Olympic Daily News: 13 September 2020 

Get ready for a history-making day across all kinds of surfaces in the world of sport!

From the giant rolling waves of Portugal, to the roads of the Tour de France, and the synthetic blue rubber of Berlin’s Olympiastadion athletics stadium, there is a little something for everyone.

The NBA Conference Finals lineup could be finalised, with the Los Angeles Clippers and Denver Nuggets meeting in game 6, after LeBron James led the LA Lakers past the Houston Rockets to the Western Conference finals.

A new men’s Grand Slam champion will be crowned later at the US Open as Austria’s Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev of Germany lock horns, following on from Naomi Osaka’s come-from-behind victory to claim her second title at Flushing Meadows yesterday.

Elsewhere at the US Open, Australia's Dylan Alcott teamed up with Britain's Andy Lapthorne to win the men's quad wheelchair doubles final. You can see more about Dylan's amazing life story in his Olympic Channel series What Moves Me episode here.

But what else might you be missing? let’s take a look.

How to surf Nazare’s monster waves

Imagine surfing a wave the size of a seven storey building.

That is exactly what Brazilian big wave surfer Maya Gabeira did at the World Surf League Big Wave Nazare Tow Surfing Challenge in Portugal when she conquered a 22.4m (73.5ft) beast.

And now it's been confirmed that Gabeira has set the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed by a woman.

“I remember riding out that wave and going back outside and being like, ‘OK, that’s a no repeat,” she told The Japan Times. “That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’ll take that, but I’m not going there again. That was too close. It felt quite scary.”

Gabeira also held the previous world record of 68 feet (20 meters), which she set in 2018.

Check out Olympic Channel documentary Shredding Monsters here, to see exactly what it takes to surf Nazare’s big waves.

Keep an eye on Karsten Warholm

The 400m hurdles world champion Karsten Warholm is hoping to break a world record at the ISTAF athletics meeting in Berlin, Germany today.

The Norweigian will try to lower American Kevin Young's long-standing record of 46.78 seconds, set at the Barcelona 1992 Olympics.

“I have very good memories of the blue track in the Olympic Stadium,” Warholm told World Athletics. “For me, it's always about doing my best, staying relaxed and doing my thing – and not thinking too much about goals and expectations.”

The 24-year-old has good reason to believe that he could finally break the world record, having come very close in 2020. At the season-opening Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco, he smashed the meeting record with 47.10s, before going 46.87s – the second-fastest time in history after Young nine days later in Stockholm.

Also at the meet, which will see a lucky 3,500 spectators allowed to sit in the stands following COVID-19 protocol, Swedish pole vault sensation Mondo Duplantis is set for an exciting reunion with his rival and two-time world champion Sam Kendricks.

NFL returns

Sunday matches in American Football's National Football League have returned for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.

Teams have been making their own anti-racism protests before games, which are the first since the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in the U.S., while the NFL will play the song "Lift Every Voice and Sing" - also known as the Black national anthem - before all matches.

The NFL’s stance follows the actions of athletes from sports leagues around the world, who have demonstrated their condemnation of racism through a variety of actions.

Several top sports events in North American were postponed at the end of August following player-led protests, football teams from England’s Premier League have been wearing No Room For Racism badges on their shirts, while newly-crowned US Open tennis champion Naomi Osaka has worn masks in her on court interviews bearing the names of the black citizens whose deaths sparked protests against police violence.

International grandparents day!

Finally, let’s take a moment to celebrate our elders on international grandparents day.

Can everyone remember Delfina Narella Pignatiello's touching tribute to her grandmother that melted hearts at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires?

After receiving her 800m freestyle swimming silver medal, the Argentine broke down in tears and revealed the word 'abuela', Spanish for grandmother, on the palm of her hand.

There was barely a dry eye in the room.

This is for all the grandmothers and grandfathers out there!.

Trivia!

And last but never least, let's test your Olympic knowledge with some trivia.

So yesterday we asked: Six goals is the most any one female footballer has scored at an Olympic Games, who holds that record? The answer is Canada's Christine Sinclair at London 2012.

Today's question is: India has won one individual Olympic gold medal, but in which sport?

1. Fencing
2. Tennis
3. Archery
4. Shooting