The annual European U-19 championship finished this week in Sinsheim, Germany with France winning their third-ever title with a 4-0 victory over Italy. France had previously won in 2005 and 2010, and had won four other titles in earlier iterations of the tournament. Seven other nations participated, including Portugal (losers to France 1-3 in the semifinals), England (1-2 loss to Italy in the other semifinal), Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Croatia.
The World U20 Championships in athletics ended this week in Bydgoszcz, Poland with a familiar presence at the top of the overall medal table - the United States, with 21 total. That total far outclassed the field, with Ethiopia a distant second with ten and then Kenya in third with nine overall. In all 47 nations won at least one medal, including Jamaica's eight total, Qatar with three (including two gold), Barbados, British Virgin Islands, India with a gold in javelin, and Ecuador with a silver from Jhonatan Amores in the 10m walk, continuing a walk tradition for that nation.
U.S. Wins Tenth World Softball Title
Team USA won its tenth-ever title at the World Softball Championship this week, after a 7-3 win over Japan in the gold medal match. Japan was the two-time defending champion, but before that, the United States had won seven straight titles dating back to 1986. Host Canada (Surrey) won the bronze medal in a tournament featuring 31 (!) nations, including Uganda, Ecuador, Austria, Ireland, and Kenya in the opening round.
Great Britain's Chris Froome won his second-straight Tour de France, and his third-ever (his first was 2013). Coming into this year, he already had been the first Briton to win the Tour more than once; in fact, the only other British winner was Bradley Wiggins in 2012. The 103rd Tour featured 21 stages over 3,529km. Frenchman Romain Bardet finished second, just over 4minutes behind, followed by Colombian Nairo Quintana and Brit Adam Yates.