WINNERS

ASHLEIGH BARTY
After her win at the Birmingham Classic, the 23-year-old from Queensland managed to do what only another four Australians have done before her: rise to number one in the worldwide tennis rankings. This success hasn’t gone to Barty’s head however as she remains down to earth and refuses to compare herself with those that came before her, claiming that she still has a long way to go. The tennis star has been on constant form this year as she remains undefeated for the last 12 games, having previously tasted success at both the French Open and the Miami Open.

GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO
Anything we write comes short of what the “Greek freak” has managed to achieve this season with the Milwaukee Bucks. The pinnacle of his success came on Monday when he was officially recognised by the NBA as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the season, thus becoming the first Greek basketball player to accomplish such a feat! And with such incredible stats (27.7 points on average, 12.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.5 blocks in 32.8 minutes per game), he really left the judges with little choice. It’s worth mentioning that James Harden and Paul George were also in the running for the award.

 

SINNERS

FOOTBALL FEDERATION AUSTRALIA (FFA)
We could easily put the Matildas in this position, but their failure to qualify against Norway, which lead to their worst performance in a World Cup within the last 16 years was not entirely their fault. In fact, the greatest part of the responsibility falls on the Board of Directors of the FFA, who without giving the public a just cause dismissed former coach Alen Stajcic from his position and thus disrupted the work the team had done in order to appear ready for the finals. Ante Milicic did as much as he could in a short amount of time, but six months is not nearly enough time for a manager to be able to implement his ideas into a national team, especially when he only gets to spend one or two weeks per month with his players. The FFA need to be held accountable for this failure. It has nothing to do with the players.

ISRAEL FOLAU
After making some questionable remarks regarding the LGBTQI+ community, the sacked rugby union star remains in the news as his GoFundMe campaign raising funds for his legal defence, which had received a significant amount of support, was shut down. Now he continues to receive support through a relaunched campaign that is being facilitated by the Australian Christian Lobby. No one knows how this issue is going to resolve itself, but one thing is for certain: Israel Folau is no longer making headlines for his accomplishments on the rugby field.