Vintage skied penalties, BMX twin sisters and triathlon sportsmanship
1) Aylesbury United’s Ollie Hogg repopularised an old classic on Monday night: the skied penalty. Here, see for yourself. It’s a beauty, clearing the stand behind the goal and sailing off into the night. Keisuke Honda did much the same in an Asian Cup game against UAE in 2015, only he didn’t have the excuse of a dodgy pitch to fall back on. The usually ice-cool Eden Hazard has sent a penalty into orbit before, too. So has Sergio Ramos. What? No sympathy? And who could forget David Beckham’s glorious shank at Euro 2004? “He’s skied it, and Turkey have got a lot to say about it.” At least his wasn’t in a World Cup final. Jonathan Soriano’s calamitous thump and miss for Salzburg in 2012 takes some beating. But Neymar is always up to a challenge. How can we forget that miss against Colombia in 2012?
2) Patrick Reed might not have won the US Open but he did hole a ridiculous ace at the 7th on the first day. “One bounce and in!” Not to be outdone, Will Zalatoris sidled up with an ace of his own at the hole a few hours later. Less impressive was Danny Lee, who missed a par putt on the 18th and unravelled in spectacular fashion.
3) The annual extreme sports festival (FISE) in Montpellier went digital this year, with competitors taking to the streets and ramps of the French city to perform before being judged online. Kenneth Tencio was hypnotic in the BMX Park, as was Lizsurley Villegas, who won the women’s final. She was up against stiff competition from … um … her twin sister Queensaray. The “two in a million” teenage Colombians have an incredible backstory and now have the Olympics in their sights.
4) It appears to be that time of year when animals and sport collide. There was a pitch invasion by an alpaca in the match between Carlton Athletic and Ilkley Town, while a stubborn parrot perched on the head of Brazil’s Bruna Benties in a practice match a few days ago, too. In more recent years, we’ve had interloping cows in Peru, squirrels at QPR, some NFL cats and, only in Australia, a snake on the pitch in a junior cricket match.
5) Goal of the week? How about this from Merveille Fundambu for Widzew Lodz? Though this gorgeous footwork and finish from Vejle Boldklub’s Arbnor Muccolli is right up there too. The best thing in football this week was surely this, though.
6) Very strong retro MacGyver vibes with this mulleted gentleman taking a most nonchalant catch in the crowd.
Our favourites from last week’s column
1) European Athletics has a good series of 50 moments from European Championships. You can quibble over it being mainly more recent, but it is a real trip down memory lane. British performances include Fatima Whitbread’s 1986 javelin world record.
2) High quality sportsmanship from Spanish triathlete Diego Méntriga. 3) Michael Phelps holes a 159ft putt. 4) What do you get if you mix a challenging road, beautiful scenery, insane cars and brave drivers – hillclimbing!
Spotters’ badges: vsbain67, Zephyrhorn, whobroughtoranges, grahamclayton, denothemeno
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