It is not just Smith who has invested in football since a young age. Her dad, Sean, was tracking her statistics to monitor her progress.

“That is his favourite thing in the world to do. When I was younger, he would literally film all my games,” said Smith.

“After games, we would go back and watch everything, see what I could have done better and what I did well.

“He kept a diary of the goals that I scored, what minute it was in and things like that. He still has it to this day. He loves it!”

Beyond football, Smith loves to cook and watch TV series – Law and Order: SVU is a current favourite – and she says she is “dying to get a puppy”.

The young forward has learned to become independent, having left home as a teenager in order to chase a professional career.

But it hasn’t been easy. When Smith moved to Michigan aged 15 on her own, she didn’t know where she would be living when she boarded the plane.

“Moving around a lot, you’re sacrificing relationships because you make good friends in one place, then you have to move,” said Smith.

“That makes it quite tough, especially when you’re young. I struggled a lot with that. I had to leave to get training elsewhere.

“It helped me get used to what was to come, so I think it was a very important sacrifice in my journey.

“I’m so grateful that I’ve been able to make so many connections in different places, so even though I’m away from home I feel like I have family.”

For the first time in her career, Smith is about to begin a second season at the same club having settled into life at Arsenal.

“When I stepped into the building for my second pre-season it just felt surreal. It feels like home. It feels like Arsenal’s the place that’s meant to be,” said Smith.

“It’s an honour to be here. I’m just super excited to see where it takes me. I’ve always wanted to be somewhere for more than a year; I’ve moved around so much.

“I also knew there was so much more for me and I wanted to be the best that I could be. All those moves led me here.”

Smith’s ambitions have not changed.

At the age of six or seven, she wrote down in a journal what she wanted to achieve.

“I had a journal with everything in it that I wanted to accomplish and what I wanted to do: I want to win the Ballon d’Or. I want to win the World Cup,” she added.

“That’s still the case today. I want to win trophies with [Arsenal]. I’ve had this mentality since I was young. It is what has driven me this far.”

Need help with today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle? You’ve come to the right place.

Welcome to Connections: Sports Edition Coach — a spot to gather clues and discuss (and share) scores.

A quick public service announcement before we continue: The bottom of this article includes the answers — and hints — for the four categories. So if you want to solve the board hint-free, we recommend you play before continuing.

You can access today’s game here. And when you’re done, try out our limited-edition Connections: Soccer Edition for an extra challenge.

Today’s difficulty

Game No. 702’s difficulty: 2.5 out of 5

Connections: Sports Edition hints for Aug. 26, 2026

Scroll below for one answer in each of the four categories.

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Yellow: ACHILLES’ HEEL

Green: IL LOMBARDIA

Blue: AUSTIN

Purple: COLT MCCOY

Connections: Sports Edition answers for Aug. 26, 2026

Scroll below for the full answers to each of the four categories.

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Yellow

Vulnerable spot: ACHILLES’ HEEL, DEFECT, FLAW, WEAKNESS

Green

Famous cycling races: GIRO D’ITALIA, IL LOMBARDIA, TOUR DE FRANCE, VUELTA A ESPAÑA

Blue

Associated with the University of Texas: AUSTIN, BEVO, BURNT ORANGE, HOOK ‘EM

Purple

Starts with an NFL team, in singular form: COLT MCCOY, LIONEL MESSI, RAMBLERS, SAINT JOSEPH’S

What is Connections: Sports Edition?

Connections: Sports Edition is The Athletic’s first-ever game, a daily puzzle designed for players to find connections between 16 words on the game board.

The game’s objective is to group words or objects into four groups of four based on commonalities within each group as quickly as possible. Find the groups without making four mistakes. Each puzzle has exactly one solution, so watch out for words or items that seem to belong to multiple categories!

Category examples:
Sports ____ : Fan, Car, Bar, Radio
U.S. Summer Olympians: Biles, Phelps, Ledecky, Lyles

Each category group is assigned a color, revealed as you solve, ranging from straightforward (yellow) to medium (green) to challenging (blue) to tricky (purple).

Who creates the puzzles for Connections: Sports Edition?

That’s me! My name is Mark Cooper, and I create Connections: Sports Edition and work as a managing editor for college sports here at The Athletic. I was previously The Athletic’s managing editor for breaking news.

The next puzzle will be available at midnight in your time zone. Thanks for playing — and share your scores in the comments!