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Sha’Carri Richardson's world championship winning 100m time — which she won from the outside lane, after missing the 2021 Olympics because of a suspension for marijuana

Three stories you should know this week in women's sports

1. 'We are all the soccer'

Spain - 1, England - 0

In a dramatic final, Spain topped England (who beat them in last year's Euro Football semi-final) on Sunday afternoon to win their first women's World Cup title. It was a tough win for a lot of the players and fans, as Spain's team has been in the middle of a nasty fight with their federation for the last year.

Or, as Glennon Doyle put it on Twitter:

"ok so a team of relentlessly excellent women did all the work and won big in spite of abusers patronizers and misogynists in power taking credit for their work....

WAIT I GET THE SOCCER!
we all get the soccer!
WE ARE ALL THE SOCCER!"

What's the fight about in Spain?

Last year, 15 members of the Spanish national team sent a letter to the federation detailing a lack of professionalism from the organization and in their preparation, and poor treatment from the coaching staff that was harming their mental health. Instead of addressing the issues, the Spanish federation told the players to apologize and supported the head coach, Jorge Vilda — and, as a result, almost all of those players were left off the World Cup team.

This is not the first time the Spanish players have spoken out about poor treatment. After the 2015 World Cup, the team demanded better funding, coaching, and preparation. At the time, the Spanish federation spent less than 1% of its budget on the women's game.

Basically, these athletes have had to fight for their right to play every step. And they still managed to win.

Plus, then, they had to deal with the president of the federation kissing one of their star players on the lips during the celebrations. 🤢

Or in short: Relentlessly excellent women did all the work and won big in spite of abusers, patronizers, and misogynists in power taking credit.

Some fun stats from the tournament:

14.8 million - the peak number of viewers in the UK in the final minutes of the England-Spain game
90% share of Australian TV, at peak, during the Matildas semi-final
$570M in revenue generated

LISTEN: Now & Then: The Women's World Cup, Title IX, and Power

2. Falls create drama at Track & Field World Champs 😳

(Photo: World Athletics)

The Track & Field World Championships kicked off this week in Budapest and run through Sunday, Aug. 27.

And if you can tell a whole story in one picture, then the photo above sums up how things have been going.

4x400 mixed relay: In the first big final of the meet, a young U.S. team was neck-and-neck (and seemingly outmatched) on the anchor leg of the relay. That's when Dutch 400m hurdle star, Femke Bol, tripped nearing the finish line. American Alexis Holmes ran a huge personal best of 48.82 to stay with the Olympic medalist and take the win. The U.S. team (two men, two women) ultimately ran a world record 3:08:80 for four laps around the track.

10,000m: And then another fall! From another Dutch runner! This time from favorite, Sifan Hassan, who was in the lead in the final meters of the 10,000m. The Ethiopians were then able to sweep the podium, with Gudaf Tsegay in the gold.

Heptathlon: American Anna Hall came up just 20 points shy after two days of events (that's not very many points) to the UK's Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

100m: And, yes, as mentioned at the top, Sha'Carri Richardson came back big, after barely making the final, to win in a championship record time.

Things to know:

One of the biggest stars of the sport, Sydney McLaughlin, is out with an injury. It's also not clear if Olympic gold medalist Athing Mu will run the 800m.

And the heat is starting to get to people, with multiple athletes being carted off in wheelchairs after their races.

Coming up:

Later today, world record holder Faith Kipyegon will go after her 1500m title against Sifan Hassan looking for a comeback.

WATCH: Here are the broadcast schedules in the U.S. on NBC/Peacock & in Canada on CBC

3. Perimenopause comes into the spotlight

While more and more active women are grappling with reimagining menopause, perimenopause is now getting its turn in the hot seat. Pun intended.

This week, world-record-setting ultrarunner Camille Herron came forward to talk about her experience. (And look for her on an upcoming episode of the Women's Performance podcast.) This comes in the wake of Canadian runner and PhD, Sasha Gollish, who is racing at the World Champs right now, working to highlight some of the information available for female athletes going through perimenopause.

What is perimenopause? It's the two to 10-year transitional period before menopause. It can be marked by many of the same symptoms: missed periods, night sweats, anxiety, brain fog — and typically starts in the early 40s.

COME: Feisty Menopause Retreat Nov. 16-18

Tip of the week

Women begin to lose muscle density around age 30 and strength declines 30% between the ages of 50 and 70.

But! Strength training can help with bone health, hormone levels, and overall performance. What is the optimal frequency? What are key movements to incorporate? And how do you fit it into a training schedule?

LISTEN to the podcast episode with barbell coach Cassi Neiman.

The highlight reel

🚲 SBT Gravel: Sofia Gomez Villafañe followed up her win last week at Leadville 100 with a win this week at the 142-mile SBT Gravel.
A shout-out also to Meg Fisher, who broke the para women's record on the same course by 90 minutes.
🥇🥇🥇 Most decorated American track cyclist ever: And a big belated Feisty congrats to Jennifer Valente, who brought her lifetime total of world championship medals to 19 at the UCI Worlds two weeks ago.
One of the longest-running women's World Tour cycling teams, EF Education-Tibco-SVB, is disbanding over a lack of sponsorship.
🏊🏽‍♀️ Paris Test Event: The biggest test race ahead of next year's Olympics, the triathlon, took over the Champs-Élysées last week. Former British track & field Olympian Beth Potter outsprinted hometown favorite Cassandre Beaugrand for the win — but then was, herself, outsprinted in the last meters of the team mixed relay on Sunday (which was turned into a duathlon due to water quality concerns).
70.3 World Championships: This weekend, triathletes will turn their attention to the half-Ironman world championships in Finland — where defending champ Taylor Knibb is coming off a 5th place in Paris and a spot secured on next year's Olympic team.
Netball World Cup: Australia beat England for their 12th title in that other major ball world championship.
🎾 The U.S. Open (the tennis one) starts today. Caroline Wozniacki, who is attempting to return to tennis after retiring, and Venus Williams were among those who received wildcards — though Venus withrew from this past weekend's tournament due to a knee injury.
19-year-old Coco Gauff won that tournament in Cincinnati, for her first WTA win.
🤸🏾 Simone Biles will compete this weekend in her first national championship since stepping away. Watch on NBC or just wait for the videos to hit TikTok.

Feisty recommendations

What to watch: One Water Race (a multi-day team-based totally insane swim-run adventure through the Swedish archipelago) started yesterday

What to know: The International Society of Sports Nutrition released its official position paper on nutritional issues for female athletes

What to read: 'In A League of Their Own!' — to learn more about the English women's football team that attracted 53,000 spectators back in 1920 and was then banned from playing

What we're thinking about: A series of studies released on diversity in running & trail running