Happy Friday sports fans,

This weekend is packed yet again. National titles, playoff openers, international showdowns, and a historic run through Boston...what more could you ask for? Here's what to watch, and as always, what to root for. Here’s a glimpse of what’s in store…

🤸‍♀️ Bridesmaid. Backpacker. Beam Champion.

🏀 Grudges, Legends, and Breakout Stars

⚽️ The English Are Coming (Maybe)

🏒 USA & Canada on a Collision Course

🦄 Marathon Monday Magic…and History?

Let’s get into it…

🤸‍♀️ From Bridesmaid to Beam

In college sports, we have the Final Four and—as discussed last weekend—the Frozen Four (did you catch that incredible championship game?). This weekend, it’s all about Four on the Floor, the gymnastics National Championships.

The finals will feature Oklahoma, Utah, UCLA, and Missouri. Notably, No. 1 LSU (the reigning champs!) was knocked off in the semis.

But the person we’ll be watching closely is Missouri’s Helen Hu, who earned an individual national title on the beam last night. She led Mizzou to its first ever berth in the team National Championships. And her journey to this place? Well, it’s taken her all around the world.

Allow me to explain: Faced with consistent back pain, Hu graduated last year and set off on an 11-month backpacking trip with her sister. She went to Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Colombia, Italy, and more, assuming her career was over. But she returned to Missouri’s campus to be a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding and while there, stopped by the gym. She hadn’t stepped foot on a beam in 15 months. "I hopped on and was like, 'Hey, I still have an aerial,'" Hu told ESPN. "And then I thought, 'Let me see if I can do two in a row.' And I did it." 

Her coach reminded her that she had a year of eligibility remaining. Hu thought he was joking. He wasn’t.

Now she’s an individual national champion. Can she lead her team to a championship too?

🚩 Root for: The best comeback story in sports.

📺 NCAA Women’s Gymnastics National Championship, Saturday, 4 p.m. ET, ESPN

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🏀 The NBA Playoffs Tip Off, Full of Storylines

The NBA playoffs tip-off tomorrow, and we can’t wait to get started. The first round is an absolute feast of storylines. Here are some favorites:

• 🚀 Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets: The dynasty vs. the young guns. Everyone knows Golden State, looking for their 5^th title of the decade. But Houston, led by Amen Thompson, has become the most fun team in the league to watch. This could be their national coming out party.
  

• 🦌 Indiana Pacers vs. Milwaukee Bucks: They met in the first round last year, and Indy won in 6. But the Bucks are getting star scorer Damian Lillard back, who was dealing with blood clots. He hasn’t played in a month.
  

• ⚓ Denver Nuggets vs. Los Angeles Clippers: Rewind to 2020 (I shudder at the thought) and The Bubble, when the Clippers were ascendant and looking like favorites for their first-ever title. Then in the Western Conference semifinals, Denver and Nikola Jokic took a leap, sending the Clips packing in 7. They face again, and this time, the Clips are surging, and the Nuggets need to stabilize the ship after firing coach Mike Malone in the final week of the regular season. A win for Denver, though, would vault Jokic even higher on the list of all-time greats.

🚩 Root for: Old grudges, new stars, and legacies on the line.

📺 Check out the full NBA Playoff schedule here.

🇬🇧 A New Queen?

The first legs of the UEFA Women’s Champions League are this weekend, featuring Arsenal vs. Lyon and Barcelona vs. Chelsea. These games feature a great encapsulation of how the power center of women’s soccer is changing, especially in Europe: while the English Premier League dominates the men’s sport, they haven’t had the same grip on the women’s game. At least not yet. Only one English side has ever won the tournament (Arsenal in 2007), and there’s never been a final featuring two English teams.

🚩 Root for: A new power center of the women’s game.

📺 Arsenal vs. Lyon, Saturday, 7:30 a.m. ET; Barcelona vs. Chelsea, noon ET; both games on TNT

🌐 Global Bragging Rights at Stake

Elsewhere in Europe, the Women’s Hockey World Championships are well underway in Czechia. The semifinals are set for Saturday, with Team USA facing the hosts Czechia, and Canada playing Finland. Here’s a look at the teams still in the running for international hockey’s second most prestigious title (after the Olympics).

• 🇺🇸 Team USA is led by captain Hilary Knight, who broke the all-time assist record earlier this week. They lost the gold medal game last year on home ice to Canada in a 6-5 OT thriller and are out for revenge.
  

• 🇨🇿 The Czechs are in the midst of what’s been called the “golden age” of their women’s hockey team. They’ve made the bronze medal game in three of the last world championships, and now as hosts, they want even more—and they have momentum, crushing Switzerland 7-0 in the quarterfinals.
  

• 🇫🇮 The Finns had a scare when star defender Ronja Savolainen had to leave the ice with an injury in the quarterfinals. Savolainen is so dominant that even as a defender, she leads the team in scoring. She’s expected to be healthy against Canada.
  

• 🇨🇦 Canada, who won last go-round and have a record 13 titles to their name, are looking for even more. The best thing to watch, though? Marie-Philip Poulin is one point shy of breaking Hayley Wickenheiser’s all-time Team Canada scoring record.

🚩 Root for: A Team USA-Team Canada showdown in the championship. What could be better than that?

📺 Finland vs. Canada, Saturday, 9 a.m. ET; USA vs. Czechia, Saturday, 1 p.m. ET; Championship, Sunday 1 p.m. ET; All games on NHL Network

🦄 The Marathon That’s Also a Local Holiday

For many, this is a long weekend, which means the sports extend to Monday too! It’s Patriots Day in Boston, which means it’s time for the 129^th Boston Marathon. Schools will be closed, the Red Sox will play at 11:05 a.m., and this year, Kenya’s Hellen Obiri is attempting to win the race for the third straight year. She would be the first woman to three-peat since 1999.

🚩 Root for: Historic individual dominance

📰 For Religion of Sports, I was able to speak with Kathrine Switzer, the legendary runner who became the first woman to ever compete in the Boston Marathon in 1967. Read the Q&A here.

🗓️ Coming Tuesday:
One remarkable story you may have missed from the wide world of sports.

📬 Got a story?
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