It felt as though sporting history was being made everywhere you looked this past weekend.
On Sunday, we saw the fastest marathon ever run by a woman, while a hometown hero helped to equalize a 50-year record in the MLB playoffs. That’s not to mention a WNBA Finals record being broken for good measure.
Here are five athletes who shone this past weekend.
Ruth Chepngetich
Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich became the first woman in history to finish a marathon in under two hours and 10 minutes on Sunday.
Chepngetich’s time of 2:09:56 smashed the previous record by almost two minutes as she stormed to victory in the Chicago Marathon.
The previous record of 2:11:53 was set by Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa at last year’s Berlin Marathon, and Chepngetich’s performance was almost five minutes quicker than Paula Radcliffe’s 2003 record of 2:09:56, which stood for almost 16 years.
History would not stand in the Kenyan’s way in the Windy City as she asserted her dominance on the race.
She finished eight minutes clear of Ethiopia’s Suteme Kedebe in second place and broke her own personal best by almost five minutes.
The Kenyan strode past the finish line to great applause and immediately dedicated the victory to compatriot Kelvin Kiptum, who set the men’s world record of 2:00:35 in the same race exactly a year ago before tragically dying in a car accident in February.
This was Chepngetich’s third win at the Chicago Marathon.
Breanna Stewart
Breanna Stewart showed exactly why she’s a two-time WNBA MVP as she led the New York Liberty to a series tying Game 2 victory over the Minnesota Lynx.
Stewart led all scorers with 21 points, grabbing eight rebounds and nabbing seven steals – a record for a WNBA Finals game.
The Liberty beat the Lynx 80-66, recovering from a shock Game 1 defeat as they look to secure the franchise’s first ever title.
New York built up a comfortable lead in the first half, but just like in Game 1, Minnesota steadily chipped away and, at one point, got the deficit down to just four points.
That’s when Stewart stepped in, scoring four points and getting a huge block at the end of the third quarter to quash the Lynx’s comeback hopes.
In front of a sellout crowd of 18,040 – the largest ever for a Liberty game at Barclays Center – Stewart was the biggest influence on the court.
She scored from both inside the paint and beyond the arc, and her elite defensive presence held the Lynx to under 70 points for first the time in these playoffs.
Game 3 of the WNBA Finals is in Minnesota on Wednesday, with the best of five series evenly poised at 1-1.
Jack Flaherty
In Game 1 of the NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, Jack Flaherty put on what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described as a “pitching clinic” as he helped make postseason history for the Dodgers.
Mets batters simply couldn’t get near Flaherty’s throws. He retired his first nine batters, extending the Dodgers’ streak of consecutive hitters retired to 28, and only allowed three hits, the first coming in the fifth inning.
His performance, combined with the other Dodgers pitchers, tied the all-time MLB postseason record of 33 consecutive scoreless innings in the 9-0 dismantling of the Mets.
Flaherty is a childhood Dodgers fan born and raised in nearby Burbank, California, and has happy memories of going to games with his family as a child.
No doubt it would have been a dream come true to leave to a standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 53,503 at Dodger Stadium.
The Dodgers’ 33 consecutive scoreless innings go all the way back to the third inning of Game 3 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres. The mark ties the record set by the 1966 Baltimore Orioles, who shut out the Dodgers themselves in the first three games of the World Series that year.
Derrick Henry
In a tightly contested game between two of the standout teams in the NFL this year, one man made a huge impact: Derrick Henry.
Henry scored from close range for his eighth and ninth touchdowns of the season, alongside 132 rushing yards off 24 carries, as the Ravens were able to get past stand-out rookie Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders, 30-23.
In doing so, he became the first player to rush for a touchdown in each of his first six games since Pro Football Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson in 2005.
The running back leads the league with 704 rushing yards, nine touchdowns and has the second most yards per carry in the NFL to boot. In fact, he is so dominant that the second highest rushing leader, Jordan Mason, is a full 95 yards behind him.
The former Tennessee Titan continues to reinforce the AFC North team’s Super Bowl credentials. Alongside reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and wide receiver Zay Flowers – who also recorded a career-high 132 receiving yards in the win over Washington – the Ravens have one of the most intimidating offenses in all of football.
Baltimore improved to 4-2, winning its fourth in a row after losing its two opening games.
Khadija Shaw
Khadija “Bunny” Shaw scored twice for Manchester City as the team came from behind to beat Liverpool at Anfield and return to the top of England’s Women’s Super League.
The Jamaica striker was a constant threat and equalized with a header in the second half after Olivia Smith’s opener before the break. With only minutes left on the clock, Shaw struck the post, and it looked as if the three points would elude City.
However, she was not to be denied; the striker was slipped through on goal in the second minute of added time and did well to hold off her defender before firing emphatically into the top corner.
Shaw’s brace ensured that City remains unbeaten and builds on an impressive victory over Barcelona Femení in the UEFA Women’s Champions League last Wednesday.