THAT’S WHY THE LADY IS A CHAMP
EMMA RADUCANU’S US Open victory is the latest in a golden summer for women’s sport. Charlotte Dujardin, Laura Kenny and Sarah Storey all shone in Tokyo, Europe won the Solheim Cup and fans have been able to enjoy matches from The Hundred and football’s Women’s Super League live on TV
Europe’s Solheim Cup team
Catriona Matthew became the first European captain to win twice after leading her team to a dramatic 15-13 victory in Ohio. It was much more entertaining than the men’s Tour Championship played at the same time.
Dane Emily Kristine Pedersen sank the winning putt but the star was Irish rookie Leona Maguire, who won 4.5 points out of five.
And Scottish amateur Louise Duncan, still a student at Stirling University, showed she will be a star in the future by winning the
Smyth Salver as top amateur at the AIG Women’s Open.
Sarah Storey
The 43-year-old broke Mike Kenny’s 33-year-old record by claiming her 17th gold medal in Tokyo.
Dame Sarah first competed in the swimming at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona. She also swam at Atlanta, Sydney and Athens before switching to the bike for Beijing 2008.
She was the first British athlete to strike gold at the summer Paralympics when she defended her women’s individual pursuit C5 and then won the time trial and the road race.
“I am just so chuffed,” she said. “I have been preparing for this for such a long time.”
Charlotte Dujardin
She became the first British woman to retain an Olympic title in the individual dressage at Rio in 2016 with her horse Valero. And the Londoner added two bronze medals with her new horse Gio in Tokyo in the individual and team dressage.
Dujardin now has six Olympic medals – and briefly held the record of Britain’s most successful female Olympian until Laura Kenny equalled the tally with her fifth gold in Tokyo.
The 36-year-old Dujardin said: “It is mind-blowing. To think I have achieved all of that. It’s just so surreal.”
Laura Kenny
The cycling superstar became the most successful British female Olympian in history with her fifth title – and sixth medal overall – when Kenny and Katie Archibald won the Madison in Tokyo. She became the first British woman to take gold at three Olympics. The Madison victory was her first gold since becoming a mother in August 2017. “I’ve never wanted to win a medal so much in all my life,” she said.
Live TV coverage
Channel 4’s live coverage of the women’s US Open final on Saturday peaked at 9.2million – more than the best viewing figures from this year’s Wimbledon. Women’s football and cricket have also benefited from live exposure on terrestrial TV.
The BBC will show 22 matches from the Women’s Super League with Sky Sports screening “at least” 35 this season.
BBC Two showed 18 matches of The Hundred live while every match was free on the Sky Cricket YouTube channel. It led to a crowd of 17,116 for the final at Lord’s last month – a world record for a women’s domestic match.
Heather Knight, who led England to their 2017 World Cup win, said: “It just makes me proud.”