Before 2021, many would have said that golfer Nelly Korda already had her break year on the LPGA Tour.

In 2019, the 23-year-old from Bradenton, Florida, made the cut in 19 out of 20 events, had a career best 12 top-ten finishes, won two LPGA tournaments and passed the $3 million mark in career earnings in just her third year on tour. That’s pretty tough to beat. And yet in 2021, after a pandemic-riddled 2020 season, Nelly Korda has been on a tear, making the leap from potential superstar to the undisputed No. 1 player in the game.

After finishing in third behind her older sister Jessica Korda, who took first at the Tournament of Champions to kick off the year, Korda won the first full-field tour competition of 2021 at the Gainbridge Championship by a three-stroke margin. Throughout the spring tour, she earned a handful of top ten finishes, including a tie for third at the first major of the year, the ANA Inspiration in Palm Springs. In early June, she hit an unwelcome speed bump by not making the cut for the US Women’s Open for the second year in a row. To say she had a strong rebound after this disappointment would be putting it lightly.

Within a two-month period from mid-June to early August, Korda won another LPGA tournament (the Meijer LPGA Classic), her first LPGA Major (the Women’s PGA Championship), the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, and became the top ranked women’s golfer in the world, the first American to do so since 2014. 

Not a bad summer.

Winning that first major title is a moment pro golfers never forget if they are lucky enough to experience it. Korda’s Women’s PGA Championship in June came via a second round 11-under 63 and two eagles in the fourth round to beat fellow American Lizette Salas by three strokes. In Japan a little over a month later, Korda went into the fourth round of the Olympics with a three-stroke lead only to see it slip away on the front nine before building it back up with three straight birdies on the back nine. With two holes left for the final two groups, play was paused for a one-hour storm delay. Luckily for Korda, Jessica was also on Team USA and had already finished her final round, so the sisters chatted and kept things light during the wait. 

After play resumed, Korda approached the 18th tee box in a tie for first with Mone Inami of Japan who was in the group ahead. But then Inami bogied the final hole, cracking open the door for gold. In one of the highest pressure moments of her career, Korda was able to hold par on the 18th and finish with a one-stroke victory and solitary claim to the Olympic gold medal. 

“For her to be doing what she’s doing, it’s insane to me,” Jessica Korda said of her sister. “This is like total GOAT status to me. To win three times in a season, be world No. 1, going for gold.”

 “The last 18 months have truly been a whirlwind,” Korda told Just Women’s Sports. “But to come out of such an uncertain time playing the best golf of my career, and to win my first major championship, become World No. 1 and win an Olympic gold medal all in the last few months is more than I ever could have dreamed.”

What makes Korda’s amazing run even more exciting is that there’s still so much of the season left. There are eight remaining individual LPGA tournaments up for grabs, as well as this weekend’s Solheim Cup, where she and Jessica will team up for the United States for the second time this year. 

Despite all the accolades, Korda appears to be approaching the rest of 2021 with a very level head. As she prepared for the final major of the year (the AIG Women’s Open) upon returning from Japan, she demonstrated her commitment to staying balanced by opting out of the pre-tournament press conference to get extra rest and work out some kinks at the range. Later at the tournament, when asked about the pressure that accompanies the number one world ranking, Korda replied, “Obviously there’s expectations, but you just try to settle down and keep your head down and go with the flow.” 

Her historic hot streak may have cooled a bit as Korda finished the AIG Women’s Open in a tie for 13th, but at just 23 years old and with a chance to once again make her mark at the the Solheim Cup, it’s clear that both her year — and her reign — are far from over. 

Longtime USWNT fixture Carli Lloyd took to Instagram Wednesday morning to announce that she’s pregnant with her first child. 

"Baby Hollins coming in October 2024!" she wrote. The caption framed a collaged image of baby clothes, an ultrasound photo, and syringes indicating what she described as a "rollercoaster" fertility journey.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

In a Women’s Health story published in tandem with Lloyd’s post, the Fox Sports analyst and correspondent opened up about her struggles with infertility and the lengthy IVF treatments she kept hidden from the public eye.

"Soccer taught me how to work hard, persevere, be resilient, and never give up. I would do whatever it took to prepare, and usually when I prepared, I got results," Lloyd told Women’s Health’s Amanda Lucci. "But I found out that I didn’t know much about this world. I was very naive to think that we wouldn’t have any issues getting pregnant. And so it began."

Lloyd went on to discuss her road to pregnancy in great detail, sharing the highs and lows of the process and expressing gratitude for the care and support her family and medical team provided along the way. She rounded out the piece with a nod toward others navigating the same challenges, encouraging people to share their own pregnancy journeys, painful as they may be.

"My story is currently a happy one, but I know there are other women who are facing challenges in their pregnancy journey. I see you and I understand your pain," she said. "My hope is that more and more women will speak up about this topic, because their stories helped me. I also wish for more resources, funding, and education around fertility treatments. There is much to be done, and I hope I can play a role in helping."

The 41-year-old New Jersey native retired from professional soccer in 2021, closing out her decorated career with 316 international appearances, the second-most in USWNT history, in addition to 134 international goals. A legend on the field, Lloyd walked away from the game with two World Cups, two Olympic gold medals, and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.

On Tuesday, FIFPRO announced the launch of Project ACL, a three-year research initiative designed to address a steep uptick in ACL injuries across women's professional football.

Project ACL is a joint venture between FIFPRO, England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Nike, and Leeds Beckett University. While the central case study will focus on England’s top-flight Women's Super League, the findings will be distributed around the world.

ACL tears are between two- and six-times more likely to occur in women footballers than men, according to The Guardian. And with both domestic and international programming on the rise for the women’s game, we’ve seen some of the sport's biggest names moved to the season-ending injury list with ACL-related knocks.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

Soccer superstars like Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Catarina Macario, Marta, and England captain Leah Williamson have all struggled with their ACLs in recent years, though all have since returned to the field. In January, Chelsea and Australia forward Sam Kerr was herself sidelined with the injury, kicking off a year of similar cases across women’s professional leagues. And just yesterday, the Spirit announced defender Anna Heilferty would miss the rest of the NWSL season with a torn ACL. The news comes less than two weeks after Bay FC captain Alex Loera went down with the same injury. 

Project ACL will closely study players in the WSL, monitoring travel, training, and recovery practices to look for trends that could be used to prevent the injury in the future. Availability of sports science and medical resources within individual clubs will be taken into account throughout the process.

ACL injuries in women's football have long outpaced the same injury in the men's game, but resources for specialized prevention and treatment still lag behind. Investment in achieving a deeper, more specialized understanding of the problem should hopefully alleviate the issue both on and off the field.

With recent transfers Talia von Oelhoffen and Kiki Iriafen joining first-team All-American JuJu Watkins and the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class at USC next season, the Trojans look to transition from an up-and-coming squad to a legitimate title contender. 

Former Oregon State graduate student von Oelhoffen is the latest collegiate talent to commit to the program, announcing her transfer Monday via ESPN. She follows ex-Stanford leading-scorer Iriafen in the jump to the pair’s one-time Pac-12 rival.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

The 5-foot-11 Washington native was a two-time All-Pac-12 guard during her time at Oregon State. But after the recent dissolution of the Pac-12, the Corvallis side found themselves without a permanent home conference going forward. Many big name players opted to take their skill elsewhere as a result, with von Oelhoffen’s fellow ex-Beaver Raegan Beers announcing her own departure to Oklahoma on Monday.

According to DraftKings, USC is now tied with UConn for the second-best betting odds to win the 2025 NCAA women’s tournament. Dawn Staley’s tested South Carolina side, poised for a repeat performance, holds down the number one spot.

Last year, LSU loaded up in the transfer portal after beating Iowa to win the 2023 national championship. The Tigers were clear favorites coming into the 2023-24 season, but were bounced in the Elite Eight by Caitlin Clark’s Hawkeyes. Shortly thereafter, star transfer Hailey Van Lith opted to transfer a second time, this time signing with TCU. 

Yet while history proves that an excess of star power doesn’t always translate to on-court chemistry, on paper, USC sure looks ready to hold their own — in 2025 and beyond.

The United States and Mexico have withdrawn their joint bid to host the 2027 Women’s World Cup, per a Monday afternoon release from U.S. Soccer and the Mexican Football Federation.

According to the statement, they will instead focus on developing a "more equitable" bid for the 2031 tournament, with the ultimate goal of "eliminating investment disparities" between the men’s and women’s tournaments.

The federations went on to cite the upcoming 2026 Men’s World Cup in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico as an opportunity to build support for local infrastructure, improve audience engagement, and scale up media and partnership deals in preparation to "host a record-breaking tournament in 2031."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Just Women’s Sports (@justwomenssports)

"Hosting a World Cup tournament is a huge undertaking — and having additional time to prepare allows us to maximize its impact across the globe," said U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. "Shifting our bid will enable us to host a record-breaking Women’s World Cup in 2031 that will help to grow and raise the level of the women’s game both here at home as well as across the globe."

The decision leaves just Brazil and a joint bid from Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands in the running for the 2027 host spot. Brazil — the rumored frontrunner — has never hosted a Women’s World Cup, while Germany hosted the 2011 tournament as a solo venture. 

Furthermore, this postponement doesn’t mean the U.S. is a shoo-in for 2031, as it's been previously reported that 2022 UEFA Women's EURO host England is considering their own Women's World Cup bid. FIFA is scheduled to confirm the winning bid after the FIFA Congress votes on May 17th.