Sportswoman of the Week Ending 7/25/2021

Sports fans around the world has waited in anticipation for the quadrennial Summer Olympic Games and in these times, had to wait an extra year.  The Tokyo 2020 Olympics kicked off this weekend a year late without fans, but with the competition as fierce as ever.  One of the early surprises in the Games was the emergence of a young, American woman who won the first ever female gold medal for the United States in Taekwando.  Anastasija Zolotic of Colorado Springs, CO, bolted through the competition, beating the World #2 in the semifinals and World #4 in the final match.  The 18 year old Zolotic has surged to the top in winning junior competitions three years ago, and won a championship at the Pam Am Games in 2020.  Zolotic is probably a name you didn't know a week ago, but represented the United States well and is the Sportswoman of the Week!

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/18/2021

What a three weeks on the roads and mountains of France, as cycling's greatest event unfolded over an amazing backdrop.  A year after being postponed until fall, the Tour de France went back to its original schedule and put some normalcy back to cycling.  But the more things change, the more they stay the same.  2020 surprise winner (and prior Sportsman of the Week) left a lot less drama in this years tour, dominating from the first week through the parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris to win back-to-back tours.  Slovenian Tadej Pogacar was a man among boys despite only being 22 years old.  A rare talent of unmatched climbing skills with ability to time trial and burst on a sprint stage with steel nerves makes it seem as if he may not lose for several years.  Several.  He won Stage 5 (time trial), took the Maillot Jaune on Stage 8, then won Stages 17 and 18 in the Pyrenees to make it easy.  There was no other rival.  He was a champion this year and will be a champion in years to come.  Our Sportsman of the Week!

Sportswoman of the Week Ending 7/11/2021

What a fortnight in England for the number one seed in a dominant effort to take home one of Tennis's most prestigious trophies.  Ashleigh Barty stormed through her seven matches and three seeds to win her second major, but first Championship of the All England Club also known as Wimbledon.  Barty stumbled out of the game needing a full three sets to win her opener, then didn't drop a set until the finals.  She jumped out to an early lead against 8 seed Karolina Pliskova then didn't look back, taking the first and third sets 6-3.  The Australian Ash notched her second Grand Slam tournament adding to her 2019 French Open victory.  I'm going on a limb to say it won't be her last, and she is a dominant Longhorndave Sportswoman of the Week! 

Sportsman of the Week Ending 7/4/2021

The NBA Finals are on tap to start this week, and two surprise teams punched their ticket to the finals.  One team did so without their biggest star in the final, clinching Eastern Conference Final games.  The Milwaukee Bucks lost two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Giannis Antetokounmpo to a knee injury in Game 4 and needed someone to step up.  That someone arrived in the person of Khris Middleton, our Sportsman of the Week. Middleton put the Bucks on his back to lead them past the resurgent Atlanta Hawks (who were buffered by the return of their star Trae Young in Game 6).  Over the Games 5 and 6 which punched the Bucks to their first finals since 1974, Middleton 58 points and 17 rebounds in the double digit victories.  Playing team ball, he also contributed with 15 assists when the Hawks tried to shut him down.  It's unclear whether Antetokounmpo will return to help the Bucks in the Finals, so it may be Middleton's stardom needing to shine if the Bucks are to get their first NBA title since 1971.