BUDAPEST-- Italy's Olympic champion and showman Gianmarco Tamberi captured the world high jump title on Tuesday, in a dramatic finish against young American JuVaughn Harrison.

SYDNEY-- Spain defeated England 1-0 in the Women's World Cup final on Sunday, capping off a tournament that has broken attendance and TV records and raised hopes of a surge in interest for the women's game. Co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand, the ninth edition of the global showpiece event was the first to be held in the southern hemisphere. While local interest ebbed when Australia exited in the semi-finals, just shy of two million fans will have passed through the gates in nine host cities after Sunday's final crowd of 75,784 is added to the tally. An Olga Carmona goal was the difference between the two sides in a pulsating game that saw Spain create the majority of the clear-cut chances. "We suffered, it was a difficult match (but) we always thought we were going to make it," Carmona, who was also named player of the match, told Spanish state broadcaster TVE. La Roja were rocked by a locker room dispute between the squad and coach Jorge Vilda and the Spanish football federation, with some of their best players absent from the tournament as a result. But despite a shock 4-0 loss to Japan in the group stage, the team has shone throughout the tournament with their brand of attractive, attacking football. "I can't imagine how much excitement there will be in Spain," Vilda told TVE. "We are going to celebrate here and we don’t know when it will end." Festival Atmosphere Thousands of fans milled around Stadium Australia in Sydney hours before kick-off on Sunday, with troupes of drummers and stilt walkers creating a festival atmosphere. England and Spain were both making their first appearance at a Women's World Cup final, while England's wait for a first trophy since the men's tournament in 1966 goes on. Women were banned from official facilities in England, the home of the game, until 1970 and have long lagged the men's team in interest and funding, although that began to change after the Lionesses won the European Championship last year. England captain Millie Bright told reporters after the final whistle she was proud of the progress the women's game had made. "Credit to the tournament, it's been phenomenal, the crowds that we've generated and the support that all teams have and it's been surreal, it's been so visible," she said. "In terms of the women's game ... I definitely think we're at our peak." Matilda Mania Australia's semi-final loss to England on Wednesday drew an average of 7.13 million viewers on the channels of local broadcaster Seven Network, the highest viewership ever recorded by research firm OzTAM, which launched in 2001. Matildas matches sold out months in advance, and organisers expect the average attendance to exceed 30,000. The last Women's World Cup in France four years ago attracted more than 1.1 million fans to 52 matches with an average crowd of 21,756. Demand was weaker in New Zealand, whose team went out in the group stages. FIFA gave away thousands of tickets and some games attracted as few as 7,000 fans, although Football Ferns matches broke records for a soccer crowd in the country. Funding Gap Australia's players, who lost 2-0 in a third-place playoff match to Sweden on Saturday, will earn $165,000 each in prize money for this tournament, more than 300 times the A$750 ($480) they received for a quarter-final appearance in 2015. But at the grassroots level, the sport needs more resources, Matildas striker Sam Kerr said after the loss to England on Wednesday. "We need funding in our development, we need funding in our grassroots," she said. "We need funding, you know, we need funding everywhere." The Matildas' World Cup campaign has led to calls for more support to women's soccer in Australia, where it lags more popular football codes like rugby league and Australian rules. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded on Saturday by promising A$200 million for women's sport in the wake of the Matildas' run to the semi-finals. Albanese said the money would be used to improve sports facilities for women and girls, with soccer tipped to receive "significant resourcing". The government also wants to ensure women's sporting events are available on free-to-air television, after criticism that most World Cup games not involving Australia were behind a paywall.

Grant Holloway of the U.S. in action in the Men's 110m Hurdles at the World Athletics Championship at National Athletics Centre, Budapest, Hungary.

 BUDAPEST-- American Grant Holloway raced to his third consecutive World Athletics Championships 110 metres hurdles gold medal in dominant fashion on Monday. The 25-year-old, who won in 2019 in Doha and last year in Eugene, led by the first hurdle and was in a virtual race of his own by the third, cruising to victory in a season's best 12.96 seconds.

 KANSAS CITY--Julio Rodriguez went 5-for-5 with a home run and five RBIs, leading the Seattle Mariners' come-from-behind win over the host Kansas City Royals 6-4 on Thursday afternoon. In the eighth inning, Rodriguez blasted reliever Carlos Hernandez's (1-8) first pitch 438 feet beyond the left-field bullpen for a three-run home run, his 20th, giving the Mariners a 5-4 lead. Rodriguez opened the scoring with a two-out RBI hit in the second inning, and also broke a 1-all tie with a sixth-inning double. His five hits set a career high and his five RBIs matched another career best. Rodriguez went 12-for-21 with 11 RBIs during the four games in Kansas City. Cal Raleigh's pinch-hit solo homer in the ninth capped the scoring as the Mariners took three of four games to win the series. Seattle has won 11 of 14. Kansas City's Nelson Velazquez tied the game with a two-out solo shot in the fourth, his high drive to center field barely clearing Rodriguez's leaping grasp. It was the fourth home run for Velazquez in his last six games, and it broke a string of 16 scoreless frames by Mariners starter George Kirby. Kirby allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings, striking out two. Isaiah Campbell (3-0) allowed one hit in an inning of relief, while Matt Brash earned his fourth save -- and second in two days -- with a perfect ninth. Kansas City took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth as five consecutive hitters reached safely. Michael Massey's RBI single tied the game 2-2 before MJ Melendez delivered an RBI double and Freddy Fermin added a sacrifice fly. Over four innings, Royals starter Angel Zerpa allowed a run on five hits, two walks and two hit batters, striking out six. The Mariners had multiple baserunners in five of the first six innings, but they left eight on base while batting 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position before Rodriguez's RBI double in the sixth. Maikel Garcia's hitting streak ended at 18 games, a club record for rookies, as the Royals have lost nine of 12.