Euro 2017: Lionesses show how to raise the profile of women’s sport – be better than the men – Telegraph.co.uk

And it’s not just team sports riding the wave of success. In tennis, Johanna Konta went one better than Andy Murray at Wimbledon this year by reaching the semi-finals. Heather Watson was a losing finalist in the mixed doubles – and Jordanne Whiley won the wheelchair doubles title while 11 weeks pregnant.

London also played host to the World Para Athletic Championships this month, where women were again to the fore in the customary gold rush. Among them, Hannah Cockcroft took her tally or world titles to 10 and Georgina Hermitage smashed her own world record at 400m on the way to the top of the podium. And there is still time for it to get much, much better.

The World Athletic Championships begin in London on Friday, and all eyes will be on Scotland’s Laura Muir, who goes for gold at 1,500 metres and 5,000 metres after a tumultuous year in which she has set five British and two European records as well as winning two European indoor gold medals.