Browsing: double

WWE Superstars unfortunately deal with injuries on a regular basis, and while there is no good time for such a setback, it can be devastating to be put on the shelf during a championship reign. A certain popular Superstar is facing the potential end to two championship reigns as WWE has just confirmed an injury.

Sol Ruca is currently 193 days into her first reign as WWE Women’s Speed Champion, and 185 days into her first reign as NXT Women’s North American Champion. Now it appears she may have to relinquish the titles due to an injury suffered on last Friday’s live SmackDown episode, where she and Zaria failed to dethrone Charlotte Flair and Alexa Bliss of the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship.

There have been rumors on a potential injury to Ruca since last week’s 12-minute tag team showdown on SmackDown. At one point, the 26-year-old had an awkward landing after diving to ringside. She was later helped backstage by Flair, Bliss, and Zaria.

WWE will present tonight’s NXT episode as the go-home show for Saturday’s Halloween Havoc PLE from Arizona. It was previously announced that the first-ever Halloween Havoc to air on Netflix will feature Blake Monroe challenging Sol Ruca for the NXT Women’s North American Championship. The former Mariah May of AEW won a recent Battle Royal to earn her first title shot in WWE.

Ruca took to X today to announce that she will be in the ring on NXT to address what she called “recent occurrences,” fueling speculation on Ruca needing to take time off.

“Well guys, due to some recent occurrences, I need to address the NXT Universe. So, I’ll see you guys tonight in the ring on NXT,” Sol Ruca said in the video below.

See ya tonight âš¡ï¸ðŸ’€ðŸŒ´ pic.twitter.com/LUEv7Wj9WV

— Sol Ruca (@SolRucaWWE) October 21, 2025

WWE Confirms Sol Ruca Announcement For Tonight

WWE has confirmed that Sol Ruca will address an injury suffered on SmackDown during tonight’s NXT. The updated preview for tonight’s live episode noted that Ruca will provide an update on her status.

“NXT Womenâ€s North American Champion and Womenâ€s Speed Champion Sol Ruca will provide an update on the injury that she suffered on Friday Night SmackDown. Donâ€t miss Ruca’s update on WWE NXT live TONIGHT at 8e/7c on the CW Network,” reads the official NXT preview for tonight.

WWE previously announced the following for tonight’s NXT: Men’s Speed Tournament matches with Zachary Wentz vs. Jasper Troy and Axiom vs. Sean Legacy, TNA X-Division Champion Leon Slater defending against Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, OTM vs. Hank & Tank, plus the Halloween Havoc contract signing for NXT Champion Ricky Saints vs. Trick Williams.

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TORONTO – It wouldnâ€t be a Game 7 without drama — and some early controversy.

The top of the first inning Monday at Rogers Centre ended with the Mariners†Jorge Polanco hitting into a unique double play, ruled after Josh Naylor was struck approaching second base by a throw from Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement.

Clement ranged up the middle to field Polancoâ€s grounder and stepped on second base to force out Naylor, who leapt and spun in the baseline. Clementâ€s throw struck Naylor in the back of the helmet, sending the ball skyward.

Blue Jays pitcher Shane Bieber immediately yelled at Naylor, words to the effect of: “What are you doing?†Polanco momentarily remained at first base, with the six umpires gathering in the infield to discuss as the Rogers Centre crowd booed replays.

Ultimately, the umpires ruled that both Naylor and Polanco were out.

“In their opinion, they thought Naylor was trying to get in the way of the throw, which that’s what happens if you do,†Mariners manager Dan Wilson told Tom Verducci during an in-game interview. “It’s both outs. So that’s the conversation. That’s what he told me.â€

The item in question appears to be Rule 6.01(a)(5), which reads, in part, that the ball is dead if the baserunner who has just been put out “hinders or impedes any following play being made on a runner.â€

In that event, the batter-runner “shall be declared out for the interference of his teammate.”

Seattle settled for one run in the top of the first, scored when Naylor drove in Julio Rodríguez with an RBI single to right field.

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TORONTO — We knew the path to the promised land was always going to include a heavy dose of sky-high anxiety, right?

This is the Mariners, after all, the only organization to have never played in the World Series. If you were hoping for peaceful closure to this American League Championship Series on Sunday, youâ€re going to have to hang in for another night.

And after a 6-2 loss to the Blue Jays in Game 6 of the ALCS, Seattle faces elimination for just the second time in these playoffs — with a winner-take-all Game 7 slated for Monday night, right back here at Rogers Centre.

Win, and they advance to play the Dodgers in the Fall Classic, beginning on Friday in Los Angeles. Lose, and this storybook season comes to a stunning end, compounded by what would be one of the franchiseâ€s more stinging finishes, given that they had series leads of 2-0 and 3-2.

“This game is very psychological over physical,†said first baseman Josh Naylor, who put the Mariners on the board with a solo homer in the sixth when they were down 5-0. “I think if you could beat someone down mentally, you’ll beat them physically right away.

“It’s sort of like boxing. I love watching boxing. Me and my dad watch boxing together all the time, and the great boxers beat someone down mentally, and then physically, it becomes one punch and you’re done.â€

What made Sundayâ€s loss more frustrating for Mariners fans who made the 2,500-mile trek to Toronto and the hundreds of thousands who watched back home in Seattle was that it featured one spoiled opportunity after another.

The Mariners on Sunday became the first team with three or more errors while grounding into three or more double plays in a playoff game since the Yankees in Game 2 of the 2009 ALCS.

Seattle twice had the bases loaded in the early going and twice hit into an inning-ending double play — in both the third and fourth innings — with precisely the players it would want up in those spots.

Cal Raleigh, whoâ€s tormented Toronto for his entire career, chopped a first-pitch splitter from Trey Yesavage that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. fielded to go 3-6-1. Then an inning later, J.P. Crawford — who has a 1.104 OPS in his Mariners career with the bases loaded — was on the hook for a 4-6-3, when rolling over an 0-2 splitter off the plate. Julio Rodríguez made it a hat trick in the fifth with another double play, though the Mariners only had one runner on then.

Per Elias, the Mariners are the third team over the last 10 years to ground into a double play in three straight innings during a postseason game, joining the Dodgers in Game 2 of the 2018 NLCS and the Yankees in Game 5 of the 2024 ALCS. Those Yankees and the 1987 Giants (Game 7 of NLCS) are the only two teams since 1940 to do this during a potential series-clinching game.

“I thought I hit my ball hard,†Raleigh said. “Obviously, I’ve got to get it in the air, so no excuses there. J.P. is battling with two strikes. It’s just one of those things that it’s baseball. We were fighting up there, giving everything we could, and hit it right at guys.â€

Overall, the Mariners have been able to create traffic, but theyâ€ve struggled mightily to cash in since this series shifted to Seattle. Even including Eugenio Suárezâ€s incredible, game-winning grand slam in Game 5, the Mariners are just 6-for-40 (.150) with runners on base since Game 3.

“I think we did a good job of putting some pressure on at times, and sometimes you’re not going to come through,†Naylor said. “And that is what it is. It’s baseball. You can prepare as well as you can. You can feel the best you can. But sometimes, it’s just not going to go your way. And that is what it is. But I feel like we did have a lot of chances, and tomorrow we’ll come through with them.â€

Then there were the three errors, all of which directly led to Blue Jays runs.

Rodríguez bobbled a one-hopper in front of him in the left-center gap that turned a single into two bases for Daulton Varsho, who went on to score from second base easily on an RBI single into right field from Addison Barger in the second inning.

In that same inning, Suárez had trouble corralling a scorching grounder from speedster Ernie Clement, who reached to put two on with nobody out. Clement then scored from third base when Suárez attempted to barehand a slow roller but came up empty on the grab.

Then in the seventh, a wild pitch from Matt Brash with Guerrero on second base forced a rushed throw from Raleigh that sailed into left field and allowed Torontoâ€s all-world slugger to score easily. Guerrero also had a booming solo homer to lead off the fifth inning and end Logan Gilbertâ€s night.

“We could have played a maybe cleaner game,†Rodríguez said. “We definitely set the table a few times, but we couldn’t capitalize. And that’s part of the game, too. But they definitely played a good game. They put up some good swings.â€

Gilbert was tagged for five runs (four earned) and paid mightily for the mistake pitches he left over the plate, saying that the loss was “on me.†But that doesnâ€t quite paint the entire picture, because had a few at-bats gone the other way or multiple mistakes not been made, the Mariners mightâ€ve found themselves right back in it.

But they instead face a Game 7, where they still control their own destiny but also face the reality that anything can happen.

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MILWAUKEE — Max Muncy was inches away from hitting a grand slam for the Los Angeles Dodgers to open the scoring in the National League Championship Series.

Little did he know his 404-foot drive instead would end the top of the fourth inning in one of the most incredible plays of this or any postseason.

“Itâ€s definitely the worst fielderâ€s choice/double play Iâ€ve ever hit in my life,†Muncy said after the Dodgers†2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 1.

Hereâ€s how Muncyâ€s potential grand slam turned into an unusual 8-6-2 double play:

With the bases loaded and one out, Muncy hit a long drive to center field, where Sal Frelick jumped and reached over the wall in an attempt to make the catch.

The ball popped out of Frelickâ€s glove and hit the top of the fence before Frelick caught it in the air. Muncy wasnâ€t ruled out because the ball hit the wall — but the Dodgers†runners scrambled back to their bases thinking the ball was caught on a fly.

“I didnâ€t see it hit the wall,†said Will Smith, who was on second base. “I just thought he kind of brought it back in and caught it.â€

Frelick fired to shortstop Joey Ortiz, who quickly relayed a strike to catcher William Contreras. Aware a force was still in effect, Contreras alertly stretched for the throw with his right foot on home plate, rather than position himself for a tag that would have been necessary if the ball hadnâ€t hit the wall.

Contreras caught the ball before Teoscar Hernández slid across the plate, forcing out Hernández after he had hesitated at third base.

“Teo knows the rule. I think right there he had just a little bit of a brain fart, appreciating that when it does hit the glove, you can tag (up) there,†Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “But then he tagged, did it correctly, then saw he didnâ€t catch it, (and) he went back. That was the mistake. But he owned it. And after that, thereâ€s nothing else you can do about it.â€

After the force out at home plate, Contreras smartly got up and jogged to third to force out Smith, too.

Smith had gone back to second when he thought Frelick made a clean catch.

“From home plate, I had a pretty good view of it,†Contreras said through an interpreter. “I could tell pretty much right away it hit off the wall. Right away once it hits off the wall, you know that ball is played live. Tremendous job by the guys there just doing what we needed to do to finish that play off.â€

As all of it was developing, Frelick had his arms out with a quizzical look on his face, wondering what exactly had just happened — not unlike many fans.

The Dodgers challenged the call, but a replay review confirmed the force outs at home and third for a most unusual inning-ending 8-6-2 double play.

Umpires called it correctly in real time all the way through the play.

“Honestly, I didnâ€t know they ruled it a no-catch,†Roberts said. “I just wanted clarity on the whole situation. And then kind of making sure that they got a couple of force outs, which they did. And ultimately, those guys and replay, the guys on the field got it right. They nailed it.â€

At 404 feet, it was the second-longest projected distance on a batted ball resulting in a double play since Statcast tracking began in 2015 — regular-season games included. For Muncy, it goes down as a grounded-into-double play, even though the ball didnâ€t touch the ground.

There had not been an 8-6-2 double play in the postseason over the last 35 years, the Elias Sports Bureau said. Those type of official scoring details are not always clear in records going back any further.

The most recent 8-6-2 double play in the regular season involved a ball hit by Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa to Cincinnati center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. in April 2004 — though that one ended with a tag at the plate.

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  Jesse RogersOct 13, 2025, 09:56 PM ET

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  Jesse joined ESPN Chicago in September 2009 and covers MLB for ESPN.com.

MILWAUKEE — The Brewers pulled off the first 8-6-2 double play in MLB postseason history against the Los Angeles Dodgers during Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Monday night.

With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning and the game still scoreless, Max Muncy hit a deep fly ball to center field. Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick was tracking the ball, and as he leaped to catch it, the ball bounced off his glove, then hit the wall and went back into his glove.

Muncy was not out because the ball hit the wall, but the Dodgers’ runners seemingly thought the ball was caught because they tagged up instead of taking off for the next base.

“I saw it floating there,” Frelick said after the Dodgers’ 2-1 win. “So, I grabbed it and fired it in to [shortstop] Joey [Ortiz] because I saw Teoscar [Hernandez] was going back to third to tag.”

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After unnecessarily tagging, Hernandez took off for home, but not before Ortiz fired a perfect strike to catcher William Contreras, forcing Hernandez out at the plate.

“I was just listening to what [second baseman] Brice [Turang] was telling me,” Ortiz said. “He was doing a good job, letting me know to go [for home plate].”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts explained Hernandez’s baserunning mistake as a “brain fart.”

“But he owned it,” Roberts said.

After getting the out at home, Contreras ran down and touched third base, getting the force out on Will Smith, who had returned to second when he thought Frelick made a clean catch.

“I didn’t see it hit the wall,” Smith said. “I just thought he kind of brought it back in and caught it. So, I thought it was an out, maybe a sacrifice fly. But it obviously hit the wall and that’s not what happened.”

The play was officially recorded in the box score as Muncy grounding into a double play because there were force plays at two different bases, according to official scorer Tim O’Driscoll, even with it beginning 404 feet from the plate.

According to ESPN Research, Muncy’s double-play ball would have been a home run in nine ballparks, including Dodger Stadium.

“Everyone is a little bit confused in the moment,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “Special moment. Good for us.”

According to ESPN Research, Max Muncy’s double-play ball, at 404 feet, would have been a home run in nine ballparks, including Dodger Stadium. Ross Harried/EPA

As all this was developing, Frelick had his arms out with a quizzical look on his face, seemingly wondering what had just happened. After the play was over, crew chief James Hoye explained the situation to Roberts and asked if he wanted to challenge the call, which he did.

Roberts lost the challenge as both outs were upheld, ending the inning.

“[Frelick is] mad that he didn’t make the catch,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “But if he did, the runner would have scored easily. So, it’s kind of one of those plays, unfortunate for the Dodgers that it happened.”

The most recent 8-6-2 double play in the regular season involved a ball hit by Chicago Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa to Cincinnati Reds center fielder Ken Griffey Jr. in April 2004, although that one ended with a tag at the plate.

“Just one of those weird, freak plays,” Brewers designated hitter Christian Yelich said. “You just play it out. You don’t really know. That was huge. Once that happened, I thought, ‘It’s getting weird, we have a chance.'”

Information from ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle, Elias Sports Bureau and The Associated Press was included in this report.

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Oct 11, 2025, 09:34 AM ET

Coco Gauff had more struggles with her serve but overcame seven double faults to beat Jasmine Paolini 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday and reach the Wuhan Open final.

Gauff will face Jessica Pegula in Sunday’s title match after her fellow American came from behind to oust top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

The third-ranked Gauff edged Paolini by winning the battle of converted breaks 7-5 as both top-10 players struggled with their service games.

Gauff fought back from three breaks in the second set, which included a run of five consecutive double faults, and won the final four games to advance to the final.

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“I did what I needed to do to get through,” Gauff said.

Gauff, 21, who changed her serving coach in August, leads the women’s circuit this season with 378 double faults, over 120 more than the next player.

But she also excelled in another stat: Her 13 career wins over top-10 players at WTA 1000 events are the most by any player before turning 22 since 2009, the circuit said.

The fifth-ranked Paolini had eliminated Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals and had won her previous three matches against Gauff, all played this season.

Pegula’s win set up only the third all-American WTA 1000 final since its inception in 2009, having also contested the last one in 2024 in Toronto when she defeated Amanda Anisimova in three sets.

Sabalenka was the three-time defending champion and boasted a 20-match winning streak at the tournament.

The Associated Press and PA contributed to this report.

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These are strange times for Tottenham. Historically they have often been a side whose performances did not match their results, but tradition has it they would be pretty and ineffective. Under Thomas Frank they have become the opposite.

Midway through the second half Spurs were 2-0 down and apparently on their way to a convincing defeat. They rode their luck as Andreas Helmersen hit the bar with an effort that would have made it 3-1, but they had the character to battle back and secure a 2-2 draw.

Doggedness and resilience have not been stereotypical Spurs qualities. Bodø/Glimtâ€s fans seemed happy enough at the end, serenading their players – and perhaps there was a sense of Tottenhamâ€s greater quality telling – but this was a game they could have won with ease.

“We showed big character to fight back,†Frank said. “Itâ€s hugely important that they have that to keep running, keep fighting, to do the right thing. We kept moving the ball, kept creating chances from wide. Until 2-0 they were the better team but after that we got on top.â€

It was the third time in four games that Spurs have conceded the opening goal of the game, but Frank believes that is coincidence. Only in this match did he accept that Tottenham had “struggled†early on, insisting that against both Brighton and Wolves, Spurs had conceded against the run of play. That was emphatically not the case here. “On the ball I felt we could and should have kept the ball better,†Frank said, something he blamed on a lack of both structure and willingness to be bold. “A little bit on the day where you just need better touches, better decisions, better passes.â€

Perhaps missing the leadership of Cristian Romero, left in London as a precaution, Tottenham never imposed themselves physically as they had in beating Bodø/Glimt in the Europa League semi-final in May. Here the home side had their chances before a late challenge from Rodrigo Bentancur on Fredrik André Bjørkan conceded a 32nd-minute penalty.

Presented with a historic chance, though, Kasper Høgh smashed his shot so high over the bar that it cleared the seating behind the goal and might even have cleared the tiled roofs of the houses across the street had there not been a net strung between the flagpoles at the top of the stand.

Jens Petter Hauge shows his delight after giving Bodø/Glimt a second-half lead. Photograph: Marius Simensen/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

It was Bodø/Glimtâ€s first home game in the group phase of the Champions League, and they were determined to make the most of it. The pre-match singing of the club anthem was heartfelt and gently moving, and followed by the rhythmic detonation of a series of fireworks, startlingly loud in the still Arctic night. European football has little place these days for romance but Glimt remain an example of what can be achieved by enlightened leadership even in a remote town of just over 50,000 population.

They may have won four of the past five Norwegian championships, and be handily placed as this seasonâ€s title race enters the run-in, but this is not a club that has become sated by silverware. In the 1980s, as they slid into the third flight, Glimt were not even the biggest team in Bodø, that honour belonging to Grand.

Back then their main claim to fame was the forward slash in their name, introduced to avoid the confusion their hyphen caused on betting coupons. The hyphen itself was a product of Glimt adding Bodø to their name in 1948 so they would not be mixed up with a similarly named club from Trøndelag.

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All around town, among the clapboard houses and along the dockside, yellow Glimt flags could be seen, while the mood was simultaneously welcoming and disbelieving. This is still a club for whom playing in the Champions League is a privilege.

The honour of scoring their first home goal in the group phase went to a homegrown talent in Jens Petter Hauge, albeit he has had spells away at Milan and Eintracht Frankfurt, where he became the first Norwegian to win the Europa League. Drifting in from the left, he was a persistent menace, both goals highlighting his balance and technical quality.

Nikita Haikin, the Glimt goalkeeper, had pointed out how “unusual†it was that Spurs focus so much on set plays and for a long time that did appear their only threat. Bentancur seemed to have levelled two minutes after the Glimt opener, as the ball was returned to the centre after a Pedro Porro free-kick had hit the post; it was ruled out after a VAR review for a pull by Micky van de Ven.

Spurs did score two minutes after Glimtâ€s second, Van de Ven heading in another Porro free-kick. Wilson Odobert headed a Mohammed Kudus delivery against the crossbar but the equaliser did arrive in the 89th minute as Archie Grayâ€s shot ricocheted in off Jostein Gundersen, the fourth own goal from which Spurs have benefited this season.

Deserved? Perhaps not, but when has that ever mattered?

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In a Premier League context only Aston Villa have scored fewer times than Newcastle this season but the Carabao Cup is a different beast and it offered the holders a distinctly therapeutic evening.

Admittedly, it was not quite raining goals for Eddie Howeâ€s side but two apiece from Joelinton and Will Osula at least showed they remember how to score. Granted, Graham Alexanderâ€s Bradford belong to the third tier but the League One leaders proved competitive and well organised opponents who throughly deserved their own consolation goal, registered, evocatively, by their Newcastle-supporting No 9 Andy Cook.

It is sometimes easy to forget that Joelinton joined Newcastle as a £40m centre forward. Howe eventually discovered the Brazilian to be a much better midfielder but when the rebound from Anthony Gordonâ€s blocked shot fell his way here, Joelintonâ€s muscle memory kicked in and the resultant low, 17th minute shot settled his sideâ€s early nerves.

Until then Bradford had frequently succeeded in disrupting Newcastleâ€s one and two touch passing rhythm, with Aaron Ramsdale doing well to save Bobby Pointonâ€s deflected shot. Once in front, though, Howeâ€s players seized control. With the £70m striker Nick Woltemade starting on the bench again, Will Osula had another chance to prove his worth.

This time, he took it. Two minutes after Joelintonâ€s opener, Osula connected with a gorgeous pass from Bruno Guimarães, retained his poise and, left one-on-one with Sam Walker, swept a fine shot beyond the goalkeeperâ€s reach.

As a senior player coming to the end of his career at Burnley a decade and a half ago, Alexander had clashed with a young manager named Eddie Howe. These days fences have long since been mended but Alexander, who, at 53, is six years his Newcastle counterpartâ€s senior, readily admits that, back at Turf Moor, they could not stand each other. Now Howe, who acknowledges he should probably have played Alexander more frequently, had the upper hand again.

Joelinton may have been converted to a midfielder, but his strikerâ€s touch has not deserted him. Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

With Guimarães excelling and Lewis Miley gradually starting to assert himself in central midfield, Newcastle were passing and moving with pleasing fluency. Only a strong save on Walkerâ€s part denied Osula a second goal yet the stadium was unusually quiet; more a library than the citadel of sound that greeted Barcelona here last Thursday.

“Whereâ€s your famous atmosphere,†chorused the 4,900 Bradford fans who had made the 100-mile road trip north-east from West Yorkshire. Alexanderâ€s players responded by refusing to fold but their best attacking moves tended to founder in the face of the immensely impressive, finally fit again Sven Botman and his new, ex-Milan centre-half partner Malick Thiaw.

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No matter; for a team only promoted from League Two this spring, Bradford are evidently on a steep upward trajectory and never looked overawed by their multi-million pound hosts. They might even have pulled a goal back had Stephen Humphrys not directed a header straight at Ramsdale after meeting Pointonâ€s clever delivery.

On the hour, Alexander made his veteran striker Cookâ€s evening by liberating the No 9 from the bench. Cook is a lifelong Newcastle fan who grew up idolising Alan Shearer and, in playing at St James†Park for the first time, he finally fulfilled a long standing dream.

It may have just been a consolation, but scoring at St James†Park was a dream come true for Andy Cook. Photograph: George Wood/Getty Images

Before Alexander could make his mark though, Joelinton scored his second goal of the night, showing Gordon and Anthony Elanga how to finish. That pair had missed opportunities to increase the scoreline but now Joelintonâ€s assured left foot finish after another eye of the needle Guimarães pass had ruined Bradfordâ€s night.

Or had it? Undeterred Cook, only recently recovered from an ACL rupture, responded by scoring the best goal of the night. When Newcastle failed to clear, the 34-year-old was perfectly placed to smash a stupendous half volley in off the underside of the crossbar.

As Alexander and Bradfordâ€s entire bench applauded, sustained chants of “Andy, Andy Cook,†echoed down from the Leazes End. There was still time for Osula to lash home his second goal as Newcastle sealed their place in the fourth round draw.

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As the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros continue to battle for the top of the AL West, the Mariners closed…

Hunter Bell’s dilemma over which event to target in Tokyo had dominated her thinking in the lead-up to the championships – but ultimately her final decision proved the correct one.

Returning to the event she initially competed in as a child after making impressive progress over the shorter of the middle-distance events this season, the 31-year-old completed a full-circle moment as she achieved back-to-back global podiums.

Hunter Bell has taken the long way round since she contested her first track race 21 years ago, quitting the sport in 2017 before getting back in touch with Painter after rediscovering her love of running during lockdown.

But the former English Schools champion continues to make up for lost time, taking another step on the podium in what is her first year as a full-time athlete after quitting her cybersecurity job following last summer’s Olympics.

Meadows told BBC Sport: “Trevor and I are so proud of both of them. Keely has been our young protege since she was 17 and this is her fifth podium in five successive global champs.

“Georgia is the complete opposite, which is why they are both great role models. She was a child protege but moved away from the sport, and Trevor had always said she was the one that got away.

“We’re so glad she got back in contact at the end of 2022. We always have a private joke about when I asked Trevor who he was on facetime to – he said Georgia Bell and I said ‘well that ship has sailed’.

“It got brought up at her wedding but she does forgive me because ever since I have seen she has what it takes and I have been her biggest supporter ever since.”

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