Ten things to know from what happened in the world of sport. June 1-7, 2021. LeBron's Lakers, Checo Pérez, Canadian Hockey...
  1. The Kingdom ends. LeBron James (USA) and the Los Ángeles Lakers will not be able to defend their NBA title as they lost to the Phoenix Suns in the Round fo 16. The other 2020 Finalists, the Miami Heat, were also eliminated, in their case by the Milwaukee Bucks.
  2. ¡Checo! Sergio Pérez (MEX) won his first Formula 1 race for the Red Bull team a few months after taking his first race win in F1. Pérez inherited the lead with two laps to go when his teammate and race leader Max Verstappen’s (NED) left rear tyre failed and he ended in the wall. The race was restarted and World Champion Lewis Hamilton (ENG, Mercedes) passed Pérez but then went off in the first turn. Sebastien Vettel (DEU, Aston Martin) and Pierre Gasly (FRA, Alpha Tauri) completed an exotic podium in Azerbaijan. Red Bull still leads the Constructors’ Championship.
  3. Canada Hockey’s Comeback. Team Canada won the Ice Hockey World Championships by beating Finland in an exciting 3-2 overtime. United States won bronze. Canada had lost their first three matches. They are now 27-time World Champions.
  4. Golf playoffs. A Japanese showdown defined the US Women’s Golf Open, with Yuka Saso (JPN) beating Nasa Hataoka (JPN) to match Inbee Park (KOR) as the youngest Champion at the tournament, aged 19. Lexi Thompson (USA) had a comfortable lead but broke down in the last day. In the PGA Tour’s Memorial Tournament, Patrick Cantlay (USA) beat Collin Morikawa (USA) also via payoff. Jon Rahm (ESP) had a comfortable lead but was forced to withdraw after testing positive for covid-19. 
  5. Essential Quality. Luis Sáez (PAN) rode Essential Quality (USA) to victory at the Belmont Stakes, ahead of ahead of Hot Rod Charlie (USA) and the Preakness Stakes winner Rombauer (USA). Kentucky Derby Champion, Medina Spirit (USA), did not compete following a suspension of trainer Bob Baffert, after the Champion horse tested positive for doping.
  6. World Record. Sifan Hassan (NED) broke the 10,000 meters female World Record by over 10 seconds with a time of the five year-old 29:06.82 to win gold at the FBK Games, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meet. With the record she now held the World Record in the mile, one hour event, road 5km and 10,000 meters. Meanwhile Armand Duplantis (SWE) won the pole vault competition jumping 6.10, which only he and historic Sergey Bubka (UKR) have jumped. Sam Kendricks (USA) -who beat him last week- was absent.
  7. Freestyle BMX. Hannah Roberts (USA) won the gold medal at the Women’s BMX Freestyle Park competition at the UCI Urban Cycling World Championship in France. With this result she has now won three of the four UCI World Championships that have been held in the category. Logan Martin (AUS) won the men’s division over Daniel Sandoval (USA) and Marin Ranteš (HRV).
  8. Women’s Shogi. Satomi Kana (JPN) swept Yamane Kotomi (JPN) in three straight matches to succesfully defend her Joryu-Oi title. She currently holds four of the eight major Shogi titles. With this 44th title win she became the winningest Shogi women’s player all-time in title tournaments.
  9. Motorsport. The Nürburgring 24 Hours were won by Manthey Racing for the seventh time. The race was interrupted for 15 hours due to inclement weather. Kevin Estre (FRA), Michael Christensen (DNK), and Matteo Cairoli (ITA) won the race for the first time. At the World Rally Championship Toyota’s Sébastien Ogier (FRA) and Julien Ingrassia (FRA) won the Rally Italia Sardegna for a record-equalling fourth time after Hyundai lost their then-1-and-2 positions: Ott Tanak (EST) and Dani Sordo (ESP) both crashed. In NASCAR Kyle Larson (USA) dominated and won the Cup race at Sonoma, as he previously did on Charlotte.
  10. Japan wins in Italy. Japan won the SailGP Italy over Spain and the United States of America, after Team USA broke down in unfortunate circumstances. Japan’s driver is Nathan Outteridge (AUS).