Category Archives: Olympics

Serena Williams is the first name that comes to mind when we speak of womens tennis. The American has ruled modern-day tennis and has won 23 Grand Slam titles. The 40-year-old has also done well in doubles. Pairing up with her sister Venus Williams, she has won 14 Major titles.

In tennis, winning a Grand Slam is the topmost achievement for any player. However, a gold medal in the Olympic games holds a special value of its own.

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Back in 2012, Serena Williams had already won two gold medals, playing doubles with her sister. She later revealed that it was her childhood dream.

In 2012, Serena had two tennis doubles gold medals to her name. While many consider it easier to win in doubles, Serena strongly opposed it.Gold is gold,shesaid. Further, the former world number one revealed that she always wanted to win a gold medal in Olympics. However, she dreamt of it as a gymnast.

Dont laugh but I wanted to be a gymnast because of the Olympics. Obviously, that didnt work out, and it worked out in another sport. But the Olympics inspired me to be a part of sports and to watch sports and to do things,she added.

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VIDEO: Fans Get Treat of a Lifetime as Venus and Serena Williams Hit Hard inWashington DC

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Today Serena has three womens doubles Olympic gold medals and one in singles.

Serena Williams will be back in action in the Canadian Open. The Toronto-based tournament will be her first after a disappointing first-round exit in Wimbledon Championships. To prepare for the US Open, the 40-year-old will start her campaign against a qualifier in the first round.

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However, the next-round opponent for Serena will be either Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic or former world number 1 Victoria Azarenka.

Watch this story:Serena Williams effortless game floored Naomi Osaka as she talked about her greatness

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Current world number 1Iga Swiatekand former US Open championNaomi Osakaalso feature in her quarter of the draw. Serena is entering the tournament unseeded this time. Although she has won it thrice and made it to the finals in 2019.

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I Wanted to Be a Gymnast Serena Williams Once Revealed Bizarre Career Dream as She Was Obsessed With Winning an Olympic Gold - EssentiallySports

Leah Hayes is something special - in and out of the water.

Theres no doubt the Kaneland High School junior has made a big splash as a world-class athlete: In 2018 the swimming phenom was named SportsKid of the Year by Sports Illustrated. And earlier this summer she set four world records for those 18 and under at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest.

Pretty neat to have your own Wikipedia page at age 16.

But after sitting down with her last week at the Fox Valley Park Districts Vaughan Center in Aurora, where she trains with Coach Nancy Hooper, it quickly became clear Leahs physical talents are only one part in the narrative of this extraordinary teen, who not only overcame a devastating medical diagnosis, but lists as one of her three main goals other than bringing home Olympic medals giving back to community.

Kaneland High School junior Leah Hayes, who is competing on the world stage in swimming, stretches out before a recent practice at the Fox Valley Park District's Vaughan Center in Aurora. (Denise Crosby / The Beacon-News)

After starting to lose clumps of hair at age 5, Leah was eventually diagnosed with the rarest form of alopecia, an autoimmune disease that attacks only hair follicles and results in total loss of hair.

So you can imagine the impact this had on a little girl and her parents, Jill and Tim Hayes of Sugar Grove.

But also imagine the striking figure this bald and beautiful champion presents at state, national and world swimming competitions.

At 5 feet 7 inches tall, with porcelain skin, high cheekbones, broad muscular shoulders and equally powerful legs that help propel her through the water with dolphin-like majesty, Leah Hayes cant help but stand out.

But what also makes her so unique is how shes learned to stand up.

Up until fourth grade, Leah wore wigs, and hated every minute of the way they made her feel and the effort she had to go through to cover her baldness. Thats when she decided she was no longer going to hide who she was.

With the support of her parents and the staff at McDole Elementary School in Montgomery, the terrified 9-year-old stood in front of more than 100 classmates following a Veterans Day assembly and explained her condition, welcoming questions and the overwhelmingly positive response she received.

Then Leah went into the bathroom, happily removed her wig she did not want to do it at the assembly because of its shock value and never put it back on again.

Leah Hayes of Sugar Grove competes in the women's 200-meter medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on June 19. (Petr David Josek / AP)

Leah doesnt even like wearing hats, anything that covers her head, said mom Jill, who describes her daughter as an old soul who had to grow up sooner because of alopecia, and was always in tune to things more aware of others and what they were thinking.

Although she herself was a college swimmer, Hayes said she never pushed her daughter toward the sport. Leah tried plenty of other activities, including cheer, ballet, soccer and softball. Then, while taking part in a small fun local meet at age 8, she met Nancy Hooper, who at that time was working with a young club at a small pool.

The coach quickly noticed Leahs strong unique way of catching the water, not to mention her passion for the sport, and asked where she trained.

Nowhere. She just takes swimming lessons, Jill Hayes said, to which the coach, a former record-holder herself, replied, She needs to come and work with me.

It turned out to be a match made in heaven, which since September of 2017, happens to be the Vaughan Center. Thats when Hooper was recruited as the first - and only - coach of the park districts new Riptides swimming club.

For a couple of hours, six days a week, Leah works out in the pool there, sometimes sharing the water in the morning with the adult lap-swimmers getting in their before-work exercises. But with her eyes squarely set on the Summer Olympics in Paris in 2024, theres no doubt training will become more intense.

When Leah tried out in the COVID-delayed 2021 trials, she was not in peak condition because of the pandemic, but since then has shaved an incredible four seconds off her time in events that include her favorites, the 200- and 400-meter individual medleys.

Nancy helped me enhance my technique and made me a stronger swimmer, said Leah, who responds to questions with an articulate and confident poise far beyond her years. Even more impressive, she exudes genuine humbleness.

She saw something in me, the teen insisted of her coach. I know if Id not fallen into her hands I would not be where I am today.

Which happens to be a world stage.

After a major growth spurt, Leah splashed onto the national swimming scene at age 10 when she broke six national age group records in a span of two weeks, which was pretty much unheard of, said Hooper.

Since then, its been one success after another, including her first international medal in October of 2021 at the World Cup.

I like to win. I love competition, said the Kaneland kid, who no surprise, is an Honor Society student.

From left, silver medalist Kaylee McKeown of Australia, gold medalist Alex Walsh of Nashville, Tennessee, and bronze medalist Leah Hayes of Sugar Grove pose with their medals after competing in the women's 200-meter medley final at the World Aquatics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, on June 19. (Petr David Josek / AP)

Despite suffering a stress fracture in her foot in April, Leah Hayes still made the USA Worlds Team, which qualified her for the Budapest competition, where everybody who is anybody was competing, noted Leah. Big names included Alex Walsh, Katie Ledecky, Katie Grimes, Leah Smith, Claire Curzan, Regan Smith, Caleb Dressel, Kristof Milak and Illinois own Ryan Murphy.

Leah, who is currently part of the National Junior Team USA, will likely make the International Team to be named in September, said Hooper, noting that each International Team is chosen based on either a qualifying meet or current top times. As I mentioned earlier, the Kaneland teens goal is to not only get to the 2024 Olympics but bring home medals for her country, her state and for the Fox Valley Park District.

People are always surprised when they learn shes swimming with a park district, said Jill Hayes, referencing the high-caliber private or college-centered teams where most top swimmers train. And Hooper agreed that, hearing the phrase park district announced after Leahs name in international competition is indeed rare but a perfect fit for someone as down-to-earth who cares so much about community.

In addition to her athletic prowess, Leah possess a strong faith, which she developed in middle school, thanks to a group of close Christian friends. And, while competition takes her away from the classroom five or so times a year, the Kaneland junior still finds time to hang out with her peers, take part in extracurricular activities and cook some healthy meals for her family, which includes brother Carter, now in college.

Even with that busy schedule, Leah told me she wants to carve out some time to be a volunteer. Thats because, as she gets older, her desire to give back to the community only grows stronger.

As does her need to not only stand up but also speak up.

Leah, who has long defended anyone getting bullied, is beginning to more publicly advocate for being your authentic self, as she puts it, especially for those with alopecia, which does not get a lot of national publicity because its not life-threatening.

Yet as the Hayes family knows, it is certainly is life-altering.

I am fortunate. I have so much support from the Fox Valley Park District, from my family and my school, Leah told me. But there are those who dont have that and feel they still have to wear a wig.

She just rocks the bald truly stunning, said her proud mother. But its not until you get to interact with her that you see more beauty come through.

In or out of the water, agrees her coach, Leah is a natural leader who is there to support anyone, especially those who might be struggling.

Shes not afraid to speak out, to be there to defend others as well as herself for what she knows to be true, said Hooper.

Leah genuinely cares for others ... she really is special.

dcrosby@tribpub.com

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Column: With eye on the Olympics, Sugar Grove teen swimmer with alopecia inspires while making a big splash on world stage - Chicago Tribune

As sure as night follows day, the arrival of the Commonwealth Games every four years prompts its critics to belch forth the searing observation that it is not, in fact, the Olympics. The standard is just not as high, they cunningly point out, due to the lack of sporting giants like the USA and China.

Bravo to them, for they are correct, then, now and forever. Come the regional Victorian Games in 2026, they can be just as smug, safe in the knowledge that no Norwegian hurdlers or Iranian weightlifters will be robbing the host nation of gold medals that are rightfully ours to plunder.

Double world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber says the Commonwealth Games have been vital to her global success in javelin.Credit:Getty

Its a base-level take based on the relevance of the Games to the consumer, not the athletes or the sports they represent. The Aldi Olympics they may be in terms of wider appeal but the Commonwealth Games have been an invaluable breeding ground that continues to turn rising athletes into world and Olympic champions.

Sports federations dont look at the Commonwealth Games purely in terms of competitive output, although thats always the aim of the game. What they do offer is a pared-down Olympic experience, complete with all the trimmings that can be the undoing of some competitors when they finally land on the grand stage.

There is village life, in tiny beds, with shared dorms that have athletes coming and going at all hours of the day or night. There are late finishes, with early starts, punctuated by hours on buses or vans, some of which turn up on time, others which may take a scenic route to a venue or training facility.

There are media commitments, some of which take on a life of their own and turn their week inside-out (ask Kyle Chalmers), and dining halls and COVID protocols and doping tests. It adds up to a small version of a big picture that makes the transition to an Olympic experience that much smoother.

Ariarne Titmus announced herself to Australia at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Three years later, she would be a world and Olympic champion, beating the great Katie Ledecky in the process.Credit:Getty Images

On the field of play, or in the pool, the results continue to speak for themselves. Before Emma McKeon was an Olympic record-breaker, she was a prolific Commonwealth champion, having eight gold medals to her name before she even dipped her toe in the water in Birmingham.

And at the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast, the breakout star was a prolific Tasmanian teenager called Ariarne Titmus. One year later, she would beat Katie Ledecky at the FINA world championships, then go on to win dual gold in an unforgettable outing in Tokyo.

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They may be the Aldi Olympics, but the Commonwealth Games breed champions - Sydney Morning Herald

Perhaps this is a debate no one thought was necessary, but travelers who have crossed the strait of Juan de Fuca and looked south at the towering mountains of the Olympics or north to British Columbia's thriving little capital of Victoria on Vancouver Island might have tried to decide which truly offered travelers more.

Towering mountains, lush forests, coasts exposed to the Pacific, and aesthetic waterfalls are signature characteristics of the Olympic Peninsula. Vancouver Island also boasts high peaks and verdant temperate rainforest, as well as stunning coast and the addition of the islands in the Strait of Georgia. Vancouver Island has Victoria, while the Olympic Peninsula has Port Angeles. But which offers travelers more?

On the side of the Olympic Peninsula, travelers benefit from easy access to Seattle-Tacoma airport. There is no need to ferry a vehicle out to the Olympic Peninsula. This is incredible for road trippers who want to add the peninsula to their route. It offers all the high mountain vistas and stunning coastal views, waterfalls, and coastal wonders that Vancouver Island can, do while simply being more convenient.

Related: Road Tripping The Canadian Pacific Northwest In Two Weeks

Starting in Port Angeles, this out-and-back 6.6 km hike takes about three hours and 25 minutes to finish. This trail is popular from April to October, so travelers should expect others to be using them. Also, unfortunately, dogs arent allowed.

At just 2.7 km out and back, Marymere Falls Trail near Joyce is a great and fairly easy hike that allows travelers to experience the waterfalls of the area. Unfortunately, dogs are also not allowed on this trail.

Kalaloch Beach is generally considered one of the best Olympic Park beaches because of a combination of its size and ease of access off Highway 101. It offers sand shores, tons of trails, a campground, and a lodge. This beach is also famous for its Tree of Life and the Tree Root Cave beneath it.

La Push is one of the largest Olympic National Park beaches. It is actually divided into three different beaches named First, Second, and Third Beach. All three capture the stunning and occasionally stark coastal landscape of the Olympic Peninsula.

Port Angeles is a city and county seat of Clallam County, sitting on the northern coast of the Olympic Peninsula, looking straight at Victoria. With a population estimated to be around 20,000, Port Angeles qualifies as quite a large city for the area. With a great variety of go-to travel destinations in the city, like Harbinger Winery, as well as being surrounded by outdoor destinations, Port Angeles is the perfect Olympic Peninsula home base.

From the point of view of Vancouver Island, It isnt overly difficult to reach the island or to even bring a vehicle. Once travelers have reached the island, getting around it is fairly easy regardless of whether travelers brought a vehicle or not. Vancouver Island may have a waterway between it and Vancouver, but between Victoria and Port Hardy, there is plenty for travelers on the Island itself. Vancouver Island has taller mountains and a scattering of small islands to explore on its coast too. Travelers shouldnt hesitate about venturing to Vancouver Island as it does offer travelers quite a lot.

Related: The Pacific Northwest Has The Most Sightings Of Bigfoot, So Here's Where To Go 'Squatching'

Starting near Port Hardy, this 12.7 km out-and-back hike is quite a challenging route. It usually takes just under four hours to complete. It is unlikely hikers will experience others as they trek through this stunning landscape. With stunning views of the water and dogs being 100% allowed, it's hard not to love this trail.

This 10 km out-and-back trail starts off near North Cowichan. It is considered a moderate hike, and it is a popular trail for birding, hiking, and walking. This being the case, hikers can expect to encounter others on the trail, but not too often. Dogs are welcome here, but they must be on a leash.

To the far north of Vancouver Island, travelers can discover Port Hardy. This town, as its name suggests, is located on a port with great access to the surrounding nature. Travelers can rent kayaks and venture into the water, or they can simply explore the area by land. Port Hardy also has access to ferries heading in a great many directions.

Victoria is a thriving city and popular travel destination. The city itself maintains its heritage architecture which gives it an old colonial feel. It also has easy access to much of the rest of the island. The city itself has much to explore and enjoy too.

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Olympic Peninsula Or Vancouver Island: Which Has More To Offer Travelers? - TheTravel

Ten years on, questions remain over the impact that the London 2012 Olympics has had in Stratford and beyond.

The London 2012 Olympics was set against ambitious promises of lasting change, from inspire a generation to regenerate an entire community.

Stratford, one of the countrys most deprived areas, would become a model for social inclusion, while millions of kids would take up sport for life.

So, 10 years on, what legacy has the games really left?

The redevelopment doesnt reflect its community

Unlike previous Olympics in which host cities failed to reap long-term rewards, London 2012 vowed to be different.

Sebastian Coe, Great Britains four-time Olympic gold medallist, spearheaded the bid to bring the games to London, and then chaired the organising committee to deliver it.

He promised to regenerate Stratford and the surrounding areas around Newham, pledging in 2007 that it would bring between 30,000 to 40,000 new homes around the Olympic Park.

These homes were to be affordable and available to key workers, he said.

In 2011, a year before the Olympics, the definition of affordable housing was loosened to include properties up to 80% of the market rate.

This means residents in the area who on average earn around 30,00 would now likely need an annual income of between 60,000 to 90,000 to buy one.

Today, against the original target of 30,000 to 40,000 new homes, just 13,000 have been built.

Only 11% of these are genuinely affordable social homes, where prices are linked to local incomes.

Nearly 75,000 households in the boroughs of Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest are still waiting for council housing, while thousands of people have been rehoused outside of Newham to make way for redevelopment.

Luxury towers with penthouse flats now pierce the east London skyline.

Sian Berry, London Assembly member and former Green Party leader, has worked on monitoring the games impact on social housing and overcrowding.

People in surrounding areas are still living in overcrowded and over-expensive housing by and large, without the boost in social housing we should have had, the Highgate councillor told LondonWorld.

I think its clear that the area of the Olympic Park doesnt really reflect the surrounding area in the way it should have done.

It should have been planned and built far more with the community."

Once-in-a-generation opportunity

In the run-up to London 2012, the government proclaimed the games our best chance in a generation to encourage people to be more physically active.

The Olympics was seen as a way to motivate people to not just take up sport, but sustain it throughout their lives.

Around 1bn was invested by Whitehall into building a legacy of participation. Yet five years after the Games, virtually no increase in participation in England was recorded.

Recent statistics from Sport England show how during the last five years, the percentage of people categorised as active has fallen, while the number classed as inactive has increased.

Ali Oliver, chief executive of the Youth Sport Trust, said London 2012 was a fabulous advert that ignited the imagination of young people, creating a step change in opportunities.

However, in 2022, 10 years on we have more unhealthy and unhappy young people than ever, she said.

Childhood obesity saw its biggest increase last year with one in four Year 6 pupils now obese and one in six young people with a probable mental health condition.

These statistics coincide with 42,000 hours of physical education lost since London hosted the games.

While 77% of parents are concerned that children are not getting enough physical activity, only a quarter know the chief medical officers recommendation is 60 active minutes a day to support a healthy childhood.

So, while some programmes have shifted the opportunity for some, we are far from the societal change needed at all levels from policy to parenting, if we are to build an active nation.

'Massive feat of urban regeneration'

National and regional governments have hailed the legacy of London 2012.

They say the impact of the games and its investment is already being felt, and that there is more to come, as redevelopment continues.

I am incredibly proud of the legacy we have delivered in the last 10 years, the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said.

The games helped to drive billions of pounds of additional investment in the area for new, truly affordable homes, transport links, business districts and entertainment.

The mayor continued: The Olympic legacy is not just about celebrating the success of the last ten years, but looking forward to the next ten and the years beyond that in order to build a better, fairer, more prosperous London for everyone.

A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said it had invested 1bn into sport and leisure during the coronavirus pandemic, while 320m was now being invested in school sport and 250m in grassroots facilities.

"Over the past decade, we have made the nation's health and fitness a priority, the spokesperson said.

Lyn Garner, chief executive of the London Legacy Development Corporation, said: The 2012 games provided the backdrop to a massive feat of urban regeneration that continues to have a huge impact on the city.

Thousands of new homes have already been built with thousands more still to come many of them affordable.

Ms Garner added: The park is delivering on the promises for local people and while we look back on 2012 with fondness, our eyes are firmly set on the future.

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London 2012: 10 years on, has the Olympics really built a legacy in east London? - LondonWorld

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Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Aug. 04, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Starkey is proud to serve as the exclusive global supplier of hearing instruments for the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Healthy Hearing program at the 2022 Special Olympics Unified Cup, presented by Toyota and modelled after the FIFA World Cup. The competition, which began July 31 and runs through August 6, is being held in Detroit, Michigan, and welcomes over 300 footballers (soccer players) with and without intellectual disabilities from over 20 nations. Starkeys participation is a continuation of the global partnership made with Special Olympics International earlier this year, which pledged to increase access to hearing health services worldwide for individuals with intellectual disabilities; and follows Starkey Cares participation in the 2022 Special Olympics USA Games this past June, which provided over 100 Special Olympics athletes with new Starkey hearing aids.

Starkey Cares is proud to partner with Special Olympics at the 2022 Unified Cup, said Starkey Owner and Chairman, Bill Austin. Together, we are providing athletes with the hearing health resources they need to be connected to their coaches, teams, and the people who love and support them.

In partnership with Special Olympics International, Starkey Cares is providing life-changing health services and hearing instruments to Special Olympics athletes around the world, while helping make healthy hearing more inclusive of people with intellectual disabilities. At the 2022 Unified Cup, Starkey is providing personalized hearing aids, follow-up recommendations, and education on the importance of regular hearing screenings for athletes participating in the Special Olympics Healthy Athletes Healthy Hearing program. Prior to the global partnership launch this March, Starkey had a long-standing relationship with Special Olympics, providing athletes with hundreds of personalized hearing aids at the Special Olympics World Summer Games in Abu Dhabi 2019, and the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles 2015.

We are thrilled to have Starkey Cares with us at the 2022 Unified Cup in Detroit, and we are grateful for their commitment to show up and support Special Olympics athletes and their hearing health needs, says Dr. Alicia Bazzano, Chief Health Officer, Special Olympics International. To date, Starkey and Special Olympics have delivered over 2,700 hearing screenings to athletes and nearly 500 personally fitted hearing instruments. It is thanks to Starkey Cares that so many of our athletes can continue to succeed on and off the field.

This global event revolves around the common mission of celebrating the joy of sport and the power of inclusion through camaraderie, competition, and breaking down social barriers. The transformational concept of unified was inspired by a simple principle: training together and playing together is a quick path to friendship. The mens and womens Division One finals will be streamed live at 2:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, August 6, from Keyworth Stadium home of the Detroit City Football Club to hundreds of millions of viewers across the globe by ESPN, the Global Broadcast Partner of Special Olympics International and the Global Presenting Sponsor of Special Olympics Unified Sports.

ESPN3 can be accessed by visiting http://www.espn.com/watch. ESPN will also be producing an hour-long Unified Cup special that will air on Saturday, August 13, at 3 p.m. EST on ESPN2 titled Special Olympics Unified Cup Detroit 2022.

About Starkey

Starkey is a privately held, global hearing technology company headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Owned by Bill Austin since 1967, Starkey is known for its innovative design, development, and distribution of comprehensive digital hearing systems. Led today by President and CEO Brandon Sawalich, Starkey has more than 5,000 employees, operates 29 facilities and does business in more than 100 markets worldwide. Learn more at starkey.com.

About Special Olympics International

Founded in 1968, Special Olympics is a global movement to end discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities. We foster acceptance of all people through the power of sport and programming in education, health and leadership. With more than six million athletes and Special Olympics Unified Sports partners in over190 countries and territoriesand more than one million coaches and volunteers, Special Olympics deliversmore than 30 Olympic-type sportsand over100,000Games and competitionsevery year.

Engage with us on:Twitter,Facebook,TikTok, YouTube,Instagram,LinkedInandour blog on Medium. Learn more atwww.SpecialOlympics.org.

About Special Olympics Michigan

Special Olympics Michigan, Inc. (SOMI) provides year-round sports training and athletic competition to over 23,000 children and adults with intellectual disabilities and Unified partners (athletes without disabilities). Athletes develop physical fitness, demonstrate courage, and experience joy while participating in the sharing of gifts, skills, and friendship among their families, Special Olympics athletes, and the community. SOMI is a non-profit organization supported almost entirely by corporate and individual gifts and events. The generosity of Michigan organizations, individuals, and state-wide businesses enable the program to continue.

About Special Olympics Unified Cup Detroit 2022

The Special Olympics Unified Cup Detroit 2022 is made possible thanks to support from sponsors Toyota, ESPN, Ally Financial, Gallagher, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network, The Coca-Cola Company, Jersey Mikes Subs, The Real Estate One Charitable Foundation and Walmart. For more information, visit unifiedcup.org and stay up to date on our social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Starkey Serves as Exclusive Hearing Health Partner for the Special Olympics Unified Cup Detroit 2022 - StreetInsider.com

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It doesnt seem like that long ago when the 2019 World Championships concluded in Hachioji, Japan, and climbing fans around the world were presented with their first cohort of Olympic qualifiersSlovenias Janja Garnbret, Team USAs Brooke Raboutou, and Canadas Sean McColl among the earliest to earn Olympic berths. It also doesnt seem like that long ago when fans were embroiled in debatesheated, at timesabout the pros, cons, and complexity of the Olympics proposed Combined format, which was to conjoin Speed, Boulder, and Lead disciplines into a single successive event. How could we forget the Czech Republics Adam Ondra describing the combining of the three disciplines as a circus back then and denigrating speed climbing by calling it an artificial discipline? Understandable, emotions were high, and so too were the Olympic stakes.

Yet, at the same time, now that climbings Olympic debutwhich took place officially one year ago this weekis in the rear-view mirror, it feels like the Tokyo Olympics took place in a wholly different era. That three-discipline Combined format from Tokyo seems to be gone forever, replaced by a format for the 2024 Olympics in Paris that will combine just two disciplines (Boulder and Lead) and leave the Speed discipline as its own separate entity. Also, everyone knows that the Tokyo Olympics were originally scheduled for the summer of 2020 but postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemicand rife with ultra-stringent restrictions and mitigation strategies. Hopefully such widespread COVID disruptions of life and leisure are gone forever too. See, it already kind of feels like the Tokyo Olympics were not a fairly recent happening, but some intriguing rarity thats annotated in a history textbook.

Whether the Tokyo Olympics feel recent or long ago, theres no denying that they changed climbing. On a base level, they brought more eyes to the sport than ever before. (Some reports indicate that the Tokyo Olympics were watched by more than three billion people.) Amid that, the Tokyo Olympics recalibrated what it means to be a competition climbing superstar. Consider that in the early 2000s, competition climbers received coverage almost exclusively from endemic media outlets like, well, Climbing. Compare that to the media entities that reported on the Olympic journeys of Janja Garnbret, Brooke Raboutou, and othersNPR, CNN, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, ESPN, etc. For lack of a better word, the Olympics made competition climbing mainstream news in a way the sport and its athletes had never been before.

Before Janja Garnbret, Martina ufar Potard Ruled The Comp World

As an extension of all that big media coverage, the Tokyo Olympics popularized competition climbings various disciplines. Its probably too early to gauge any long-term metrics, but a quick Google search shows a heckuva lot of articles from this past year in the vein of Yahoos What the Hell is Speed Climbing? The Tokyo Olympics are solely responsible for such widespread curiosity. And shortly after the Tokyo Olympics, writer Michelle Bruton noted in Forbes that interest [in climbing] has spiked to an all-time high.

But all of that is a more panoramic view of how climbing has changed over the past year, gazing outward rather than inward. What about the Tokyo Olympics climbers themselves? It might sound a bit extreme to play a game of Where are they now? after just one year, but theres also no better time than this one-year anniversary to look at how the field of competitiors has changed and grown.

From a global perspective, the biggest star to emerge from the Tokyo Olympics was also the biggest star heading into themSlovenias Janja Garnbret. In fact, Garnbrets greatest Olympic accomplishment was likely that she was able to be so heavily favored in the media before the Gamesalmost to an unfair degreeand still deliver on all the hype. Other competitors likely would have caved under such pressure, and there would not have been any shame in that. But Garnbret managed to harness the immeasurable expectations into something magicalthe first-ever womens Olympic gold medal in climbing, and the third-ever gold medal for a Slovenian woman at a summer Olympics.

In this year following the Tokyo Olympics, we have seen that such an immaculate gold-medal performance came with a price. After taking part in the first Boulder World Cup of the current 2022 season, Garnbret chose to take a hiatus from competition climbing, specifically citing the physical and mental toll the Olympics had taken on her. But she returned for the start of the Lead World Cup season in late-June, seemingly mentally refreshed and per formatively better than ever. So far Garnbret has won every Lead World Cup of the 2022 season and is widely considered to be the greatest competition climber ever. Suffice to say, she has continued to crush since the Tokyo Olympics.

Another Tokyo Olympian who is currently performing better than ever on the World Cup circuit is Team USAs Brooke Raboutou. Since placing fifth at the Olympics, Raboutou has stood on three Boulder World Cup podiums and two Lead World Cup podiums. Whats particularly compelling is that Raboutou is inching closer and closer to Garnbret in results. Case in point: At this years Lead World Cup in Villars, Raboutou earned a silver medal, narrowly beaten in the final round by Garnbret.

South Koreas Chaehyun Seo has followed a similar trajectory, improving greatly since advancing to the finals at the Tokyo Olympics. Once considered a specialist in the Lead discipline, Seo has broadened her skill setparticularly this seasonand advanced to the final round multiple times in Boulder World Cups. The fact that Seo is only 18 years old makes heralong with Garnbret and Raboutouone of the early favorites for qualifying for the forthcoming 2024 Olympics. The same could be said for Team USAs Colin Duffy, also 18 years old, who followed up his appearance in the Tokyo Olympics last summer by historically earning gold medals in both the Boulder and Lead World Cups at Innsbruck this year.

As much as Garnbret, Raboutou, Seo, and Duffy made the Tokyo Olympics a jumping-off point for newfound success, other competitors made the Tokyo Olympics the ultimate conclusion. In particular, Great Britains Shauna Coxsey and Japans Akiyo Noguchi retired from elite-level international competition following the Tokyo Olympics. After years of being ready, years of preparation, off-seasons spent fighting to get to the start line, years of harnessing the desire, the determination and the belief, it feels so wrong to admit I no longer want to do competitors, Coxsey, who had battled several injuries in the lead-up to the Olympics, revealed at one point.

Noguchis retirement was noteworthy because she earned a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, proving that she was still in her performative prime when she chose to gracefully exit. Noguchi had also made a World Cup podium the year before the Tokyo Olympics, and she had been one of the competitors to pose the biggest challenge to Janja Garnbret throughout the 2019 Boulder seasonwhich Garnbret eventually swept.

But Noguchis retirement from the competition scene also left a figurative void for the Japanese team. To many fans, Noguchi was viewed as the longtime athlete-leader of Team Japan and a savvy veteran that helped guide the teams teenage rising starsAi Mori, Natsuki Tanii, and others. Whether Noguchi has continued to aid and mentor the young members of Team Japan in retirement is unknown, but it is generally accepted that no other national squad has the elite depth that the Japanese team has. Many expect one of Noguchis mentees, 25-year-old Miho Nonaka (who earned the silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics) to assume the athlete leadership role in Noguchis absence. If this seasons World Cup results (i.e., medals) are any indication, the Japanese Team has managed to handle the void left by Noguchi just fine.

Still, a majority of the Olympian climbers have not necessarily surged to even greater heights or faded into retirement over the past year. Instead, they are currently residing in a nebulous spaceoften due to circumstances out of their control or simply bad luck. For example, Canadas Sean McColl suffered a shoulder injury at one of this years World Cups in Salt Lake City and has not participated in a competition since then. Also, Team USAs Nathaniel Coleman, silver medalist at the Tokyo Olympics, revealed hes dealing with a bum finger and has not taken part in any World Cup since April. Germanys Jan Hojer admitted to dealing with some finger injuries last year and is yet to take part in any World Cup this season; his last elite-level international competition was the 2021 World Championships nearly a year ago.

Yet, the most significant injury is likely that of Alberto Gins Lpez, since he is the competitor who won gold in the mens division at the Tokyo Olympics. Currently dealing with a tweaked finger of his own, Gins Lpez took part in four World Cup this season but has been absent from the circuit since May to rehab the finger.

Additionally, Austria Jakob Schubertthe bronze medalist from the Tokyo Olympicshad his participation in the 2022 World Cup season altered when he contracted COVID shortly before the start of the Chamonix World Cup in early July. Almost thought I can get around Covid, Schubert wrote on Instagram, but no, it now got me as well.

Adam Ondra and several other athletes have also had their current World Cup season disrupted by positive COVID tests promptly after World Cup events. Its presumed that Ondra and most other competitors in the upper echelon of the current World Cup circuit will at least make some attempt to qualify for the next Olympics, although most are staying tight-lipped about specific Olympic plans and goals at this juncture.

Above all else, the Tokyo Olympics gave everyone a roadmap for the Olympic and post-Olympic frenzy; we now know what kind of hype to expect in the lead-up and the wane. We know there will be Highs and Lows, promotion and puffery, fun and funkiness for all involved. And, lest you think that we have a lot of downtime until the hype ramps up for those 2024 Olympics, lets conclude with the fact that their Olympic qualification pathway begins next seasonapproximately one year from now. In other words, its almost time to do it all again.

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Climbing Lived Up To The Olympics. Now What? - Climbing - Climbing Magazine

Utahns really seem to want another Olympics.

A whopping 79% of Utahns approve of the Winter Games coming back to the state, according to the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, while only 16% disapprove, and just 5% werent sure how they felt about hosting again.

That is incredibly strong. Wow, said Fraser Bullock, a leader of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City who is now president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games bidding for the 2030 or 2034 Winter Games.

Jason Perry, director of the University of Utahs Hinckley Institute of Politics, said Utahns across the board back the bid because of the success of the 2002 Winter Games, deemed superb by the late IOC President Jacques Rogge during the Closing Ceremonies held at the U.s Rice-Eccles Stadium.

In a world where people are so divided about everything, they are united on the Winter Olympics. Regardless of age, gender, party or political affiliation, Utahns want the Olympics back, Perry said. There is an Olympic spirit that has not gone away.

Salt Lake City is competing for the 2030 Winter Games against two other cities that also have previously hosted a Winter Games, Sapporo, Japan, and Vancouver, Canada. Just over half of the residents in both Sapporo and Vancouver have backed bidding for another Olympics in recent surveys.

In Utah, the new poll found 44% strongly approve of bidding again, with 35% saying they somewhat approve. Only 8% strongly disapprove of trying to bring back the Winter Games, with another 8% saying they somewhat disapprove.

The poll was conducted for the Deseret News and the University of Utahs Hinckley Institute of Politics by Dan Jones and Associations July 13-18 of 801 registered voters in Utah. The statewide survey has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.46 percentage points.

The results track with past polling done by the states Olympic Exploratory Committee in 2017 that put support for bidding again at 89%, and by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which measured it at 82% before selecting Salt Lake City a year later to bid on behalf of the United States for an unspecified Winter Games.

The new numbers come on the heels of pushback by the IOC over some of the U.S. response to Beijing hosting the 2022 Winter Games despite Chinas human rights record that appears to make choosing Salt Lake City for 2030 already a difficult pick because the 2028 Summer Games are in Los Angeles even more of a long shot.

And IOC President Thomas Bach has also made it clear that naming the 2034 host city will have to wait until after his term ends in 2025. Theres been speculation that the IOC Executive Committee would advance its picks for both the 2030 and the 2034 Winter Games to the contract negotiation stage set to start this December.

Those developments mean its now likely to be several more years before Utahns know whether the Olympics are returning.

Bullock said Utahns dont seem to be deterred by the back-and-forth over the bid.

Even though there is uncertainty around us potentially hosting in 2030 or 2034, or the timing of awards, we still see strong support, he said, noting, too, that support is still incredibly resilient despite the COVID-19 pandemics impact on both last winters Beijing Games and the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo that were delayed a year.

The bid committee plans to start reaching out to Utahns this fall, through events set up by the communities with venues from 2002 that have remained in use in anticipation of another Winter Games, like the sliding track and ski jumps at the Utah Olympic Park near Park City and the Utah Olympic Oval speedskating track in Kearns.

Meanwhile, work continues on the bid details the IOC would require for the contract negotiation stage, which include thousands of pages of plans. Bullock and other bid leaders are also staying engaged with U.S. and international sports officials, recently attending the World Athletics Championships in Oregon.

What we want to signal to the IOC is were fully prepared, were a bid that they can count on, he said. Anything can happen in bidding. Dynamics can change very, very quickly. More preparation is better, so we are committed to being fully prepared with a complete bid, even in advance of when its required.

The bid is expected to cost less than $2 million, money thats coming from private sources. The plans being pulled together for an event with a $2.2 billion price tag also without using tax dollars are intended to show that Salt Lake is not only ready, but ready ahead of schedule to host in 2030 also cover a 2034 Winter Games, Bullock said.

We will follow the IOCs lead and see what happens late this year. Then, based on that decision, well make whatever decisions are necessary after that, he said when asked what would happen to the bid effort if Salt Lake City ends up out of the running for 2030.

I still strongly believe that well be awarded either 30 or 34. We are one of the best cities in the world to host a Games, for all the reasons we all know about, whether its compact Games, whether its the unified support, whether its excellent economics or just the love of the Games in Utah, Bullock said.

Chris Karpowitz, co-director of Brigham Young Universitys Center for the Study of Elections and Democracy, said most Utahns arent paying much attention to the ups and downs of the Olympic bid, given other more pressing concerns in their daily lives such as inflation.

And if the 2030 bid is not successful, having to wait a few more years to find out about 2034 could put new pressures on the bid over growth-related issues like air quality, water scarcity and housing prices, even though the poll shows the effort is starting now from a pretty good place, he said.

I think what these results suggest is a widespread base of support for the idea of the Olympics coming back to Utah, Karpowitz said. I think it suggests some residual pride in the success of 2002 and some forward-looking excitement as well about the possibility of the world coming to Utah again.

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Heres something nearly 80% of Utahns can agree on another Olympics - Deseret News

Kamari Graham, a sophomore from Homestead, Florida,was named the 2022 USA TODAY High School Sports Awards Special Olympics Athlete of the Year during the live show on July 31.

The USA TODAY High School Sports Awards is the largest high school sports recognition program in the country. More than 800 athletes were honored and winners for 29 sports and other special awards were announced during the show, which was hosted by former NFL tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Vernon Davis.

Grahamnot only has an intellectual disability, but at a young age suffered injuries from a firework accident that left him without his left hand. A participant in Special Olympics since attending Homestead Middle School, Grahamparticipates in multiple sports and was instrumental in the team winning an FHSAA state championship in Unified flag football. He then helped Homestead becomea two-time national champion, catching a key touchdown pass in the semifinals of the 2022 USA National Games in Orlando.

Homestead represented Florida at the Games and brought home a gold medal.

Grahamis also a leader in the classroom, serving asVice President of his school's Unified Club.

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Kamari Graham named Special Olympics Athlete of the Year - USA TODAY

Aug 1 (Reuters) - One year ago, sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya's life was upended when she refused to board a plane back to her native Belarus after being kicked out of the Tokyo Olympics by her team.

What began as a controversy over Tsimanouskaya's entry in the 4x400 metres relay snowballed into a defection that became one of the biggest stories of the Games and highlighted the pressure Belarusian athletes face for challenging authority.

Forced out by her national team after criticising coaches for entering her in an event that was not her customary distance, Tsimanouskaya feared for her safety if she returned to Belarus and sought refuge in Poland.

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She is in the process of receiving Polish citizenship and the necessary documents to compete at national team level there.

The 25-year-old also wants another chance to compete at the Olympics and hopes to run at the 2024 Paris Games in the 200m, the event she had been set to run the day after Belarus removed her from the team.

"I'm disappointed that I didn't compete in the distance I had prepared for," Tsimanouskaya told Reuters in a video interview from her home in Warsaw.

"But I'm not losing hope. I'm still training here. I dream of going back to the Olympics and this time run my distance and show decent results."

Tsimanouskaya has only been able to run in lower-level meets as she awaits citizenship and says she misses elite competition.

"I'm grateful to Poland for having let me enter some competitions," she said. "But as an athlete who competed at the Olympics, it was tough to realise that I now was running at competitions with children."

Belarusians and Russians are currently barred from competing at international athletics meets because of Moscow's actions in Ukraine.

Tsimanouskaya became a symbol of resistance in Belarus, where opposition figures and those critical of the authorities have been prosecuted, jailed or fled since mass protests against leader Alexander Lukashenko in 2020.

The protests, followed by a violent crackdown on demonstrators, erupted after Lukashenko seized a sixth presidential term in an election that observers say was rigged. He denies electoral fraud.

"I didn't go to the Olympics to represent Lukashenko's authority," she said. "I went to the Olympics to represent Belarus. And for me, Belarus does not equal Lukashenko or the authorities."

Tsimanouskaya is slowly building a new life for herself in Poland, where she plans to study and hopes to one day open a gym with her husband Arseni, a fitness trainer.

She has also had her share of disappointments.

In addition to being sidelined from international athletics as a Belarusian national, Tsimanouskaya said some who had pledged their support since her defection had not followed through.

"I don't see myself as a hero, but maybe my actions will serve as an example for someone," she said.

"Over time, my life has started to fall into place. I'm continuing my career and making plans for the future. It shows that people shouldn't be afraid."

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Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Peter Rutherford

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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A year after Olympic defection, Belarusian sprinter dreams of 2024 Paris Games - Reuters