At a Christmas family gathering in December last year, Dwan Young’s family surprised her with the Guinness World Record certificate, officially naming her as the record holder.

Young, who lives in Utah, USA, has been skiing for more than 60 years, trying her hand at the sport when she was 29 years old. Since then, she along with her family have been skiing at the family cabin at Bear Lake.

Speaking with KSL TV, Young said her granddaughter Becca contacted the Guinness World Records to see if her grandmother was eligible for the title. Then, at Christmas, the family presented her with the award.

“I thought it was a joke,” she said.

While Young has been skiing for years, she said it was her family that helped her transition from skiing on two skis to the slalom, which is no easy feat for anyone, let alone a 92-year-old.

“My kids kept saying, ‘Grandma, bend your knees! Keep your arms straight and let the boat pull you out!’” Young said.

“Now, at my age, I’m getting out of the water on two and just dropping one.”

Water skiing isn’t the only sport Young plays, and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

“Actually, I’m still playing tennis twice a week, and I’m doing water aerobics in the winter,” she said.

While her grandkids want their grandmother to give surfing a go, Young is happy to stick with what she knows.

‘What an honour.’

Since 1961, Dwan Young, who is originally from Salt Lake City, has been water skiing. But she admitted to Guinness World Records last month that she still gets nervous before a ski.

“I always get butterflies before I get in the water,” Young said. “In the water, I feel excited.”

Young was thrilled to receive the record certificate from her family, which was totally unexpected for the 92-year-old.

“I could not believe it. I still can’t believe it,” Young said. “What a surprise and what an honour.”

These days, Young only skis in Bear Lake, where the family summer cabin is. But she told Guinness World Records that if she could ski anywhere in the world, Lake Geneva in Switzerland is her dream spot.

For anyone wanting to have a go at something new, Young said your age should not matter.

“Do not be afraid to try a new sport when you are older,” she said.

“You are more capable than you think.”

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While the 21-year-old fell to American Caitlin Simmers, 18, in the final, Picklum’s perfect score was nailed in what’s widely rated as one of the best-ever women’s heats on the Championship Tour against Hawaii-local Bettylou Sakura Johnson in a thrilling semifinal win. 

World No. 5 Picklum flew through the barrel on her backhand side to earn the only 10 in the women’s competition. 

“I feel like for me personally, there’s no more fitting place than Pipe to give me my first 10,” said the NSW surfer, who will also represent Australia at this year’s Olympics in Paris.  

“ I’m just so, so happy– 10 points, it’s hard to come by,” she said. 

“With the wave I needed a score and I know she’s capable of a 10, so I just took off and I just thought it’s got some draw to it and I may as well roll the dice and try.”

“But 10 points, I love it, I want more.”

In the end, Picklum finished with a score of 10.64,  behind Simmers’ 12.66 score. Nevertheless, even Simmers had praise to heap onto Picklum’s historic heat. 

“Molly’s a guru, she’s probably the best girl out here in my opinion,” said Simmers about Picklum. “One heat out here is like months of experience, and getting barrelled in a heat with your friend is the most fun thing in the world.”

Commenting on all of the “epic” performances of the day, Picklum wrote on Instagram after the event: “Wow what a day for women’s surfing. So inspired by the women before my time who charged and push the limits and of course my girls who are pushing it in todays generation.”

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“Pipeline is for the fucking girls!”

Despite this year’s epic performances from female surfers at Pipeline, women have only been allowed to surf the sport’s most challenging and dangerous wave since 2020.

Three years ago, Australia’s Tyler Wright claimed victory at the first women’s World Surfing League (WSL) tour event to be held at Pipeline. 

Before that, women surfed at a different Hawaiian location– Honolua Bay– for the findal event of the tour, while Pipeline was reserved for the men. Following a fatal shark attack during the 2020 Maui Pro, however, the women moved to Pipeline out of caution. 

Nevertheless, Picklum’s perfect 10 on the deadly wave seems to have cemented that “Pipeline is for the fucking girls,” as Simmers declared after her heat. 

“This wave is terrifying; I respect everyone who wants a part of it and everyone who doesn’t because it’s really scary out there,” said Simmers.

“It starts with all the girls that battled the guys and barely got any waves, and I hope that this event showed the girls can do it. We’re getting spat out all day, and it’s pretty cool to see. I’m really happy to be a part of it.”

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“I had no concept of what any of that would mean, but I just held onto those goals,” says Steele, who can now boast a remarkable 13-year swimming career, with the titles of Paralympian and gold medalist under her belt. 

“We forget that we have this power within us to decide what it is that we want to have in our lives,” says Steele.

Connecting to this power from a young age, Steele won her first gold medal in competitive swimming at just 14. Then, at age 17, she represented Australia for the first time at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics in the 400-metre freestyle, breaking a national record. 

Steele was born with a congenital disability called Arthrogryposis, which affects the range of motion in the joints and impacts the cartilage in the body. She also developed Amniotic band syndrome (ABS) in the womb, affecting the shape of both her hands. 

“Sport has been everything,” says Steele. “It has shaped me. It has shaped how I react to things, and how I have managed my disability.”

“We create our own reality,” she says. 

“Things are always going to happen in your life, but it’s how you react to those things. And so when I was a kid – and when I was early in my swimming career – I would react in a way that was like a victim because the world was telling me I was a victim. But then I realised I could change that narrative and go ‘well, you might see me like that, but I don’t see myself like that’.”

Throughout her swimming career, Steele has represented Australia internationally five times, including at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. She’s also been captain of a number of Aussie swimming teams and held a Victorian Institute of Sport scholarship for eight years. 

After swimming, Steele took up wheelchair rugby. She was the only woman to be selected to play for Victoria at a national level. 

Today, Steele is an award-winning sportswoman, experienced personal coach and motivational speaker, who works in the personal development space as The Self Belief Agent. 

She’s also the Project Manager for the ‘Building Inclusive Sport Clubs’ program to promote the access and inclusion of people with disabilities in sporting clubs across Australia, working with Disability Sport Australia.

Recently, Steele was selected by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation to become a Change Our Game ambassador. Steele is joined by seven other inspiring women in this movement to raise awareness on key issues in women’s sport. 

Steele is using this advocacy platform to create equitable change for all people with disabilities in sport. 

Emphasising the importance of her role with the Change Our Game movement, Steele says she’s proud that she and the other ambassadors have a direct opportunity to help other people feel the positive, life-changing aspects of sport that they’ve experienced. 

She says they’re able to do this “by breaking down inclusion and access issues and being able to share our expertise and make it easier for people to access the sports that they want to play.”

Looking back at her own sporting career, Steele can see clearly the changes she wished had been in place when she was competing at such a high level. These are the changes she’s working to implement for the next generation. 

And while there are some days where this change might feel impossible, Steele remains optimistic about the future.

“There are going to be days when you feel like you’re hitting your head against a brick wall,” she says. “And on those days, you just need to go for a walk or a swim in the ocean.”

“We’re not going to change the world in 24 hours because there’s so many different ways that people view women and sport and disability.” 

“We’ve all got our own perceptions or ideals of how people are meant to behave, but sometimes we need to put them aside for a bit so we can learn from other people,” she adds. 

“It’s okay if you just go, and take a deep breath, and start again.”

Change Our Game Ambassadors are using their platforms to help drive change and raise awareness on key issues and barriers for women in sport. Change Our Game is led by the Office of Women in Sport and Recreation to level the playing field for women and girls. Be sure to follow the Ambassadors’ journeys through @ChangeOurGame on socials.

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The 25-year-old from Barwon Heads, Victoria, has had her best season yet, scoring a record eleven World Cup victories.

Anthony is currently tied with American Hannah Kearney for the most World Cup wins in a single season by a mogul skier.

She bagged the eleventh win at the FIS Freestyle Ski World Cup on Sunday night in Deer Valley, USA, regarded as the “Superbowl” of freestyle skiing.

Anthony made it to the gold medal stand-off in the dual moguls event, competing against her main rival of the season, Jaelen Kauf from the United States. She secured the victory 22-13, her fourth win against the American this season.

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Following the record-breaking win, Anthony said it was an incredible feeling to be there.

“That’s definitely one of my best competition runs I have ever done, and especially my best here on the Champion run, so to do that in the big final against Jaelin was a pretty special moment,” Anthony said.

“There is no event World Cup like this one, the atmosphere is incredible. The whole finish area is packed with people so to get to perform and put on a show for them is a really special feeling.

“Locking up eleven wins and equalling Hannah Kearney for the record for the most in the season is absolutely mind-blowing.”

Jakara Anthony made her World Cup debut in 2015 at the age of 16. While she placed 33rd, it was only two years later in 2017 that she placed in the top ten at the Tazawako World Cup. Her World Championships debut was in the same year at Sierra Nevada, where she placed 12th.

In 2018, Anthony made her first Olympic appearance at the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games. She was Australia’s highest placed female mogul skier, placing fourth.

The 2018-2019 season was where she established herself as one of the best female mogul skiers in the world, winning her first silver and gold medals at World Cup and World Championships events.

Following several cancelled events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Anthony’s performance during the 2021-2022 season was te best by an Australian winter sports athlete in history.

In 2022, Anthony won her first Olympic gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. She became Australia’s sixth ever winter gold medallist and the first since Lydia Lassila in 2010.

Anthony was crowned Athlete of the Year at the 2022 Snow Australia awards.

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Growing up, sport was a presence in the background of her life– played on TVs in the home or at bars– but it wasn’t until she got older that it began to emerge as an avenue of connection to other people. 

“In the backdrop of when I grew up– which was post 9/11– there were things that you could talk about with people that kind of became like a passport for your social interactions,” says Hussain.

“[Sports-related topics] were humanising and built connections with other people, where perhaps without those things, you would feel very isolated.”

It was after this realisation that she says she began to pay more attention to the current events of the sporting world, particularly cricket.

“I went to the cricket all the time with my community as a young person, so I just had that understanding and knowledge,” she said. “And when I spoke about sports, it just kind of melted away whatever barriers were between me and the rest of the world.”

As the Program Founder of her own consulting organisation Good.Human and a Board Member at the Victoria Women’s Trust, Hussain has graced the sports sector for over ten years, championing inclusion and diversity. She’s a respected media commentator and often speaks to organisations and community groups, sharing her experiences in the sector as a Muslim-Indian woman. 

Most recently, the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation for the Change Our Game movement selected Hussain to join a group of seven other women ambassadors raising awareness on key issues for women in sport. 

Between now and International Women’s Day 2024, she will be using this platform to foster belonging through sport and media, specifically with culturally and linguistically diverse women.

“It’s humbling to be an ambassador,” Hussian says. “Especially because I’m not an athlete.”

“I sort of inhabit this space in sport, where I represent a voice [for] non-athletes, kind of representative of the traditional sports fan or administrator.”

“So to be an ambassador in the capacity that I am representing people who aren’t traditionally in sport is very, very meaningful, and hopefully has an impact.”

Through her continued advocacy, Hussain says she wants to encourage and listen to other Muslim women and women of colour interested in getting involved in sport. 

“What I would love to see– and I think it’s starting to happen now– is conversations and opportunities and programs that wrap around cultures and communities to address their needs rather than kind of asking communities into existing avenues to participate in sport,” she explains.

And while Hussain does see change happening, it’s not always as meaningful as it has the potential to be. 

“That was really why I wanted to be part of this ambassador program,” she says. “To continue to hold that space quite visibly and show it is possible to inhabit.”

“We can be our full selves, with our cultural identities and religious identities and turn up in public spaces– particularly ones that are so important to the national psyche like sport.”

Hussain would love to see more meaningful diversity in positions of power in the sporting world, where there’s “agency and ability to actually impact the system”. 

Sport, she says, “has this incredible ability to bring people together, to remove those exclusionary barriers and create a level playing field”. 

While that doesn’t discount the fact that there’s been historical systemic barriers often counteracting this inclusion, Hussain notes that through her advocacy work, she often frames the conversation in a way that most sports-minded people can relate to: what’s fair or not fair. 

“I think there’s a natural feeling of fairness,” she says. “Sport is all about fairness.”

“If you’re best on the ground, it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from.”

Between now and International Women’s Day 2024, Change Our Game Ambassadors will use their platform to help drive change and raise awareness on key issues and barriers for women in sport. The Change Our Game series is put on by the Office of Women in Sport and Recreation. Be sure to follow the Ambassadors’ journeys through @ChangeOurGame on socials.

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The 19-year-old ran one hundredth of a second faster than the previous mark of 11.11 set by Melissa Breen 10 years ago at the same Australian Institute of Sport track.

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Having become the fastest Australian woman means Lewis also simultaneously beat the previous Australian under-20 record of 11.20, set by the great Raelene Boyle during the 1968 Olympics. 

“That was the one that I was aiming for this year,” Lewis told The Project, about beating the under-20 record. 

“So, to get both of them in one go… pretty good,” she said. 

“I actually don’t really like the [100m event], I much prefer the [200m], so it was a big surprise.”

“I didn’t even hear the announcer. I heard the crowd gasp, so I thought ‘Oh I hope it’s a good time’ and then the announcer said something, but I didn’t hear anything. And then all the girls on the track were like running up and were like ‘Oh my god, you broke the record!’”, Lewis said, noting how shocked she was that it was the “big one”– the fastest Australian women’s record.

With the Paris Olympics coming up this year, Lewis says she’s three one-hundredths of a second off from getting the auto-qualifier in the 100m event. She says it’s her number one target for 2024, to make the Paris Olympics, but will also have her sights set on contesting the world under-20 championships in Peru.

At last year’s national titles in Brisbane, Lewis ran the 100m-200m double and represented Australia in the 100m and 4x100m relay at the world championships in Budapest.

Coming into the ACT championships, the Queenslander’s previous best 100m time of 11.23 was set last year in Sydney.

Congratulating Lewis on becoming the Australian record holder for the 100m, Breen wrote on the platform X (formerly Twitter), that “records are made to be broken”. 

“It’s been an absolute honour & privilege to be the Australian record holder of the 100m for almost a decade. Congratulations Torrie Lewis, coach Andrew Iselin & your entire team. The baton is now yours, carry it with pride & purpose every day.”

Highlighting this generational baton passing, both Breen– 100m record holder from 2014-2024 and Melinda Gainsford-Taylor– the 100m record holder from 1994-2014 and still 200m record holder– joined Lewis at AIS Track and Field Centre to celebrate her historic achievement.

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While there were very apparent barriers for Deaf men to participate in the sport, Hale would often watch them join local cricket clubs through their fathers, brothers, uncles and other support systems. 

For over 140 years, there had always been Deaf men’s cricket competitions– nationally, internationally and locally, in Victoria. The same couldn’t be said for women. 

“Deaf and hard of hearing men had so many more opportunities to enjoy the game, but also enjoy the camaraderie of being a part of a team, developing their cricket families and homes away from home,” says Hale. 

That’s why, at a Cricket Australia meeting in 2018, Hale brought up the possibility of creating a Deaf women’s competition.

“The staff member looked at me for a second and said ‘well, if you can get two teams up, we will put on an exhibition match’,” Hale recounts about the pivotal moment in her advocacy journey. 

“Within 48 hours, the Deaf community had come together, formed two teams, and changed the lives of many Deaf women and girls across Australia,” she says.

It was the first Deaf women’s cricket competition in Australia. Now, there are three fully formed Deaf women’s cricket teams playing for their states at the National Cricket Inclusion Championships in Brisbane in Marchant Park, and Hale says at least half of these women play regular cricket. 

“I feel really strongly about the phrase ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’,” says Hale.  “It is important that people with lived experience lead in the spaces that affect them.  Only they know intimately how being a person with that experience affects their lives and how they experience the world around them.”

As a proud Deaf woman herself, Hale has been leading and driving change through Deaf cricket for years. Most recently, she was selected as a Change Our Game ambassador to shine a light on the need for accessibility of Deaf women in sport. 

Hale is one of eight inspiring women chosen by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation for the Change Our Game movement. It raises awareness on key issues through the platform between now and International Women’s Day 2024.

One of the biggest messages Hale is working to elevate is that not everyone is starting from the same place – a point particularly relevant to Deaf and hard of hearing women and girls.

“From my experiences in cricket, women and girls are only in recent times getting access to the game through their clubs in their own teams in safe and inclusive environments.”

“For Deaf and hard of hearing women and girls, many have never had the opportunity to pick up a ball or bat or understand the rules because of the double disadvantage they have had,” she says noting that it can often be hard for these players to “fit in and communicate effectively at local cricket clubs”.

“It’s for these reasons that we cannot have the same expectations and apply the same rules of men’s cricket to a group that is only just starting out. We need to pivot and adjust to fit,” she says. “This doesn’t make women’s and girls’ sports less deserving, important or exciting – it’s just a different starting point.”

Hale also says that while she feels a great responsibility to open doors for Deaf and hard of hearing women and girls, she cannot speak for everyone’s different lived experiences.

“Leadership for me means capturing as many voices of Deaf and hard of hearing people that I can, and elevating them all as equally as I can, by stepping out of the way, and opening the doors to let others lead,” she says.

What this really comes down to, Hale says, is having empathy and understanding that we all “have a deep human need to belong”. 

“We need to ask ourselves: ‘Are we doing things the way that we have always done them, just because it’s the ‘rules’, or are there truly things that we can adjust in our sports to make them more inclusive of everyone?’,” she says.

“Sometimes the smallest adjustments can make the biggest difference to inclusion.”

Between now and International Women’s Day 2024, Change Our Game Ambassadors will use their platform to help drive change and raising awareness on key issues and barriers for women in sport. The Change Our Game series is put on by the Office of Women in Sport and Recreation. Be sure to follow the Ambassadors’ journeys through @ChangeOurGame on socials.

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The WNBL is the only professional league in Australia that has a round dedicated to fighting period poverty, with players speaking out about how we can normalise conversations about periods and ensure everyone who needs to can access period products.

In 2021, a survey of 125,000 Australians found that more than 1 in 5 people who menstruate have had to improvise on period products due to the cost.

This year, the WNBL Fighting Period Poverty round runs from January 24 to January 31 and is supported by Boody and Cygnett, raising funds for period charity Share the Dignity. 

Captain of the Southside Flyers Bec Cole said it was imperative we all get more comfortable talking about periods and encouraged men to take part in the conversation. 

“We shouldn’t feel embarrassed by our periods. The more we speak about it, the more comfortable it’ll be,’ Cole said. 

“It’s also so important that our male colleagues are open to talking about it too and feel comfortable lending a hand if something happens to one of the girls on the team when she’s on her cycle — for example a leak. I do think we’re on the right track to breaking those barriers.” 

Meanwhile, Melbourne Boomers squad member Jordin Canada wants to raise awareness of how the menstrual cycle can affect female athletes. 

“People don’t understand how challenging it is to play sport when have your period,” Canada said. “Sometimes it’s hard to even get up in the morning and you have to compete to the best of your abilities.”

“Accessibility to menstruation products is a huge issue, and highlighting that is important, but it’s also important to simply normalise talking about periods,” said Kelsey Griffin, a three-time WNBL MVP recipient.

“Each cycle experience is unique so you don’t know what someone may be going through. For me, it’s cramps and brain fog that impact me most.”

During the round, WNBL players will wear themed t-shirts in their warm-ups and wear ‘Bloody Good Socks’. Both items are available for purchase with all funds raised going to Share the Dignity

Head of WNBL, Christy Collier-Hill also encouraged fans of the game to donate sanitary products when attending a game.

“As a women’s league, it’s important we support issues that affect women and girls, and we’re really proud to be working with Share the Dignity, with support from Boody and Cygnett, to positively impact period poverty in Australia,” Collier-Hill said.

“As well as raising awareness of the issue, we will have collection bins at every game during the round, and we encourage all our fans to bring sanitary products to the games to donate to this wonderful cause.

“If you can’t make it to a game, grab a pair of Bloody Good Socks, or buy period undies from Boody – both will help make an impact for women and girls in need.”

 The WNBL has also announced the installation of the first dignity vending machine in South Australia, which has been facilitated from money raised from last season’s Fighting Period Poverty Round.

Feature Image: Bec Cole.

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Gilmore, an eight-time world surfing champion, said she would take time away from the pro tour so she could spend time “free surfing” in places she otherwise wouldn’t get to surf. She will return to the tour in 2025.

“I am planning to take this time as a refresh for myself physically, mentally, and enjoy following swells and free surfing in new places,” Gilmore said in a statement announcing the break.

“I have some projects and trips I want to do, which haven’t been possible while traveling during the season. I am still passionate and dedicated to competing, and I have goals and dreams that I am still chasing – I’m excited for this year to activate those and I look forward to returning in 2025.”

WSL’s Chief of Sport Jessi Miley-Dyer said the surfing commmunity fully supported Gilmore’s decision to step back. The WSL has also confirmed Gilmore will receive the 2025 season wildcard to make her return.

“While we will miss Steph’s presence on the CT this season, we wholeheartedly support her decision to take this time for herself,” said Miley-Dyer.

“Steph’s influence on surfing and sport has been profound, inspiring countless people around the world. We eagerly await her return in 2025, where she will be welcomed back with the season wildcard, ready to continue her incredible legacy.”

Gilmore has been competing in the Championship Tour since 2007. In 2022, she won her eighth World Title, surpassing a record of 7 world titles previously held by Layne Beachley.

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Gilmore’s 12-month departure comes just days after US surfer and defending Olmypic gold medallist Carissa Moore announced she would step away from the World Surf League’s Championship Tour.

Announcing her decision to retire, Moore wrote in a love letter to surfing that “the most important lesson surfing has taught me is to commit, paddle hard, let go of the rails and enjoy the ride.”

“I know who I am, what I want and what is meaningful to me. I am multi-dimensional. I am a surfer, but I am also a wife, sister, daughter, friend,” she wrote. “I want to keep challenging myself in all areas of my life, explore the joy and most importantly, find ways to share more love.”

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Emma Maria Mazzenga, a retired chemistry professor from Veneto in northern Italy, finished the 200m indoor race in 54.57 seconds at an event in Padua.

Her run smashed the previous record set by Olga Kotelko from Canada, who held the record for 13 years, by 5.6 seconds.

Footage of her run has gone viral on social media. The race has been shared by several news organisations and has been watched on TikTok at least 20,000 times.

Several people online have shared their support for Mazzenga, commenting how “incredible” and “marvellous” her colossal efforts are.

But she’s not as happy as we would think, she told Vogue Italia after her win – because last yaer, she finished the 200m in less than 50 seconds.

I think we can cut you some slack, Em.

Mazzenga was born in 1933. In an interview with Vogue Italia, she said she began running when she was in university, starting from 1956. During her peak running days as a student, her personal best was placing fourth at a championship run in Rome.

She was married in 1963, not long after she finished her studies, and had two children. Her husband died in the early 1980s, but despite the emotional toll, it did not stop her from running. In fact, nothing ever stopped her from going for a run; even during the COVID-19 lockdown, she told Vogue Italia, Mazzenga would secretly run around her house when it was dark outside.

Now, at 90 years old, every morning she goes for a walk with her friend. Between her walks and runs, she tries to ride her bike when she can.

After her record-breaking run on Sunday, Mazzenga is now eyeing off her next feat. She is looking to compete at the Italy championships in Ancona next month, as well as the European championships in Poland the following month.

“The emotion that a race gives me, the adrenaline that every training session gives me, are the pure energy of my days,” she told Vogue Italia.

Her secret, Mazzenga says, is to never stop.

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Tied 6-6 in the third set of the Round 2 Australian Open match, the former doubles partners played for more than 30 minutes in a gruelling point-for-point showdown at Rod Laver Arena on Thursday night.

By the 42nd point of the tiebreaker, and Blinkova’s 10th match point, the world number 57 clinched the win, rounding out the match 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (20).

Blinkova came into the tournament unseeded, as Kazakhstan’s Rybakina eyed off a back-to-back appearance at the Australian Open women’s singles final. The history-making match was a huge upset in the women’s tournament, throwing the competition wide open.

The 25-year-old was brought to her knees as the 30-minute record-breaking tiebreaker came to a close. 

“This day I’ll remember for the rest of my life, on this court with this crowd, it’s the best of my life so far,” Blinkova said in the on-court interview following the match.

“Thank you to the crowd for encouraging me, it gave me so much energy to fight until the end. It was super tough, I tried to stay focused on every point. 

“I had so many match points and tried to be aggressive at these moments but my hand was shaking, and my legs too.”

The 42-point tiebreaker in the last set broke the record for the longest grand slam tiebreaker in the women’s game. It beat the previous record of 38 points last year at Wimbledon and at the 2007 Australian Open.

Blinkova has never defeated a player as highly ranked as Rybakina, who is ranked number 3 in the world and the third seed of the tournament. Rybakina was the runner-up in the Australian Open last year and won the Wimbledon Grand Slam in 2022.

On her way out of the Rod Laver Arena stadium, Blinkova wrote on the television camera lens: “NEVER GIVE UP.”

Upsets in women’s comp

This year’s Australian Open tournament for the women’s competition has been riddled with upsets. There are 32 players left in the competition as Round 3 commences today, and just 12 of those players are seeded. That means 18 unseeded players are left in the running for the grand slam title.

Unseeded French player Clara Burel defeated fifth seed Jessica Pegula from the US in straight sets. It was Pegula’s earliest Grand Slam exit since Wimbledon 2021, when she lost in the second round.

Poland’s Iga Switek, who is first seed in the competition, narrowly avoided an early exit in her second-round match against USA’s Danielle Collins. She came back from 4-1 down in the third set.

Naomi Osaka was defeated in the first round of the tournament earlier this week. It was her first grand slam in fifteen months after giving birth to her daughter just six months ago.

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“I have to tell myself: ‘Hey, six months ago you were pregnant’,” Osaka said following the defeat.

While she was disappointed in her loss, Osaka said she shouldn’t expect herself to return to the game and “immediately start winning matches”.

“I kind of always expect myself to stand a chance anyway,” she said, “so I guess just being nice to myself is like a thing that I learned in my time away.”

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Urquhart said she set out to claim the record in some of the harshest and coldest conditions on earth to not only push the limits of her own body but also to inspire other women and girls. 

“By pushing my own physical boundaries in this world-record attempt I want to show young girls and women what’s possible when you harness the power of the body and mind,” said Urquhart. 

In order to prepare for the polar marathon, Urquhart trained for nine months, with her training involved running on a treadmill in a refrigerated shipping container that mimicked the conditions she would face. The container– basically a freezer– could be set to a temperature as low as -40C.

However Urquhart said nothing compared to actually being in the Antarctica and experiencing the extreme conditions first-hand. 

She set out on her adventure on December 15, running up to 60km each day to complete a total of 1312.26km in 26 days. Her momentous run was completed on a 10km loop at Union Glacier Camp in Antarctica, the coldest, windiest and driest desert on earth.

“The wind was howling and really strong, to the point where you don’t have the brain power- you almost just shrivel up”, she told SBS, noting that the physical pain left within the first week as her body adapted to the conditions. 

The feat surpassed Pat Farmer’s previous record of a 1200m in the arctic as part of his Pole-to-Pole expedition. While Urquhart’s record still needs to be officially signed off from Guinness World Records, it looks to have beaten the standing record. 

“It’s a bit surreal to be honest,” Urquhart told AAP on Friday after completing the ultramarathon.

“I feel like I need to pinch myself and then I’ll wake up tomorrow and need to run it again.”

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Urquhart and her team, Run Antarctica, will be returning to Melbourne on Tuesday, having raised around $75,000 already to support young girls and women in sport. Her goal is to “raise $1.5 million for charities supporting young girls and women in sport by delivering education training programs that strengthen and empower the body and mind”. 

Ahead of her attempt, Urquhart told Sunrise that her dedication to the cause would see help motivate her through the challenges of the record-breaking run. 

“We’re aiming to educate and empower girls in sport because 50 per cent of girls drop out of sport during their teenage years,” she said. 

“They find it can be stressful and one of the key reasons is a lack of confidence in their skills and abilities, so we’re looking to raise awareness and funds to support them through our charity partners.”

The push to get more women involved in ultra-running

Around the world, there’s been a push to get more women involved in extreme endurance sports, such as ultra-running. 

This comes as the Covid pandemic resulted in a 10 per cent drop in female participation across running events of all distances, according to 2023 data from Runner’s World. 

One recent campaign in the UK, the Ultra 50:50 from ultramarathon organisers Threshold Sports, is aiming to achieve 50 per cent female participation in its events in 2024. 

Through its own data collection, Threshold Sports has found that female participation in 5k races in the UK has fallen from 66 per cent in 2019 to 52 per cent in 2023.  The disparity is especially prevalent in ultras, where women make up fewer than a third of participants. Female participation in UK ultras dropped from a depressingly low 32 per cent in 2022 to just 30 per cent in 2023. 

To identify the challenges women face when preparing for and taking part in ultramarathons, Threshold Sports and their partners surveyed over 500 female ultrarunners. The results pointed to five key factors including female representation and perceptions, training and preparation, access and support at events, safety and harassment, as well as menstrual health and menopause. 

The number one barrier to female participation was cited as “safety” by one in three female ultra runners, due to harassment concerns and fear of running alone at night or in remote areas.

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The campaign isn’t simply pushing for women to get involved in its own running events, but is hoping to inspire women to toe the start line in all types of races. 

To do this, Threshold Sports has adopted the SheRACES guidelines– a set of guidelines that race directors can follow to ensure races are supportive of female participants. The guidelines range from things like ensuring there are adequate female toilet facilities to  providing sanitary products to having equal prize money in competitions. 

The group is hoping that by showcasing their own changes, it will provide a blueprint for other event organisers to share in their mission of supporting women and achieving gender parity. 

In the build-up to Threshold Sports’ 2024 events season, they’ve also recruited a team of female ultra-runners, or “Challengers” to inspire other women to take up the sport. 

One of the Challengers, Romey said: “Becoming a mum is incredible, but it is all-consuming. Signing up to an event I would have completed before parenthood helps me feel like myself again. Plus, I hope to make my daughter proud of her mum one day.”

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