Greg Bodine’s hands quivered and his voice trembled. A cluster of his bottom eyelashes temporarily supported a teardrop before it cascaded down his cheek and onto his caddie bib.

Bryson DeChambeau — Bodine’s boss of 13 months — had just won the U.S. Open for the second time. Bodine had just become a major championship-winning caddie. There was obvious emotion surrounding the result as the 36-year-old looper fielded questions from a small group of reporters on Pinehurst’s 18th green, while DeChambeau accepted his trophy.

DeChambeau raised the reclaimed piece of hardware over his head. What club did Bryson hit for the winning bunker shot? The crowd erupted. Did you say anything to him before the round? DeChambeau went off on his victory lap. How did Bryson get his game to this point?

Standard stuff, the questions asked immediately to every caddie whose player has just won a trophy. Then: “How are you feeling?”

Bodine let out a deep exhale. He dipped his head and stared at the putting surface upon which the small group stood. A long pause. “So, there’s a backstory,” Bodine said, his mind going back 13 months to the day DeChambeau hired him. The tears — they were flowing now.

“The day that Bryson called,” Bodine said. “My wife and I found out that she had a…

Indianapolis is not new to hosting major sporting events, routinely hosting Final Fours and annually hosting the NFL Draft Combine. This past February, it was also the site of the NBA All-Star Game. Next summer, however, will mark the first time the city is hosting the WNBA All-Star Game.

The game will take place July 19 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the 3-point contest and skills challenge occurring July 18.

“We are excited to bring AT&T WNBA All-Star to Indiana for the first time,” WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert said in a statement. “The city of Indianapolis and the entire state of Indiana have such an incredible and enduring passion for the game of basketball, making the region the perfect host to celebrate the WNBA and the game’s greatest stars.”

it’s official.

AT&T WNBA All-Star 2025 is coming to Indianapolis

https://t.co/PKuMPP9P4j pic.twitter.com/I0Z5nCiKr6

— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) August 15, 2024

The news comes amid a significant surge in interest in the Indiana Fever. Led by 2024 No. 1 pick Caitlin Clark and 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston, Indiana leads the WNBA in attendance for both home and away games this year, with the franchise saying Wednesday it has had a 265 percent increase compared to last season.

Heading into the second half…

This article is part of The Next Generation series. As the greats, such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal, become the past and Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek handle the present, The Athletic explores the next generation: the rising stars who will be tasked with securing tennis’ future.

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The WTA Tour is in an exciting position as an established order at the top of the rankings creates a target for the most talented players below them to hit.

The Grand Slam tournaments are largely divided between the top four: world No 1 Iga Swiatek seemingly has the French Open favourite tag sewn up; world No 2 Coco Gauff is defending U.S. Open champion; and world No 3 Aryna Sabalenka has won the last two Australian Opens.

Wimbledon, however, has seen eight different winners in its last eight editions and the U.S. Open has been similarly unpredictable, with nine different winners in the last 10.

The Grand Slams may be out of reach to the game’s rising stars for a little while, but plenty of young players are primed and ready to make a name for themselves.

Players from last year’s WTA next gen survey at The Athletic include Mirra Andreeva, who reached the French Open semifinals and won her first WTA Tour title this year, Paris 2024 Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen and…

MINNEAPOLIS — In applying for U.S. citizenship at age 78, the latest chapter in his fascinating life, Rod Carew used the same approach that made him one of the best pure hitters in Major League Baseball history.

The Hall of Famer diligently prepared for the 10-question citizenship test the same way he might if he were getting ready to face Bob Gibson. Carew put himself on alert for any and all possibilities as he spent months breaking down the citizenship test question by question.

Carew officially became a U.S. citizen on Aug. 2 and will be sworn in at a later date. The native of Panama revealed the accomplishment this weekend to friends during festivities surrounding a Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame event at Target Field.

“I’m so proud of my husband,” said his wife, Rhonda Carew. “He studied those questions and the answers to those questions like there was no tomorrow. He was not going to miss a question.”

“I love this country,” Rod Carew said. “It has given me everything and more.”

The news of Carew’s newly gained citizenship surprised just about everyone. Carew’s family moved to Washington…

PARIS — France was the official opponent; Team USA, its own worst enemy. One of the two? The Americans could overcome. But both? That’s a tough road. And against an eager, home-crowd-boosted team like France, it sure looked like the U.S. picked a bad game to have a bad game.

And then, it somehow got worse. After, arguably, the worst half of basketball the U.S. women have played on a world stage in the (now) 61-game win streak, France jumped out to an 8-0 run to start the second half and any assurance of “It’s Team USA, of course, they’ll be fine, of course, they’re going to come out different in the second half,” dissipated as fast as any of the cushions the Americans tried to build through the game.

Clinging to a one-point lead with 1:32 to go, it was Kahleah Copper’s number who was called for the play. She had to score to give Team USA a 3-point lead. The Americans had never run this play in a game, Copper had not yet been called upon as the “go-ahead” player in any crucial instance during these Games, but on a team that believes that each of its players can step up when her number is called — even after 38 minutes of frustration — every person on Team USA’s bench felt confident.

As she took to the floor, Diana Taurasi — the most decorated team…

With the Paris Olympics complete, the U.S. topped the total medal count and tied China for the most golds.

China held a slight lead over the U.S. entering Sunday and claimed its final gold medal with Li Wenwen’s weightlifting win in the women’s +81 kilogram division. The Americans caught up to China with Jennifer Valente’s gold in women’s cycling and a nail-biting win over France in the women’s basketball gold medal game.

The U.S. and China both leave Paris with 40 gold medals, marking the first time two countries have tied in gold medal total at the Summer Games. In 1948, the Winter Games saw a tie for gold at the St. Moritz Olympics when both Norway and Sweden won four.

In Paris, the Americans topped the total medal count with 126 and China finished second with 91. Great Britain (65), host France (64) and Australia (53) round out the top five.

Team USA’s 126 Olympic medals are the third-highest total for the country and the biggest haul since the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

SAINT-DENIS, France — Like just about everyone who has spent even the slightest bit of time at Stade de France during the Olympic track meet, Sebastian Coe has basically been blown away by the power, depth and white-hot speed of the American track and field team.

Men and women, distance and sprints, jumps, throws, combined events, doesn’t matter. The Americans are picking up medals just about everywhere. They are arguably the greatest national track team ever assembled, and among the biggest stars of the show for a Team USA contingent that does not lack for star power with the likes of Stephen Curry and LeBron James on it.

Coe, a two-time Olympic champion from Great Britain in the 1980s who now leads World Athletics, the sport’s international governing body, knows how this came about, beyond the advantages of wealth and population that the U.S. has.

“That is really a testament to the college system, good college coaching,” said Coe, speaking just before American runners and jumpers won eight medals, three of them gold, in about 90 mad minutes Thursday night.

Coe knows track and field inside and out. He is also close with countless top athletes in his sport and others. He knows the global sports landscape as well as anyone. “The quality of coaching now coming out of…

PARIS — Van Chancellor knew he wanted Diana Taurasi on the 2004 Olympic team in Athens. She was young, skilled, confident, brash. He expected she would be a centerpiece of American basketball in the years to come, but he also knew that she would still be able to contribute on the squad of superstars that had been selected for his team — “Dream On” members who had helped re-center the world of women’s basketball by retaking the gold in 1996 in Atlanta.

On Taurasi’s first day with Team USA that year, just the morning after she had helped UConn to a national title over Tennessee, she sat down on the bus next to Chancellor and asked him a very straightforward question: What do you need out of me, Coach?

“I need for you to act like a rookie,” he told her.

“Coach Chancellor,” she said, “if that’s all you need, I’m ready to roll. I’m ready to help this team.”

That was Diana 20 years ago. It was her four days ago, too, when after 33 consecutive Olympic starts for Team USA, coach Cheryl Reeve moved her to the bench in their quarterfinal game against Nigeria in favor of 26-year-old Jackie Young, the second-youngest player on the roster. When the team broke the huddle, Taurasi bounded back to the bench as if it were where the ball would be tipped. She sat down,…

SAINT-DENIS, France — With about 200 meters left in the women’s 4×400 relay race, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas started walking on the track. Naturally, perhaps even subconsciously, they started drifting to the conclusion. One their legs rendered inevitable.

“They had to be escorted, like pull us back,” Shamier Little said with a laugh. “We were kind of celebrating. But, you know, anything can happen.”

Anything almost did happen. The exchange between McLaughlin-Levrone and Thomas nearly went awry. Thomas took the baton, turned to take off and almost tripped on the inside rail.

It was the only drama in the race.

“I did have a little moment of panic with the collision on the rail,” anchor leg Alexis Holmes said. “Once I saw Gabby back on the track, I knew we were gonna be OK.”

Thomas indeed stayed on her feet, padded the lead McLaughlin-Levrone built and the U.S. was off to its eighth consecutive gold medal in the women’s 4×400 relay.

“Of course,” Little said, “that anything wasn’t going to happen.”

This was the 14th Olympics with a women’s quarter-mile relay. America has won nine of them and finished second…