| | | | | | | | | | | Axios Sports | | By Kendall Baker ·Jul 30, 2021 | | 🎉 Happy Friday! The USWNT is currently playing the Netherlands in the Olympic quarterfinals (kickoff: 7am ET). Today's word count: 1,956 words (7 minutes). Let's sports... | | | | | | 1 big thing: 🇺🇸 Suni Lee reaches the mountaintop |  | | | Photo: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images | | | | Suni Lee, the first Hmong-American Olympic gymnast, captured gold Thursday in the individual all-around, Axios' Jeff Tracy writes. Why it matters: The win cements Lee's status among the sport's elite, and sets her up to be the face of U.S. gymnastics — and one of the faces of Team USA — at the 2024 Paris Olympics. The backdrop: An American woman won this event just once in its first 13 iterations, (Mary Lou Retton, 1984), but Lee's victory makes it five straight for Team USA. - That streak likely would have continued anyway if Simone Biles had competed as planned, and Lee herself admitted Thursday that she came to Tokyo "to compete for a silver medal [behind Biles]."
- Yes, but: Her coach liked Lee's chances regardless of the competition, telling NYT that "too much of the conversation has been about [Biles]. I thought she was this good all the time."
Suni's father, John (C), and other members of the Hmong community celebrate at a viewing party. Photo: Stephen Maturen/Getty Images The backdrop: The past several months haven't been easy for anyone, but Lee and her family have had a particularly rough go of it. Her father was paralyzed in 2019 after a tree-trimming accident, and she lost an aunt and uncle last summer to COVID-19. - To top it all off, two weeks after her gym reopened last June, Lee's training was put on hold due to a badly injured ankle. And that was just a few weeks after nearby Minneapolis became a tinderbox in the wake of George Floyd's murder.
- But she's Hmong, and much like her ancestors — including her parents, who were among the 150,000 Hmong to flee Laos after the Vietnam War decimated their population — she persevered.
What's next: Lee just graduated from high school and heads to Auburn next month, where she'll be able to profit off her name, image and likeness. The timing couldn't have worked out better for her. 🎥 Watch: Lee's spectacular uneven bars routine and her family celebrating back home in St. Paul, Minnesota. |     | | | | | | 2. 🏀 Recap: NBA draft |  | | | Photo: Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images | | | | Five hours, 60 picks and one Hollywood blockbuster later, the 2021 NBA Draft is now complete. - Motor-Cade: The Pistons took Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 pick, giving Detroit the kind of playmaker they desperately need.
- Blockbuster: Russell Westbrook is now a Laker, forming the second trio in NBA history with 30 All-NBA selections (Karl Malone, Shaquille O'Neal and Gary Payton for the 2003-04 Lakers).
- Wildcats streak: Kentucky produced a first-round pick for the 12th straight draft (No. 22 pick Isaiah Jackson), extending the longest streak by any school in the Common Draft Era (since 1966).
- Super high school: A whopping seven draft picks attended Florida's Montverde Academy: Cunningham (No. 1), Scottie Barnes (No. 4), Moses Moody (No. 14), Day'Ron Sharpe (No. 29), Filip Petrušev (No. 50), Sandro Mamukelashvili (No. 54) and Balsa Koprivica (No. 57).
- RIP, Terrence: Midway through the first round, the NBA selected Terrence Clarke, the 19-year-old Kentucky prospect who died in a car accident earlier this year.
See all picks. | | | | | | | | 3. ⚾️ Trade deadline: Nats blow it up |  | | | Photo: Mitchell Layton/Getty Images | | | | The Dodgers have acquired Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Nationals in a shocking, blockbuster trade, Jeff writes. - Washington also unloaded closer Brad Hand (Blue Jays), setup man Daniel Hudson (Padres) and injured slugger Kyle Schwarber (Red Sox).
- More moves are expected before this afternoon's 4pm ET trade deadline.
Why it matters: The Nationals, whose 879 wins in the 2010s ranked fourth in MLB, have officially waved the white flag. The big picture: The Nats stumbled through their first half-decade in Washington, but after signing Jayson Werth in 2010 to go along with No. 1 picks Stephen Strasburg (2009) and Bryce Harper (2010), a decade of dominance began. - Being perennial deadline buyers helped them to four division titles and eight consecutive seasons above .500, all culminating in their miraculous run to the 2019 World Series.
- But now the bill has come due, and after two straight disappointing seasons, the rebuild — centered around Juan Soto — has begun.
By the numbers: Scherzer gives the defending champion Dodgers a fourth Cy Young winner on the roster, while Turner could become the 42nd member of the 30-30 club. - Since joining the Nats in 2015, Scherzer ranks first among MLB pitchers in WAR (38.5), innings (1,229) and strikeouts (1,610), and second in WHIP (0.96) and wins (92).
- Since 2015, Turner's 10.5 WAR ranks seventh among all position players, his 68 steals are the most and his 49 HR are sixth among shortstops.
In other trade news … The Yankees acquired All-Star 1B Anthony Rizzo from the Cubs. | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Sign up for Axios' Referral Program | | |  | | | | Get Axios swag when your friends subscribe to one of Axios' free newsletters. The more new subscribers you refer, the bigger your rewards. Start sharing. | | | | | | 4. 💵 Olympians land more sponsorships |  | | | Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios | | | | Tokyo 2020 Olympians are cashing in on more personal sponsorship opportunities compared with past Games, Axios' Hope King writes. Why it matters: Marketing deals are an important income stream for competitors, nearly 60% of whom say they are not financially stable. The big picture: Following the seismic revamp of the NCAA's NIL laws this month, "there's no such thing as an amateur athlete anymore," says sports marketing consultant and agent Patrick Quinn, an alternate on the 2006 Olympic luge team. The backdrop: The IOC has been gradually loosening restrictions around athlete marketing following years of pressure from Olympians and brands. - Introduced in 1991, Rule 40 tries to protect the exclusivity of the Games for official sponsors by prohibiting Olympians from being recognized by non-official Olympic sponsors during a "blackout" period before, during and after the Games.
- Under updated rules, the blackout period has been lifted and Olympic athletes, trainers and officials can now "recognize" or thank personal sponsors during the Games on social media up to seven times. They can also be "recognized" by personal sponsors once.
Yes, but: The new rules still leave a lot of room for improvement, says Quinn. "Being able to 'thank' a personal sponsor is nice... but they can't say something like 'My Nordic Track treadmill helped me become the runner I am today.'" - The vast majority of Olympic deals that Quinn says he sees are between $30,000 and $60,000.
- For context, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee pays medal bonuses of $37,500 (gold), $22,500 (silver) and $15,000 (bronze).
| | | | |  | | | | If you like this newsletter, your friends may, too! Refer your friends and get free Axios swag when they sign up. | | | | | | | | Bonus: 🥇 Olympics dashboard |  | | | Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Cy Cyr/PGA Tour via Getty Images | | | - 📆 Coming up: Today's key events include more swimming finals for both Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky. Full schedule.
- 🥇 Medal tracker (as of 7:30am ET): Team USA (41) has the most medals, followed by China (38), Russia (33) and Japan (27). Full list.
- 🥇🥈🥉 Fun fact: Tokyo 2020's ~5,000 medals are made entirely from metals harvested from small electronic devices.
Stories: - 🎾 No Golden slam: While you were sleeping, Germany's Alexander Zverev knocked off Serbia's Novak Djokovic, denying the World No. 1 a chance at the Golden Slam (all four majors plus Olympic gold).
- 💦 New race: The inaugural 4x100-meter mixed medley relay should be awesome. Each team has two men, two women and four strokes (back, breast, fly, free). Watch tonight in primetime.
- ⚾️ Israel's debut: Led by four-time MLB All-Star Ian Kinsler, Israel took South Korea to extras in its Olympic baseball debut before losing on a walk-off, hit-by-pitch.
Highlights: | | | | | | | | 5. 🍻 Coming soon: DraftKings sports bars |  | | | Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios | | | | DraftKings has joined forces with sports bar chain Sports & Social to create its own betting-themed sports bars. - Details: The first venues will open in Nashville and Detroit, pending regulatory approval, and additional locations will be announced in the coming months.
- The state of play: Legal sports betting markets have been established in 22 states plus Washington, D.C., and DraftKings is active in 14 states.
The big picture: As we emerge from the pandemic, in-person sportsbooks and other branded retail spaces will play a larger role in how sports betting operators market themselves. After all, an app is an app; whereas a physical space lets customers feel the brand. | | | | | | | | 6. ⚾️ The Blue Jays are back |  | | | Photo: Mark Blinch/Getty Images | | | | The Toronto Blue Jays, after two long years away, are finally returning home, Jeff writes. - The Canadian government granted them a "national interest exemption" to host games at the Rogers Centre starting tonight.
- 15,000 masked fans can attend games, while players and staff from both teams must remain in their hotels or the ballpark.
The backdrop: The Rogers Centre, a multipurpose park that opened in 1989 and features a 348-room hotel overlooking the field, last hosted a Blue Jays game on Sept. 29, 2019. - Since then, the Jays have split time at their AAA stadium in Buffalo and their spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida.
- They've fared well during this sojourn, going 29-20 in Buffalo and 10-11 in Dunedin, but Dorothy said it best: there's no place like home.
| | | | | | | | 7. ⚡️ Lightning round |  | | | Photo: Chuck Burton/Getty Images | | | | ⚽️ USA 1, Qatar 0: Gyasi Zardes' late finish lifted the USMNT past Qatar and into Sunday's Gold Cup final against Mexico, which beat Canada in extra time. 🎓 SEC invites: The SEC has officially extended invitations to Texas and Oklahoma to join the league by 2025. We'll go deeper next week. ⛳️ Good read: The secret wisdom of George Gankas, golf's radical new guru (Zach Baron, GQ) "From a scruffy perch at a public driving range, the renegade golf coach is building a cultish following of celebs and pros by challenging some pretty essential ideas about how the game should be played." | | | | | | | | 8. 📆 July 30, 1874: Baseball goes to London |  | | | Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios | | | | 147 years ago today, the Philadelphia Athletics outlasted the Boston Red Stockings, 14-11, in a baseball game on the grounds of England's Liverpool Cricket Club. Why it matters: This was just one chapter in the long, and sometimes contentious, trans-Atlantic exchange between baseball and cricket. The backdrop: Baseball — or at least its root sport, rounders — was actually invented in England in the 18th century, but ultimately ditched in favor of the preferred cricket. - In 1859, a group of English cricketers toured the U.S., but just as the sport might have gotten its hooks into Americans, the Civil War broke out, thus canceling similar planned tours.
- In 1874, led by Harry Wright, the Red Stockings' English-born player-manager, the Americans returned the favor with their own tour, which included the promise of playing cricket against the locals.
A woodcut of the Athletics playing the Red Stockings in London. Photo: Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images The big picture: Baseball and cricket crossed paths every so often in the ensuing decades, including one high-profile, 1932 rendezvous at Yankee Stadium involving the sports' biggest stars: Babe Ruth and Don Bradman. - Minor League Cricket, the new American league, debuts this weekend in advance of its major league counterpart in 2023.
- And though baseball's adoption in England has been slower-moving, in 2019 MLB held its inaugural London Series.
Go deeper: Baseball in London (Our Game) | | | | | | | | 9. 🇸🇲 San Marino trivia |  | | | Photo: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images | | | | San Marino (population: 34,000) on Thursday became the smallest nation to win an Olympic medal when Alessandra Perilli claimed bronze in women's trap shooting. - Question: San Marino is completely surrounded by what country?
- Hint: It's in Europe.
Answer at the bottom. | | | | | | | | 10. 🍿 Countdown: Best Olympics movies (No. 1) |  | | | Photo: Stanley Bielecki Movie Collection/Getty Images | | | | Chariots of Fire (1981) tells the story of two British athletes at the 1924 Olympics — one who runs for the glory of God, and one who runs to overcome prejudice. It won Best Picture and still holds up today. - Runtime: 2 hours, 4 minutes
- In one word: Pure
- Preview: Trailer
What makes it great: The theme song alone makes this movie iconic. Who hasn't run in slow motion while humming this tune? Countdown: No. 5 Foxcatcher, No. 4 Miracle, No. 3 Tokyo Olympiad, No. 2 Munich | | | | | | | | A message from Axios | | Sign up for Axios' Referral Program | | | | | | | | Get Axios swag when your friends subscribe to one of Axios' free newsletters. The more new subscribers you refer, the bigger your rewards. Start sharing. | | | | Enjoy the weekend, Kendall "The Dodgers are a cheat code" Baker Trivia answer: Italy 🙏 Thanks for reading. Don't forget to refer friends (axios.com/referral) and follow us on Twitter: @thekendallbaker and @jeffreytracy. |  | | It'll help you deliver employee communications more effectively. | | | | | | Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here.
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