Sofia Jakobsson has had a busy summer.

Twelve days after completing an Olympic silver-medal run with the Swedish national team, Jakobsson finds herself thousands of miles from Tokyo. She’s in Louisville preparing for The Women’s Cup, her first competition with new club team FC Bayern Munich.

“During the Olympics, it felt like I would go back to Madrid, but I actually knew I would come here,” Jakobsson told Just Women’s Sports on Tuesday. The Swedish striker signed with Bayern Munich in July after two years with Real Madrid.

Welcome to the FC Bayern family, @JakobssonSofia! 🔴⚪

The Sweden international joins @FCBfrauen from Real Madrid. ✍️#MiaSanFamily

— 🇺🇸 FC Bayern US 🇨🇦 (@FCBayernUS) July 2, 2021

Jakobsson says it took her until “some days after” a whirlwind Olympics to remember she’d be playing with a new club team.

The star forward helped lead Sweden to the gold-medal match in Tokyo, trouncing the United States 3-0 on the way to the podium. The Swedes’ bid for gold was ultimately halted by Canada, who beat Sweden on penalty kicks in the Olympic final.

“It’s obviously still a little bit disappointing,” said Jakobsson, adding that she felt Sweden was “the better team.”

“It still stings a little bit, like a lost gold medal and not a silver medal won, but I hope in the future that it will feel great and I can be proud of the great tournament we did together.”

With the Games now behind her, the 31-year-old is ready to turn her focus to the club season, which begins later this month.

“I know the German league is really tough and every game will be super tough,” she said, adding that she expects the Frauen-Bundesliga will be more competitive than the Spanish league. “Trainings will be more intense and I will keep up my level and even progress even more.”

Before Jakobsson can settle into the German league and in with Bayern, she and the squad will first compete in the inaugural Women’s Cup, a Louisville-hosted tournament that includes two European teams (FC Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain) and two NWSL teams (Racing Louisville and the Chicago Red Stars).

Bayern Munich comes to Louisville after a successful 2020-21 season in which they made a run in the Champions League before falling to Chelsea in a hard-fought semifinal. PSG comes to The Women’s Cup after squashing Lyon’s 14-year reign atop France’s Division 1 Féminine, winning the 2021 title for the first time in club history.

Racing Louisville and the Red Stars, meanwhile, have had impressive seasons in the NWSL. The hosts have posted an impressive four wins and three draws in their debut season in the league. International talents like Ebony Salmon and Nadia Nadim have energized the upstart team. And Chicago, after a mid-season three-game winning streak, sits fifth in the NWSL standings, with a playoff spot well within reach.

Even in its first year, Jakobsson, 31, says there are already “big eyes on the tournament.”

“I think really this can help women’s soccer to grow and the teams to get more followers from U.S. and vice versa,” she said.

Bayern’s Women’s Cup matchup against PSG is a game Jakobsson thinks could preview a potential Champions League collision.

“It will be a really exciting game I hopefully play, or even to be on the sidelines to see both teams compete,” she said.

The European teams will meet Wednesday at 5 p.m. ET, streaming on Paramount+, while the NWSL teams will follow at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The NWSL is expanding its footprint across ESPN, with the broadcaster signing on to carry 16 additional regular-season games in both the 2026 and 2027 seasons, upping the platform's total to 33 matches per year.

ESPN will also introduce a season-long "Match of the Week" centerpiece series, as well as live coverage of NWSL Decision Day, when eight concurrent matches will close out the season on the same day. 

"The NWSL showcases some of the best athletes in the world," ESPN EVP of programming and acquisitions Rosalyn Durant said in a press release. "We are proud to increase our commitment on ABC and ESPN, and to further elevate women's sports and the athlete stories."

This media rights extension builds on the league's ongoing blockbuster four-year, $240 million TV deal with ESPN, adding inventory for the final two seasons of the November 2023 agreement.

The deal expansion comes in light of the league's significant growth this season, with the NWSL seeing gains across both attendance and viewership, including a 72% year-over-year ratings rise on ESPN.

"This supplemental agreement underscores the growing demand for women's soccer and ensures our players and clubs receive the visibility they deserve on some of the most prominent sports platforms," said NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman in a statement.

The 2025 WNBA season is over for Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, but the 23-year-old star is still making headlines, with Reebok set to drop her signature Angel Reese 1 sneakers on Thursday.

The Angel Reese 1 is a cornerstone of Reebok's re-entry into the basketball market, with the sportswear giant engineering the signature shoe for on-court performance by including features like responsive cushioning and added upper support.

Inspired by the brand's classic Mobius line, the shoes will hit the shelves in three colorways — an iridescent white "Diamond Dust," a bold pink "Mebounds," and a black and white "Receipts Ready" — with Reese's personal logo incorporated into the design.

Reese first signed with Reebok as an NIL athlete at LSU in 2023, a little over six months after winning the NCAA championship with the Tigers.

This week's rollout follows the July sneak peek of the signature sneakers worn by Reese on the cover of NBA 2K26's WNBA Edition.

"This isn't just a shoe, it's my style, my story, and my stamp on the game," Reese said in Reebok's press release. "I wanted to design a basketball shoe that elevates performance, innovation, style, and creative expression, all at once."

"Reebok and I built something that's true to who I am, and I hope it pushes others to stand in their power too."

How to buy the Angel Reese 1 Reebok sneakers

All three colorways of the Angel Reese 1 sneakers will be available for a retail price of $120 beginning at 10 AM ET on Thursday at Reebok.com as well as in select stores.

No. 5 New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart isn't letting Sunday's left knee knock take her off the 2025 WNBA Playoffs court, with the forward planning to compete in Game 2 against the No. 4 Phoenix Mercury on Wednesday night.

An emotional Stewart finished Game 1 on the bench, going down with a knee injury in overtime of the Liberty's 76-69 upset win over the Mercury on Sunday.

"What I felt in that moment scared me more than anything," Stewart told reporters on Wednesday morning.

A Monday MRI revealed a sprained MCL, and though the two-time WNBA MVP did not practice on Tuesday, she participated in the team's Wednesday shootaround and said her pain had diminished to a three out of 10.

"[As long as] I don't wake up from my nap and feel like s—t," said Stewart, "I'm willing to take that [chance of re-injury] because I want to be out with my team, and they told me that structurally everything looks OK."

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Even when the game-day status for Stewart was still unknown, New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello promised that the defending champions would give their star "as much time as we can."

"We know what's at stake," Brondello told reporters on Tuesday. "We don't want to go back to Phoenix [for Game 3], but they're going to come in hungry."

Stewart echoed that sentiment on Wednesday morning, saying "We want to finish it here. Not having to go back to Phoenix is our main priority."

How to watch the Phoenix Mercury vs. New York Liberty in Game 2

No. 5 New York will look to oust No. 4 Phoenix from the 2025 WNBA Playoffs with a first-round sweep on Wednesday night, when the Liberty host the Mercury for Game 2 at 8 PM ET.

The matchup will air live on ESPN.

Star sprinter Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is reaching new heights, setting a new US record for the 400-meter race in the event's Tuesday semifinals at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.

The four-time Olympic gold medalist finished the flat event in 48.29 seconds, shaving more than 0.40 seconds off the previous US record of 48.70 seconds set by track legend Sanya Richards-Ross in 2006.

Both her personal best and the fastest time in the world for that event this year, McLaughlin-Levrone's performance also makes her the seventh-fastest woman of all time in the 400-meter dash — elevating expectations that she could challenge the long-standing world record of 47.60 seconds, set by then-East German sprinter Marita Koch in 1985.

Known for her dominance in the 400-meter hurdles, the 26-year-old made the decision to focus on the flat 400-meter event ahead of this year's competition. 

"I definitely wasn't expecting that time," she said afterwards. "It just shows the fitness is there. I'm excited for the finals and grateful to have taken down a record by an amazing woman."

How to watch McLaughlin-Levrone in the 400-meter final

McLaughlin-Levrone will take aim at the 2025 World Athletics Championships' 400-meter podium — and, perhaps, another record time — during the event's final on Thursday.

The US star will race against 2024 Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino and silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser when the final begins at 9:24 AM ET.

Live coverage will air on USA Network.