After missing back-to-back first-round playoff exits in Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo went to work on a new skill in hopes of a healthy playoff run: the midrange jumper.
Dutch women's athlete Maureen Koster was knocked unconscious when she fell down during the women's 3000m at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, on Sunday.
The 32-year-old athlete was treated by medical staff and later transported to a local hospital.
Koster was in front of Great Britain's Innes FitzGerald and behind Hannah Nuttall when the fall occurred. Nuttall was temporarily pushed off the track and FitzGerald had to run around Koster.
"I just saw her on the floor in front of me. I thought I had to get around her and hopefully not be fazed by that," FitzGerald said after the race. "I didn’t want it to affect my race plan. It was gutting to have her fall, especially in front of a home crowd. I hope she is okay. Very sad that she fell over."
The Netherlands team later posted on X that Koster was conscious and responsive.
Koster's friend and fellow competitor, Great British runner Melissa Courtney-Bryant, who finished the event with silver, said the incident was "carnage."
"I heard Maureen scream," Courtney-Bryant said. "I know her really well because we used to train together and room on the Diamond League. Then I saw a leg as I was running around, and I knew it was her shoe. It put everyone on edge, and everyone was pushing more. I was just trying to keep up, because you don’t want to end up down as well. It was carnage."
Ireland's Sarah Healy won gold after Koster's fall.
New Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White immediately noticed Caitlin Clark’s desire to get into the weight room this offseason.
It seems like the hard work is paying off.
WNBA fans are getting excited for year two of Clark with the Fever after seeing pictures of her this weekend during the women’s basketball Big Ten Tournament featuring her Iowa Hawkeyes.
Clark was pictured flexing after a big play on the court, and Bri Lewerke, the photographer at the game, caught the moment that showed off her bulked-up physique.
"Well someone’s been in the weight room," Lewerke captioned her photo on X.
Clark’s animated gestures courtside were during the Hawkeyes’ tough loss to Ohio State, 60-59, in the quarterfinals of the tournament on Friday.
"She’ll be bada-- this year," a commentator said under the picture.
White spoke to The Athletic earlier this offseason about Clark’s impact on the WNBA, likening her to Taylor Swift with the amount of attention she has gotten so quickly and how she handles the fame, while focusing on her craft.
One example of focusing on her game was recognizing the need to pack on muscle after getting tossed around a bit in her rookie campaign – some of those moments led to widespread debate.
"She’s got a lot of self-awareness," White said about Clark. "She figured out right away that, ‘I need to get stronger. I can’t get knocked around as much.’ "She’s done a great job of getting in the weight room and focusing on her strength, in terms of low center of gravity, time under tension, all of those things. I think the next step is efficiency. Not so many turnovers, higher field goal percentages."
Clark also told reporters during the 2024 Paris Olympics break in the W season last year that she was hitting the weight room hard.
"I’m small but I try to holy my own the best I can," she said in August 2024, via The New York Post. "…I don’t know, I think I’m discreetly strong. I’m never gonna be the strongest person. I know that. I try to put on some weight, and I’ve been working hard in the weight room."
The new W season begins in mid-May, when Clark will take on fellow rookie star Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky on May 17 to open the 2025 campaign.
Clark is coming off a monumental season, both personally and for the game as a whole, as she was named the 2024 Rookie of the Year after averaging 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. She broke numerous rookie and league records along the way, showcasing more than just a quick transition from college to the pros.
Clark will have a few new teammates around this season, too, as the Fever added key talent like Natasha Howard, DeWanna Bonner, Sophie Cunningham and Brianna Turner this offseason to go with their 2024 No. 1 overall pick and their top choice in 2023, Aliyah Boston, as well.
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