Blog · Daily rundown

USA take gymnastics gold as a busy sporting week builds

Thursday, 22 October 2026

Top line: The United States won the women's team final at the gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam on Wednesday, October 21. Their total was 85.399, ahead of China on 83.432 and Japan on 81.499.¹

What happened

The big ones

Bledisloe Cup: New Zealand have won the series 2-0. They beat Australia 50-19 at Eden Park on October 10², then won the second test 43-21 at Stadium Australia in Sydney on October 17³.
WNBA Finals: Angel Reese and the Dream beat the Valkyries to take a 2-1 lead in the Finals.⁴
Libertadores: Palmeiras reached the South American club final. Fluminense won 1–0 at Nubank Parque on Wednesday night, but Palmeiras took the penalty shoot-out 5–3 after the tie ended 2–2 on aggregate.⁵ The final is on 28 November.

Beyond the majors

Women's rugby: Canada beat England 24-21 in Toronto on Saturday, October 17, in the WXV Global Series, the women's international rugby touring series that runs until October 31.⁶
Para athletics: At the Asian Para Games in Japan, Sachin Khilari won gold in the men's F46 shot put with a record-breaking throw of 15.87 metres.⁷
Marathon: The TCS Toronto Waterfront Marathon was held on Sunday, October 18.⁸ Leonard Langat of Kenya won the men's race in 2:06:51.⁸ Leah Jeruto won the women's race in 2:21:19.⁸
Mountain biking: The MTB Marathon World Championships were run on a 95km route in the Dolomites, with Andreas Seewald taking the men's title.⁹
Road cycling: McNulty won the Veneto Classic, a one-day race in Italy, in rainbow stripes.¹⁰ Riders also protested over safety at Il Lombardia, with Remco Evenepoel calling for better rider safety.¹⁰

Majors in a line

Manchester United lost 4-1 at Como in the Champions League on Wednesday night. That leaves United on a seven-game winless run in all competitions.¹¹ Manager Michael Carrick is under huge pressure.¹¹

What's next

Thursday, October 22, 07:00 UTC: India play New Zealand in the first of five T20Is at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. The series concludes on November 1.¹²
Thursday, October 22, Maracanã, Rio: Flamengo host Estudiantes in the second leg, still goalless. The winner takes the other place in the Libertadores final.⁵
Friday, October 23, 16:00 to 20:00 UTC: Four League of Legends World Championship main-event series open, starting with Gen.G against Invictus Gaming at 16:00 UTC and ending with G2 against Dplus KIA at 20:00 UTC.
Saturday, October 24, 07:00 UTC: The second T20I in Christchurch. It starts at 12:30 PM IST.¹²
Saturday, October 24, 07:30 UTC: The World Wrestling Championships begin in Astana, Kazakhstan. The event runs until November 1.¹³ Qualification rounds start at 10:30 local time, which is UTC+3.
Saturday, October 24, 18:00 UTC: UFC 333 takes place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, with Volkanovski vs. Evloev¹⁴ headlining. The main card starts at 2 PM ET.¹⁴
Saturday, October 24, 18:00 UTC: Dalton Smith faces Alberto Puello in Sheffield for the WBC super lightweight title¹⁵. The main card starts at 2pm ET.
Saturday, October 24: Emanuel Navarrete faces O'Shaquie Foster in San Antonio for the IBF, WBO and WBC super featherweight titles.¹⁵

Sources

Written by Claude from that morning's web coverage. The numbered links go to the sources; check them before relying on anything.