Category Archives: Olympics

Casey Skoglund has been involved in Special Olympics gymnastics at the Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center for many years and one thing never gets old.

Seeing the kids smile makes it all worth it, said the rhythmic gymnastics coach from Tatamy. Even when Im tired and I am driving here and thinking I dont know if I can do this as soon as I see the gymnasts my energy level goes up. They always give me a hug. Theyre just great kids and great to be around.

Skoglund and her gymnasts get together for an hour each week.

On May 22, they had their annual showcase celebration, held for the first time since 2019 due to COVID-19 cancellations. And while there was judging going on and different colored medals were presented, everyone involved left feeling like champions.

Our artistic women compete on bars, beam, floor and vaulting and the men compete on floor, vaulting, parallel bars, rings, and high bar, Skoglund said. They compete in six events and the rhythmic gymnasts compete in ball, ribbon, hoop, and rope.

The age ranges from 8 years old to more seasoned competitors in their 50s and the athletes come from Bethlehem, and Lehigh, Berks and Lebanon counties, and other regions of the Pennsylvania Special Olympics program.

They love doing this, and I love working with them, Skoglund said.

Izzy Compardo is Skoglunds assistant and has worked with the Special Olympics program for nine years.

Its amazing, said Compardo, a Nazareth High School and DeSales University product, who also runs the preschool program with the Parkettes. We have a lot of fun and its so rewarding. I love working with kids. I work with a lot of different groups and I really enjoy working with the little ones and the Special Olympians. I love bringing joy to their lives and they bring joy to me. I want them to be happy and have a great time.

Compardo, who is the granddaughter of the late John Compardo, a legendary basketball coach at Allentown Central Catholic and athletic director at DeSales, will be the head coach of the local contingent at the state games at Penn State this month.

They pick things up quickly, she said. We started in the fall and with COVID it was a little more difficult, but we have a lot of coaches who have helped us and they get along tremendously with the kids. We make it like a family. We keep encouraging them and keep it positive.

When the state games are over, Skoglund will be taking a small group of competitors to the USA Games at the Disney World Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando. That group will include Kyrie Troche, Molly Hosey, Zarrah Vitale and Simone Williams.

A group of local gymnasts who will represent the Lehigh Valley and the Parkettes Special Olympics program at the USA meet at Disney World this week include, from left, coach Casey Skoglund, Kyrie Troche, Molly Hosey, Zarrah Vitale and Simone Williams. (Keith Groller / The Morning Call)

But while a national competition at Disney is a big deal, its the mere act of participation and involvement that makes the program special.

Brittany Thayer, a 33-year-old who has competed with Bethlehem Special Olympics for more than a decade, is one of the many who wont let anything stop them. She has a physical disability that affects her eyesight, yet she competes without fear.

Its just so amazing to be back after COVID and everything, she said. I get to be an assistant coach as well as compete and my routines are harder and longer, which is challenging, but thats OK because I love challenges. It takes a lot of time and energy and hard work.

Ive been involved for about six or seven years and Ive tried to get better, Thayer said. I dont know what Id do without it. Id die of boredom at home. I hope to go to the USA Games in the future ... . As long as you have determination and dedication to do what you want to do, you can go for all of your dreams.

Marian Catholic has announced that Scott Murphy will be its new boys basketball coach. He had been an assistant coach under Mick Stefanek from 2005-10 and a JV coach on the staff headed by John Patton last season.

Murphy was also an assistant at North Schuylkill for six seasons.

Patton had been the coach for 12 seasons and led the program to Schuylkill League Division III titles three times and District 11 championships in 2011 and 2017. The Colts were 15-8 last season, losing to Tri-Valley in the District 11 2A semis.

In a release, the school said: The administration feels Coach Murphy will be the right coach to continue the legacy and tradition of Marian Catholic Colts basketball that has been so successful over the history of the school, while infusing a culture within the program that aligns with the core values of Being Marian. "

Northern Lehigh announced in a release that baseball coach Greg King has resigned. He had been the Bulldogs head coach since 2015 and served as an assistant under Erv Prutzman for eight years.

King, who resigned to spend more time with his family, was just the schools third coach in the last 50 years.

We wish Coach King the best with his family, Northern Lehigh athletic director Bryan Geist said in the release.

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Northern Lehigh has gone 2-18 each of the past two seasons with the only wins coming against Moravian Academy.

A bunch of football standouts who grew up on Greenleaf Street in Allentown have come together to arrange a special night of free football that will feature skills and drills, a 7-on-7 session, awards, and much more on Friday night at J. Birney Crum Stadium. Check-in starts at 5 p.m. and the clinic is expected to continue until 8 p.m.

Jeremiah Lyons, Elias Marte, Ja-Lon Perkins, and other student-athletes from the Lehigh Valley have partnered with Bobby McClarins Five Star Heart program to give kids in grades 5-8 the chance to learn and grow in the sport of football.

It should be a great way for the kids to see the opportunities ahead for them if they work hard.

The first 50 student-athletes who register will receive a clinic T-shirt.

For more info, go to http://www.fivestartheart.org. The Five Star Heart Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to serving communities by building youth leaders of character on and off the athletic fields.

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Around the Valley: Special Olympics gymnastics provides inspiration, and lots of smiles - The Morning Call

Park City Mountain Resort recently won an approval from City Hall to build what will be known as the Eagle Express lift and upgrade the Silverlode Express lift, improvements that are designed to reduce wait times and crowding on the slopes.

The Eagle Express lift also received a gold-medal endorsement from a key figure in the efforts by Salt Lake City and the wider region to host a second Winter Olympics.

In the weeks before Park Citys planning director, Gretchen Milliken, approved the permit for the lift improvements, the president and CEO of the Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation submitted a one-page correspondence in support of the upgrades.

In the April 11 correspondence, written on foundation letterhead, Colin Hilton indicated the realignment of the Eagle lift would improve the capabilities of Park City Mountain to host a venue for a future Olympic Winter Games. He also described what he sees as the value of the upgrades to PCMR regardless of the possibility of a Games, pointing to improved guest circulation and reduced chairlift times.

PCMR is identified as a key competition venue on the concept map of a future Games. It is not clear, though, what events it would be tapped to host. A map released in 2018 showed the possibility of snowboarding and freestyle skiing competitions at PCMR, a change from the ski racing and snowboarding lineup at the resort during the 2002 Winter Olympics. The concept map, crafted by an Olympic exploratory committee, could be altered as organizers finalize the competition slate should a Games be awarded.

Hilton is a member of the board of directors of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, which is the group mounting the bid, and was one of the principal staffers in the committee that staged the Winter Olympics in 2002. He is seen as having broad influence on Games-related matters in the Park City area as well as on a regional basis.

In a prepared response to a Park Record inquiry about the upgrades at PCMR in the context of the Games efforts, Hilton said there have been athletic disciplines added to the Olympic program since 2002. The design of a competition venue at PCMR in a future Games, he said, would be aided by the lift alterations approved by the planning director.

A realigned Eagle lift allows more room to place events such as the halfpipe and slopestyle courses in an already tightly packed finish area. A future Games has a need for added sport event disciplines and realigned courses, for which is made easier by the modified location of the Eagle lift, Hilton said. Slopestyle & Big Air events didnt exist in 2002, and options to use PCMR in the future will require the venue to accommodate many of these new disciplines. The chairlift realignment begins a process that opens up better capabilities to layout these courses.

He said a midstation included in the redesigned Eagle lift will also allow for quicker turnaround times for athletes and officials.

The plan recently approved calls for a high-speed, six-person Eagle Express lift with a slightly different route from the existing Eagle and Eaglet lifts that will be removed. The Eagle lift rises from a spot just off the PCMR lower parking lots while the Eaglet lift carried skiers and snowboarders a short distance uphill from the top of the Eagle lift. The Eaglet lift has not operated on a consistent basis in recent years.

The planning director received testimony from supporters and critics of the upgrades during the meeting when the work was approved. Opponents of the plan appealed the approval.

Salt Lake City is the nations bid city for a future Winter Olympics, with the Games of 2030 or those of four years later seeming to be possibilities. It is not clear when the International Olympic Committee will make a selection, but the Lausanne, Switzerland-based organization is turning its attention to the task with the end of an especially busy stretch with the 2022 Winter Olympics and the delayed 2020 Summer Olympics having been staged within months of one another.

An IOC delegation made a three-day technical visit to Utah in late April that included stops at competition venues and other locations envisioned as having roles in a Games. The Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games said the trip was the first official in-person visit by the IOC since the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee in late 2018 selected Salt Lake City as the nations bid city for a future Winter Olympics.

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PCMR lift upgrade receives gold-medal endorsement from key figure in Winter Olympic efforts - The Park Record

More than 200 Special Olympics athletes hit the track at Kennedy High School in Sacramento for their first unified event since 2019. It brings me a lot of joy that my students are recognized for more than their disability, said Chloe Stidger, a Kennedy High special education teacher. George Zinner, an adaptive physical education teacher with the Sacramento City Unified School District, appreciates the feeling of normalcy with competitions returning for the first time in more than two years.Athletes took part in track events from sprinting to relays and even throwing. I want to say hello to my family and say they have supported me and have been proud of me and I have been proud of myself with my sportsmanship, said Nick Rusnak, a Special Olympic athlete. Even strong, gusty winds on Friday couldnt slow down these champion athletes. Rusnak still called the competition the "best day ever." The Special Olympics Summer Games are set for June 24 at Santa Clara University where more than 1,000 athletes from across Northern California are expected to compete.

More than 200 Special Olympics athletes hit the track at Kennedy High School in Sacramento for their first unified event since 2019.

It brings me a lot of joy that my students are recognized for more than their disability, said Chloe Stidger, a Kennedy High special education teacher.

George Zinner, an adaptive physical education teacher with the Sacramento City Unified School District, appreciates the feeling of normalcy with competitions returning for the first time in more than two years.

Athletes took part in track events from sprinting to relays and even throwing.

I want to say hello to my family and say they have supported me and have been proud of me and I have been proud of myself with my sportsmanship, said Nick Rusnak, a Special Olympic athlete.

Even strong, gusty winds on Friday couldnt slow down these champion athletes.

Rusnak still called the competition the "best day ever."

The Special Olympics Summer Games are set for June 24 at Santa Clara University where more than 1,000 athletes from across Northern California are expected to compete.

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Special Olympics athletes gather in Sacramento for first event since in more than 2 years - KCRA Sacramento

Trayvon Bromellwas disqualified for a false start in his Diamond League season debut, denying a showdown with Olympic 200m championAndre De Grasseof Canada in Birmingham, Great Britain, on Saturday.

Send my apologies to everyone who had to watch that rookie mistake, Bromell tweeted.

Another Canadian, Aaron Brown, later won the mens 100m in 10.13 seconds, just ahead of 2012 Olympic silver medalist Yohan Blake of Jamaica (10.18). De Grasse was fourth in 10.24.

Bromell was the worlds fastest man last year at 9.76 seconds, but at the Olympics was eliminated in the semifinals. He remains tied for third in the world this year at 9.92 seconds, trailing world leader Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya (9.85).

Bromells season is ramping up. In June, the top three at the USATF Outdoor Championships qualify for Julys world championships, which like the USATF Outdoors are in Eugene, Oregon. Separate from the top three, Christian Coleman has a bye into worlds as defending champion.

Full Birmingham results are here. The Diamond League moves next Friday and Saturday to Eugene for the Prefontaine Classic.

In other events Saturday, world silver medalist Dina Asher-Smithof Great Britain won the womens 100m in 11.11 seconds, edging Olympic bronze medalist Shericka Jackson of Jamaica by .01. Gabby Thomas, the Olympic 200m bronze medalist, was fifth in 11.31.

Two-time Olympic championElaine Thompson-Herahof Jamaica withdrew on Thursday, a precautionary move citing discomfort in training, and plans to return to competition shortly.

Another two-time Olympic 100m gold medalist, Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, remains fastest in the world this year at 10.67.

In the womens pole vault, American Sandi Morris posted the worlds top outdoor clearance this year of 4.73 meters. She beat a field that included the last two Olympic champions Greek Katerina Stefanidi (second, 4.65 meters) and American Katie Nageotte (4.30, seventh place).

American Valarie Allman edged Czech Sandra Perkovic in a battle between the last two Olympic womens discus champions. Allman threw 67.85 meters to Perkovics 67.26.

Czech Kristjan Ceh won a mens discus that included the top six from the Olympics. Ceh, who was fifth in Tokyo, threw 71.27 meters, improving his personal best by three feet. Only Olympic gold medalistDaniel Stahlof Sweden, who was third on Saturday, has thrown farther over the last nine years.

Olympic gold medalist Malaika Mihambo of Germany recorded the farthest womens long jump since last June, winning with a 7.09-meter leap.

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Mens 100m showdown stymied by DQ at Birmingham Diamond League - Home of the Olympic Channel

A new analysis released Tuesday shows hosting the 2030 Winter Games would bring $2.2 billion to Utah, $500 million less than construction, visitor spending and federal security funding added to the economy from the states first Olympics two decades ago.

Its still a significant amount, a boost to our economy, Fraser Bullock, president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games thats bidding for another Olympics, said during the University of Utah Kem C. Gardner Institutes May newsmaker breakfast.

Bullock, the chief operating officer of the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City, said what would be a total economic impact of $3.9 billion anticipated in the Gardner institutes analysis could make a big difference in how well the state would withstand an end to the current booming economy.

Thats what happened when a recession hit in the early 2000s, he said.

While everything looks great today, cycles inevitably happen, and whats nice about the Olympic Games being brought to a community is we can count on a certain amount of boost to our economic situation, Bullock told a virtual audience.

Who knows what will be happening in the lead-up to 2030, but well have this extra layer of economic activity that well be able to rely on even if theres a downturn in the economy like we experienced in 2000. It was really something that was beneficial to us back then.

Natalie Gochnour, director of the Gardner institute, had already warned that the overall economic impact of another Olympics would be less than the more than $6 billion calculated in a 2018 study because the venues and other needed infrastructure has been built.

Gochnour pointed out Tuesday that the capital investment in the 2002 Games, largely constructing competition venues, added up to more than $450 million in 2021 dollars compared to less than $25 million expected to be needed for the next Olympics.

Bullock said while thats negative to the economic impact side, its a very big boost to our bid because all of the infrastructure is in place. The only capital (projects) that we need to do are just some ongoing maintenance and upgrades at our existing venues, such as shading for the bobsled, luge and skeleton track near Park City.

What he called a very modest amount of capital in the $2.2 billion budget for 2030 includes nearly $15.6 million to ready the track and other facilities at the Utah Olympic Park for competition, as well as $6.35 million at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Midway and $1.2 million for the Utah Olympic Oval speedskating track in Kearns.

Still, Bullock stressed hosting again would be a temporary boost to the states economy, adding between 7,000 and 8,000 full-time jobs for more than a year to do something really special for the world. He downplayed any long-term growth issues, saying that unlike 20 years ago, Utah is on the world map.

The total $3.9 billion economic impact would stretch from 2024 to 2031 and generate $1.5 billion in personal income, according to the analysis, which also showed the state would bring in $99 million in related revenues, offset by $78 million in expenses for a net of $22 million, and local government would net just over $42 million.

The proposed 2030 Winter Games budget does not include any state or local tax dollars, Bullock has said, although the federal government is expected to pick up much of the cost of providing security, just as it does for other major events like the Super Bowl.

Salt Lake City is competing for 2030 against three other cities that also have previously hosted an Olympics Sapporo, Japan, the 1972 Winter Games; Vancouver, Canada, the 2010 Winter Games; and Barcelona, Spain, the 1992 Summer Games. Barcelona is bidding with the Pyrenees mountain region.

With Salt Lake City and Sapporo seen as the front-runners even though the Japanese city is dealing with concerns about costs, both could end up being chosen as future hosts by the International Olympic Committee because a new, less formal bid process would allow the 2030 and 2034 Winter Games to be awarded at the same time.

Bullock said he hopes the IOC will narrow the field before the end of the year, with a final decision coming in 2023. Under the new bid process, the IOC enters into discussions with any interested city before selecting the best candidates for whats called targeted dialog aimed at finalizing an agreement to host.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee selected Salt Lake City over Denver more than three years ago as the countrys choice for an unspecified Winter Games since Los Angeles already has the 2028 Summer Games. So Utahs bidders have focused on either 2030 or 2034, although Bullock said the sooner the better.

But he said the USOPC is still working out how the country could host back-to-back Olympics without sacrificing domestic sponsorship revenues. That could include sharing personnel or offering other assistance to Los Angeles to cut costs, Bullock said.

For now, all of the contracts being negotiated by the bid committee including for 17,000 hotel rooms so far as well with ski resorts and other venues, like the U., where athletes will be housed and the opening and closing ceremonies held at Rice-Eccles Stadium could be used for either 2030 or 2034, he said.

Yes, we aspire to 2030 but we recognize that everything has to line up for that to happen, Bullock acknowledged. And if that doesnt happen, we certainly would aggressively pursue 2034.

Another Olympics in Utah would not be the same as 2002, both he and Gochnour said. The Winter Games are some 40% larger than they were two decades ago, and Utah has changed, too. Bullock said the venues have not only continued to be used by both community and elite athletes, many, like Rice-Eccles Stadium, have expanded.

Gochnour, who was working for then-Gov. Mike Leavitt in 2002, said she realized when you have something this big, when the spotlight is this bright, that everything has to get better. The result is we take care of things better. We invest better. We think harder about what were doing because of the intensity and the seriousness of the endeavor.

The most important legacy from hosting the Olympics, she said, is what it did for ourselves, for our confidence, for our ability to do things better in Utah. Now, the state knows it can do these things in a very competent way and as we do that, were able to expand that to other parts of what we do, Gochnour said,

For Bullock, the 2002 Games was a time when tens of thousands of people gathered downtown every evening to soak up the atmosphere, when it felt like unity in our community like never before. Thats what he wants to see repeated at the next Olympics and, hopefully, beyond.

I look forward to that time again, where it doesnt matter what political party, it doesnt matter what economic strata, everybody can come to a live site and just be together. And feel that unity and celebrate the world coming together, Bullock said, adding hed like to see the Games serve as a catalyst to hold on to that unique feeling.

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Why the economic impact of another Utah Olympics would be less - Deseret News

In 1984, adopted siblings Kitty and Peter Carruthers won the silver medal in pairs figure skating at the Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.

They are still one of only six U.S. pairs to medal at the Olympics, and none have medaled since 1988.

I think in America, a lot of times we say the grass is greener on the other side, Kitty Carruthers Conrad said via Zoom from her home near Houston. And maybe that was a real plus for Peter and I being brother and sister, because, I mean, my gosh, we fought like cats and dogs. But, you know, we were going to stick together.

I think every year, a lot of coaches think, Well, this girl would be great with this guy, and lets change it up. But really, you know, like everything else, perseverance and staying with it and working through troubled times: Thats my belief. ... Its important to learn how to work through difficult periods of your life.

The Carruthers siblings learned from another of those six U.S. Olympic medalist pairs. Nancy and Ron Ludington, at the time a married couple, earned Olympic bronze in 1960. Nancy was the Carruthers coach when they were children growing up Burlington, Mass. Ron was the coach of their teens and early 20s who took them to the Olympics in 1980 and 84.

And for many years, Ron Ludington, known as Luddy, was the reason Wilmington (and later Newark, Del.) was the center of U.S. pairs skating and ice dance. He invented many of the moves still skated today.

READ MORE: South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito is on top of the world with room to grow

He also created champions, especially in the 1970s and 1980s.

Ludington died in 2020 at age 85, and many of his former Olympians finally are able to return to the Skating Club of Wilmington this weekend to honor him. They also will kick off the Ron Ludington Skaters Fund, which will benefit young pairs skaters and the education of pairs coaches.

Figure skating is an expensive sport. The Carruthers were lucky that their parents managed to send them to Delaware and pay for their ice time and training. But Delaware might not have been a skating center if another pair had more money.

The year after his Olympic medal, Luddy began coaching a top ice dance team, Patricia and Robert Dineen. But neither skaters nor coach had the funds to bring him along to the World Championships in Prague. The Dineens, along with the rest of the U.S. figure skating team, was killed on the plane en route to that competition.

After that, it was up to coaches like Luddy to rebuild figure skating in America. He would go on to coach skaters in nine Olympics and 36 World Championships.

So what made his training so successful?

First of all, I think he loved it. More than anything, said Carruthers Conrad, who teaches skating a few hours a week in Texas. (Peter, who worked as a skating commentator on TV for many years, lives again in Burlington, Mass., and also teaches skating, but to hockey players.)

Number one, he had an incredibly creative mind. He invented so many things in pair skating, different lifts, outside death spiral, the lasso lift overhead. I mean, year after year, he would make something up.

He also knew how to bring out the best in his skaters.

If you went around to anybody that was there at the time, they would swear to you that they were his favorite. ... We didnt all have good days, but he knew how to bring all of our best qualities out, she said.

The Carruthers started skating at ages that are considered to be late for future champions: Kitty was 9 and Peter 11.

At the beginning they did both pairs and ice dance.

We were the same size for a really long time, Carruthers Conrad said. And then Peter just took a big growth spurt, and then we really had too much of a size difference for dance. And so it was suggested that we did pairs because I was little and he wasnt.

When they were about 14 and 16, Nancy Ludington thought they were ready for something more.

She suggested she felt like we may have had some talent and so suggested during the summer that we go down and take some lessons from Mr. Ludington, Carruthers Conrad said.

So my parents packed us up. Because there were so many other really great skaters there, we were kind of awestruck. But just, you know, you really improve so much faster when youre in a camp where everybodys so good.

And Luddy, it turned out, also competed in both pairs and dance.

He was amazing, Carruthers Conrad said. He did everything. Like, he was an extraordinary trumpet player and golfer and fisherman. I mean, it feels like Im still learning more and more about him, just how talented he was in absolutely everything.

At first, the siblings just stayed for the summer and returned home. But then they moved to Wilmington (and briefly Haverford). They lived away from their parents, attended public school, and skated midnight to 3:30 a.m. every day.

And they worked hard. Carruthers Conrad compares their success to what Penn psychology professor Angela Duckworth describes in her book, Grit.

Its almost never the talent. You have to have that work ethic and that grit, Carruthers Conrad said. Obviously, God gave us some talent, but he also gave us the perfect storm of all the other things: Great coaching, parents that were incredibly supportive. We kind of had it all.

Or possibly not all. We were one of the least talented [pairs], she said.

As adopted siblings, they had nurture if not nature on their side as did Carruthers Conrads oldest child. Brett Conrad was born in Cherry Hill and adopted by Carruthers Conrad and her husband, also named Brett. He would be the first of their four children in four years: two adopted sons, followed by two biological daughters.

And yet nurture and skating success found him as well. Brett landed his first axel on a trip to Delaware to see Luddy. He qualified for the U.S. Junior Championships several times before giving up the sport. But he took it up again for a year in college and won the U.S. Collegiate Championships in 2015 at the junior level.

The Carruthers will be hosts of a Saturday night skating show. The weekend also includes a reception and a golf outing at the Rock Manor Golf Course next to the rink.

Along with the Carruthers, the Olympic skaters expected to attend include Scott Gregory (1984 and 1988 Olympics), Suzy Semanick (1988), Kim Seybold Catron (1988), April Sargent Silverstein (1992), Russ Witherby (1992), and Todd Waggoner (1988), along with coaches John Nicks and Kerry Leitch.

The future of pairs skating also will be on hand. Sonia Baram and Daniel Tioumentsev, the 2022 U.S. junior pairs champions, will skate in the show.

Tickets are available on luddysk8ersfund.com.

The rink and the golf course are on Carruthers Lane in Wilmington yes, named for the most successful skaters who trained there under Luddy.

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Olympic skating greats come to Delaware to honor the sports legendary pairs coach - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Jersey Mikes 12th annual Month of Giving was capped off by what is the busiest day of the year for the sub giant on March 30. The Day of Giving saw all 2,200+ franchises across the country donate 100% of their sales to the Special Olympics USA Games and when everything was said and done it resulted in a $20 million donation. Some 5,000 very special athletes will take part in the event from June 5-12 in Orlando, Florida and Jersey Mikes is the main sponsor.

As part of this the Law Enforcement Torch Run which began in Chicago will stop in Point Pleasant Beach on Tuesday (March 24) with a special ceremony at Donald T. Fioretti Field at the Antrim Middle School. That location has special meaning to Peter Cancro, the founder and CEO of Jersey Mikes who played on that field as a member of the Garnett Gulls football team.

We talked about that, why he wanted to support the Special Olympics and more.

We couldn't be more excited for Farmer's Market Season!

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Talking With Jersey Mike's Founder/CEO Peter Cancro About Their $20 Million Donation to the Special Olympics USA Games - shoresportsnetwork.com

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Knights of Columbus donation sending Hawkins team to Special Olympics USA Games - Therogersvillereview

Teams of Russian basketball players have been barred from upcoming mens, womens and 33 world championships due to the war in Ukraine.

FIBAs announcement Wednesday was an extension of its indefinite ban on Russian teams from March.

The first affected tournaments are the mens and womens 33 World Cups in Belgium next month.

Russian Olympic Committee teams won silver medals in the mens and womens 33 tournaments in Tokyo in that events Olympic debut.

Russian players are also barred from the FIBA Womens World Cup in Australia in September.

Russia and Belarus were also withdrawn from qualifying tournaments for next years FIBA Mens World Cup.

That at least dents, if not ends altogether, their hopes of qualifying for the 2024 Olympic mens basketball tournament. FIBA has yet to respond to a request for clarification on how it impacts Olympic qualification, which is largely dependent on participation in the latter stages of 2023 FIBA World Cup qualifying.

Russia didnt qualify full mens or womens teams for either of the last two Olympics. It won Olympic bronze medals in 2012 (men, led byAndrei Kirilenko) and 2008 (women, led byBecky Hammon).

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Russia basketball teams barred from world championships, risking Olympic qualifying - Home of the Olympic Channel

The WWE Hall of Famer Mark Calaway, aka The Undertaker, is one of a kind! Yes, The Undertaker, for over 30 years in the WWE, has put fear in the opponents eyes. However, behind the curtains, he is a different man altogether.

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The Undertaker, earlier in April, was inducted into the WWE Class of Hall of Fame. Vince McMahon and the company paid tribute and endowed his legacy. The Deadman finally took place among the immortals after spending three decades in the company.

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Many wondered what was next for The Phenom! This man has given a lot of time to the squared circle, and his passion for professional wrestling is impeccable.

The Undertaker, after his time away from WWE, decided to surprise a fan. However, this surprise of The Deadman was a unique one. The WWE Hall of Famer made his way to Pflugerville, Texas, to surprise Special Olympics athletes.

He appeared during a football practice while the players were preparing for the Special Olympics Games. The moment Taker stepped on the football ground, SOTX athlete Ezra met his childhood hero.

Ezra saw The Deadman on the football field and reacted with aWHAAAAAAT?In addition, he came running toward The Undertaker and embraced him tightly.

When Ezra hugged him, Taker asked him, Hey, buddy! Howre you doing?This was a massive moment for this lucky fan because he got to hug the WWE legend and his childhood hero. Special Olympics athlete responded,Im doing good. Oh, my god! Im a huge fan of you, man!

Watch This Story:-From Being An Ice Hockey Fan to Hunting: Brock Lesnars Favorite Hobbies Outside WWE

Imagine when you watch and idolize someone on television and get an opportunity to meet them. Fortunately, this is what happened to the Special Olympics Texas athlete Ezra.

Before Takers WWE Hall of Fame ceremony, he made a special guest appearance at Special Olympics Texas (2022). His love life and former WWE Divas Champion Michelle McCool accompanied him for SOTX.

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During the SOTX Winter Games, Mark Calaway and Michelle McCool were the official emcees of the event. For Taker, hosting the Special Olympics in Texas is an enormous honor as it was getting inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this year.

Undertaker, being a Texan, attends the Special Olympics Texas field every then and now. One of the precious things The Phenom has offered the wrestling fans is his character. Many imagine Takers scary character is the same character off-screen. However, thats not the case!

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Behind the scenes, The Undertaker has always been a teacher, idol, and a loving father and husband. But, no matter how much fear Taker put in the opponents eyes inside the squared circle, he was the opposite off-screen. And today, a Special Olympics athlete saw that side of The Phenom!

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Its a Tough One: The Undertaker Isnt the GOAT of WWE as Per Highly DecoratedHall of Famer

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WWE Legend The Undertaker Floors Budding Special Olympics Athlete With a Gesture That Would Make Anyone Jealous - EssentiallySports