 | Happy Friday! Today we're recapping an exciting track and field meet and looking ahead to some international sports to watch this weekend. | | | Noah Lyles made a triumphant return to the track
| | | Competing in his first big-time race of the year, American track star Noah Lyles defeated Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the men's 200 metres today at a Diamond League meet in Monaco.
Lyles, the reigning Olympic champion in the 100m and a two-time bronze medallist in the 200, crossed the line in 19.88 seconds to beat the runner-up Tebogo (19.97) by a relatively comfortable margin.
Tebogo ran a 19.46 to win Olympic gold last summer in Paris, where Lyles said he was suffering from COVID after finishing third (behind fellow American Kenny Bednarek) in 19.70.
Today's race was the first of any kind for Lyles since he ran the 400m and 4x100m relay at a lower-stakes meet in Florida in April. The 27-year-old, considered the biggest star in track and field at the moment, was bothered by a tight ankle before a potential 60m match race against NFL star Tyreek Hill fell apart last month. Lyle was slated to make his Diamond League season debut next week in London before deciding at the last minute to sign up for Monaco.
Earlier in the day, Canada's Marco Arop finished fifth in an uncommonly stacked men's 800-metre race that featured all eight finalists from the Paris Olympics. The reigning world champion and Olympic silver medallist fell behind early and couldn't catch up to the leaders as his Kenyan rival Emmanuel Wanyonyi (the Olympic champ and world silver medallist) ran to a decisive victory in 1:41.44 — the fastest time in the world this year. Indoor world champion Josh Hoey of the United States placed second in 1:42.01 and Olympic bronze medallist Djamel Sedjati of Algeria was third in 1:42.20. Arop crossed the line in 1:42.73 for his best time of the season.
Canada's Sarah Mitton placed third in a loaded women's shot put event. The reigning indoor world champion's top throw of 20 metres on the nose put her behind the Netherlands' Jessica Schilder (20.39) and outdoor world champ Chase Jackson of the United States (20.06). Olympic gold medallist Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany was fourth (19.48).
In other key events, Dutch star Femke Bol won the women's 400m in a world-leading 51.95 seconds, while Olympic champions Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia (women's 100m), Mondo Duplantis of Sweden (men's pole vault) and Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic (women's 400m) were also victorious.
Here's more on today's meet along with video of some of the major events.
Coming up this weekend in international sports:
* Sunday's Wimbledon men's final will, for the first time since 2017, not include Novak Djokovic. Bothered by an apparent leg injury, the seven-time champion fell 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 to top-ranked Jannik Sinner of Italy in the semifinals today, ending his bid to capture his 25th Grand Slam title and overtake Margaret Court for the all-time record. Sinner, a three-time Slam winner, will play in his first final at the All England Club against Carlos Alcaraz, who's seeking his third consecutive Wimbledon title. The second-seeded Spaniard defeated American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (6) in their semifinal today.
* A brand-new women's Wimbledon champion will be crowned Saturday when Amanda Anisimova of the United States makes her Grand Slam final debut against Poland's Iga Swiatek, a five-time Slam winner appearing in her first Wimbledon final. Anisimova, seeded 13th, knocked off world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semis.
* The fourth women's golf major of the year, the Evian Championship, continues through Sunday in France. Brooke Henderson, the lone Canadian in the field, barely made the cut for the weekend at 2 over par. South Korea's Somi Lee, who's never won a major, leads at 10 under. Here's the leaderboard.
* In men's golf, Canada's Nick Taylor heads into the weekend tied for sixth at the Scottish Open, a high-status tuneup for next week's Open Championship in Northern Ireland. Rory McIlroy, who will be on home turf next week, is one of the players tied with Taylor. Canada's Corey Conners just made the cut despite nearly nailing a hole in one on a par-4. Here's the Scottish Open leaderboard.
* At the Women's Euro soccer championship, defending-champion England is among the teams trying to secure a quarterfinal spot on the final weekend of group play. In other news, Arsenal is reportedly paying a £1 million ($1.85M Cdn) transfer fee to Liverpool for Canada's Olivia Smith — the most ever for a women's soccer player.
* After her third-place result at today's Diamond League meet, Sarah Mitton will compete again Sunday at the Edmonton Athletics Invitational. Other Canadians in action there include national record holders Christopher Morales Williams (men's 400m), Audrey Leduc (women's 100m) and Savannah Sutherland, who has the women's 400m hurdles record but will run the flat 400 here.
* Canada's first action at the World Aquatics Championships comes tonight as the national men's water polo team faces the United States at 10:35 p.m. ET. The Canadian men, who did not qualify for the Olympics last year, then face host Singapore on Monday at 7:10 a.m. ET. Watch both matches live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. If you missed yesterday's newsletter, here's our primer on the aquatics worlds.
* The Tour de France rolls on after Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar reclaimed the yellow jersey today by winning stage 7. Canada's Michael Woods, who called for mandatory protective gear after a slew of crashes in the opening week, ranks 87th overall. Canadian Isabella Holmgren sits ninth overall through six stages of the Giro d'Italia Women, which concludes Sunday.
* The Canadian women's rugby team, ranked No. 2 in the world, plays another match against 12th-ranked host South Africa on Saturday. Canada won 50-20 last week in Pretoria as it prepares for the upcoming Women's Rugby World Cup in England.
* Canadian sailors will get a taste of one of the 2028 Olympic venues at a Grand Slam Series event in Long Beach, Calif., starting Saturday. 2024 Olympians Antonia and Georgia Lewin-LaFrance, who compete together in the 49erFX class, have won two consecutive bronze medals on the Grand Slam circuit.
* With women's softball set to return to the Olympics in 2028, the Canadian women's national team is playing in the Canada Cup tournament in Surrey, B.C. Here's the schedule of games you can watch live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. The Canadian men's team failed to advance to the four-team final round at the Softball World Cup in Prince Albert, Sask.
* Canada's women's volleyball team will not make the eight-team final round of the Nations League after going 2-7 so far in the preliminary stage, but it still has something to play for. With three matches left (all in Arlington, Texas) the Canadians rank 15th out of 18 teams and are just one win out of last place, which means relegation for whoever finishes there. Canada faces seventh-place China tonight at 8:30 p.m. ET, the eighth-place United States on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET, and 17th-place Thailand on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. Watch those matches live on CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem. | | |  | Noah Lyles was victorious in his first top-tier race of the season. (Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
| | | That's it for today. Talk to you later.
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