old Ramos slipped through the penalty area for the score just as he did for so many years in the shirts of Real Madrid and Spain’s national team, with whom he combined smarts, timing and physicality. Ramos’ clever goal and his overall defensive play at the Rose Bowl were major factors in Monterrey’s impressive 1-1 draw against the UEFA Champions League finalists in the clubs’ first match of the tournament. “There is always a joy to contribute to the
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down