Sports Ladder (11th - 17th August)

UP - Jo Pavey - Just under a year ago, Jo Pavey was giving birth to her second child. Now, at the age of 40, she is the European Champion over the distance of 10,000m. Jo has been around for years but made us remember her at the Commonwealth Games with a spirited final lap to get a bronze. However, at the Europeans she was even better, sprinting down the home straight to win her first major competition gold medal. Amazingly the word on the street is that Pavey has no thoughts on retiring. An inspiration to mums everywhere.

UP - British Sprinters - A huge congrats to the entire GB squad for their record medal haul but in particular it was the sprinters who shone in Zurich. Adam Gemili and James Dasaolu stormed to victory in the 200m and 100m respectively whilst there was also success for both the mens and womens 4 x 100m teams on the final evening. We did successfully gain a medal in every 100/200m race as Ashleigh Nelson got bronze in the 100m and Jodie Williams claimed a silver in the 200m. Things looking very bright on the track.

UP - Kell Brook - Kell Brook became the most recent Brit to claim a boxing title after winning his fight with Shawn Porter, ending with a narrow points victory. The 28-year-old took his unbeaten run to 33 matches as he became the IBF Welterweight Champion. The victory now firmly tosses Brook in the fray to fight Amir Khan, a highly anticipated bout should Khan fail to land his dream fight against either Mayweather or Pacquiao. Froch v Groves was a great all British affair and I certainly wouldn't object to another one.

UP - Mo Farah - Come on Mo, it's getting boring now. When you see Mo Farah lined up and looking focused on the start line, you just know there can only be one outcome. Once again he has proved his undoubted class, claiming both the 5,000 and 10,000m gold medals at the European Championships this year to become the most decorated non-relay athlete ever in the Championships. This is great and all, but the race we all want to see is still Farah vs Bolt!

UP - Padraig Harrington - Okay so it was largely a mixed week for Padraig Harrington. He may have lost his PGA Tour card after his ninth missed cut this year. Redemption emerged though with a video of his longest drive attempt in the competition at Valhalla the week before as he did what everyone has always wanted to do - a 'Happy Gilmore'. He may have hooked it well left but will still go down as a legend for this brilliant attempt. Hats off to you Padraig! Now focus on your actual golf.

DOWN - Stuart Broad - Like Harrington, Broad had a mixed week. He may have been one of the star men in the fifth and final test against India which England won by well over an innings. However, he unfortunately did it all looking like he had been on a month long binge. A broken nose from the fourth test meant that Broad had intense bruising around both eyes as well as a rather ugly looking nose. He won't care though after the way they battered India in the end.

DOWN - Dani Pedrosa - No one likes a spoil sport but Dani Pedrosa really became party pooper this week when he won the Czech Grand Prix, ending the ten race winning streak of Marc Marquez. The Moto GP title has been wrapped up for a while with Marquez's winning streak so all eyes were on how many records the young Spaniard could break. But alas his teammate Pedrosa drove in to steal the show and to stop the consecutive victories. We'll ignore the fact that Marquez ended up coming fourth, so wasn't challenging anyway.

DOWN - Brandao - What kind of top class idiot headbutts someone in the tunnel after the very first game of the season? Well the answer to that question is the Bastia striker, Brandao. A video emerged from the tunnel after the game where Brandao appears to wait specifically for PSG's Thiago Motta before going 'full-Pardew' and headbutting him. Motta chased Brandao before being broken up with a lot of blood flowing from his nose. Brandao is going to become Bannedao once the French FA deal with him.[Video below]

DOWN - Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad - A commentators nightmare no doubt but the Frenchman had an absolute mare this week after being disqualified from the 3000m steeplechase for opting to run the home straight topless. It would have been a brilliant third steeplechase world title but was instead cruelly taken away after the grumpy Spanish decided they didn't like his antics. He made up for it though a few days later though when he won the 1500m final so it wasn't a completely terrible week.

DOWN - Crystal Palace - Last week Mark Robins dropped down the Sports Ladder for leaving Huddersfield after just one match of the new season. Tony Pulis decided he fancied topping that by leaving two days before the season even started. Pulis had cemented himself as a cult hero after guiding Palace to an incredible 11th in the League since joining in November but clearly something went wrong behind the scenes as he has gone, leaving one great relegation-threatened mess.