#Her as a paralympic athlete is just in my head

[sunnycanwrite]

What Paralympics sport do you see Barbara Gordon doing?

[thistleandthorn-rpg]

Admin J's new character, Remy Washington. Do the thing.

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias: J

Preferred pronoun:  She/her

Age: old

Timezone/Country: CST/US

RP Experience: I run this bitch

Activity Level: Meh

IC INFORMATION:

Name: Remington (Remy) Logan Washington

Designation: Former Switch, Officially a Dom

Age: 26

Claim: None (broken claim)

Faceclaim: Hero Fiennes Tiffin

Orientation: bisexual

Occupation: Gym Owner

Kinks: Denial, cuckolding, TPE, choking

Anti-Kinks: scat, vomit, gore, needles, knives, bonda

Key Points:

*Athletic/ Paralympic Wheelchair Basketball Player

* Hot-headed/ Short fuse

* His sub recently left him and he's not looking to get into anything committed yet.

* Thick skinned

*Quiet and distant at first, then opens up

BIO:

Remy would love to tell you that he never let is disability get him down, but that would be bullshit. It was hard growing up normal and then all of a sudden being so much different to everyone else around him. The incident, which took his left leg, did give him perspective however and his hot headed nature calmed some what, or rather became more focused. Instead of getting drunk and looking for trouble he was much more interested in keeping things calm, until he saw injustice. He was never going to sit back and watch a submissive get mistreated, not again. So while he rarely started fights these days, he was certainly good at ending them.

His submissive was his long time girlfriend who had been with him through his recovery and the many years since while he grew stronger and pursued his career in wheelchair sports. But the traveling and constant practice grew to be too much for her. "It's me or basketball, Remy, you can't have both. I won't sit here and -and be ignored for a -a bouncing rubber ball," she'd snapped at him one day. He knew it was more than that. They'd grown distant and he'd changed, a lot. He wasn't who she'd committed to all those years ago anymore. So, he let her walk away, telling himself that he was doing the self-less thing.

Now, retired, and with only a few years to find a new sub, he's starting his life over once again. Along with a guy he used to train with, they've started up a gym in town. He likes working with the at risk youth, trying to guide them toward the right path while instilling in them that they don't need to take life laying down and no obstacle is too big to over come.

BIO QUESTIONS :

Describe your occupational journey and how you got to where you are. 

"My buddy and I started a gym in town. I retired from sports but I still want to stay active and I want to help other people, kids, the way that people helped me when I got hurt. I didn't have a lot of start up money, but Mr. Lodge liked our idea and was real supportive. He even chipped in to get us some seed money and deals on equipment. I think in a few years we could be one of the elite training spots in the state."

How would you describe yourself as a Dominant/submissive?

"Ah man, I duhno. I ain't got time for bullshit and games. Either you wanna sub for me or ya don't, I'm not gonna make you and I'm not gonna sit around and baby you. I've subbed before and I don't mind it. There's a time and place for it for sure, it can be relaxing with the right person. My thinking is to just do what makes me happy in the moment, fuck the world and what they think."

How do you feel about authority?

If it ain't crooked, then I'm fine with it, but most people in authority are either idiots, brainwashed or out for themselves. I'm not a "rules are meant to be broken" kind of guy at all, but I'm not above breaking a stupid rule for the sake of logic.

[moonmint58]

Somerset Activity & Sports Partnership

Females Training Bursary Limelight 2

Content

Troon Hockey Club Junior Club Trains: Shona, Tracey, Catherine, Karen, Connie And Claire.

It Can Enhance Your Life.

While the number of female footballers has grown hugely because time, it has not necessarily been matched by females relocating into coaching, yet Signeul can see that altering. As somebody that has been in charge of ladies's football teams for 40 years and is still going strong, few people are better put to speak about the progression of females in coaching functions than Anna Signeul. The programme aims to assist women to navigate profession challenges and maximise their occupation capacity. It builds individuals' feeling of neighborhood as well as their ability to trainer each other. It also opens up communication channels between these groups as well as the organisation which can allow favorable systemic modifications. Join us for a night with Kate Oldridge as well as Lucy Widdowson - Leadership coaches specialising in creating females leaders. They will certainly use an interactive strategy to check out charlatan disorder as well as look into the typical barriers facing females in the modern office and also offer services to support breaking through these barriers.

What are the 3 main coaching styles?

There are three generally accepted styles of coaching in sports: autocratic, democratic and holistic. Each style has its benefits and drawbacks, and it's important to understand all three.

I have actually come out of this experience a calmer, a lot more kicked back, less fiery leader. I 'd advise Lynn and also her group to any person requiring knowledge, understanding and the individual tools to do a great work. To successfully coach females who are at, or coming close to, this leading side implies matching them with a trainer whose qualifications likewise enable them to be an important thought-partner.

Troon Hockey Club Junior Club Trainers: Shona, Tracey, Catherine, Karen, Connie As Well As Claire.

In collaboration with sportscotland we remain to offer the Females in Coaching Programme. The focus gets on ladies trains leading coaching in a range of club atmospheres. Delegates will have the ability to experience a secure group mentoring setting with other likeminded women. This program is structured in such a way that you can focus on what is most important to you and also your scenarios.

It is both organized and strategic, aiding you establish perspective, greater emotional knowledge, and better total psychological versatility. We are a training service that concentrates specifically on women that wish to redefine their variation of success. We are experts in emotional knowledge, durability and also confidence.

It Can Improve Your Life.

It appropriates for any females who want to advance their careers, are undergoing change, desire even more self-belief, confidence or assertiveness or simply time out to reassess and re-evaluate their values, objectives, function. The courses themselves allow for development of skills but additionally a meeting of minds. " Having access to the most current mentoring techniques as well as application, access to analysis is actually interesting," claims Signeul, that is also a UEFA technological observer and also technical teacher. " The opportunity to network with other instructors is a truly important aspect of the diplomas. That is where I have my sounding boards." The Finland head trainer has actually been preparing her side for the big UEFA Women's EURO qualifying game with Scotland-- a team she led for 12 years and understands very well.

UA women offer sophomore first Power 5 home - Arkansas Online

UA women offer sophomore first Power 5 home.

Posted: Sun, 17 Jan 2021 08:29:10 GMT [source]

UK Sporting activity is identified to see better variety across the high-performance neighborhood as well as this program will certainly concentrate on seeing more females at the top end of high performance. Trains, alongside professional athletes, go to the heart of our high-performance neighborhood and we securely believe that a more diverse mate of extremely competent coaches will certainly assist more of our Olympic and also Paralympic professional athletes realise their potential. Leadership, profession and also exec coaching for organization specialists. We know as well as value the outcomes achieved through respectful listening. This training constructs higher self-awareness and also confidence in your very own leadership. It helps you depend on yourself and your own design of leadership better, integrating strenuous reasoning as well as instinct, as well as valuing difficult and soft data.

Our trains come from diverse histories with knowledge in a variety of specialisms. They bring an extensive understanding of the value and also point of view ladies bring to the office that allows them to incredibly support women leaders. We take fantastic treatment in matching women leaders to their coach, consisting of chemistry calls with 2-3 recommended trainers so that the females leaders can choose their ideal thinking partner. We additionally use eventually imaginative coaching programs on a regular basis in Leeds and Manchester for women that intend to be aggressive, tactical and enjoy an extra effective and also satisfied life. Mikaela Jackson is an individual efficiency train as well as devoted champion of females who aspire to be the most effective variation of themselves, develop success by themselves terms as well as live a life they like with positive impact. https://hemel-hempstead.trusted-coaching.co.uk/women/ can be through sharing instances of finest practice, experienced coaches supplying tips as well as recommendations to striving instructors, or just being able to relate to others and also get in touch with your peers.

Who are the top life coaches?

50 Best Life Coaches in the WorldNo. 1: Christian Mickelson. Business Coach for “Coaches” No. 2: Susan James. Human Potential Coach. No. 3: Esther Hicks. Law of Attraction Coach. No. 4: Bob Doyle. Law of Attraction Coach. No. 5: Cheri Huber. Zen Coach. No. 6: Bob Proctor. Money Coach. No. 7: T Harv Eker. No. 8: Aryana Rollins. More items•

, bespoke freelancer as well as company training and also mentoring for female company owner or particular programs and webinars to improve strength. Recent readily available data shows that although 85% of all primary teachers were women, simply 73% of main headteachers were women. In addition 63% of all additional teachers were female whilst simply 38% of secondary headteachers were females. This information shows that women are under-represented in management positions, specifically at secondary degree. The DfE's National Coaching Pledge welcomes all leaders to make a voluntary pledge to instructor aspiring women leaders. Females Leading in Education and learning is aimed at supporting ladies into management functions, via growth chances, sharing of good technique and access to a range of valuable sources.

Women to Work concentrates on ladies's advancement, both 'into' the office and also 'within' the workplace. Training can be helpful in a range of scenarios; to sustain service startups, to help enhance performance at the office, to sustain job life equilibrium, to assist somebody with their profession. trusted coaching Women business coach Richmond is packed with essential features can be utilized in family circumstances, with young adults, with people experiencing difficulties in life and also in details areas such as training or sales. This is for senior women in the work environment to supply a private space to share, show as well as prepare their management method. We additionally trainer aiming women leaders to assist them accomplish board or collaboration positions. General training has been widely helpful for me as a reflective space where I'm able to evaluate previous experiences, what I did and also what I wanted I had done, as well as informing how I would certainly do points in a different way in the future. I feel I have an entire brand-new 'internal resilience' that will remain to expand and offer me in the future.

Coaching women through unplanned pregnancies - The Catholic Spirit

Coaching women through unplanned pregnancies.

Posted: Wed, 13 Jan 2021 21:37:19 GMT [source]

Whether youre a brand-new or seasoned coach, or are just interested, were below to sustain you on your coaching trip. The Rugby Football Organization are pleased to introduce the new coaching and also monitoring team that will lead the England Pupils Women's program via to the 2021 Celebration of Globe Cups. You have what it takes to make an adjustment in your life, occupation and business. Book a 15-minute phone call to figure out how a management train can help you in your career. Mentoring females leaders is necessary since it can boost their self-confidence as well as partnership to function, which can be two of the obstacles that stop women from getting to management settings in the first place.

[n3rdlif343va]

Chasing Gold Zine Promo Ficlet # 2

Ficlet number 2 in my AU for the @yoichasinggoldzine!! Please follow the blog to keep up on all the latest ordering news!

The first ficlet in the series is available on Tumblr here or you can follow the whole series on Ao3 Nerd's Chasing Gold Zine Story 

The first time Minami met Yuuri Katsuki he waited in line for forty minutes, his eight year old body twitching in excitement as his mother attempted to calm his nervous bouncing. Other children had stared as Minami clutched his favorite picture of Yuuri, a pen tucked into his left hand with its unmoving fingers. The metal joints of his left leg creaked as he bounced, ignoring everyone around him and focusing on his hero at the end of the line.

When he was finally motioned forward, Minami had rushed to Yuuri’s side, declaring he would be just like the famous triathlete someday. He heard the anxious hiss of his mother’s breath, a sound she always made when Minami talked about becoming an athlete, but he remained focused on his hero as Yuuri knelt beside him.

“Well, if you are going to grow up like me, you are going to need lots of practice and a really good bike,” softly Yuuri slipped the pen from Minami’s prosthetic hand, accepting the offered picture with a slight chuckle.

“I like to run!” Minami announced, leaning closer to Yuuri to watch him scroll his signature at the bottom of the picture. “But I don’t have a bike,” biting his lip he glanced at his mom, seeing her shake her head slightly. “Mom says bikes for me are really expensive, so I am saving up to buy one.” He was proud of the small bucket of coins and bills that he had collected over the past few months, puffing out his chest to prove he was serious.

“I saved up for my first bike too,” Yuuri capped the pen, tucking it into the front pocket of Minami’s shirt. “I still have it actually.” He moved to stand up at the direction of the photographer, when he was stopped by a hand on his arm.

He would never remember what spurred him to say it, but Minami blurted, “kids make fun of me, you know.” Shuffling his feet, Minami stared at the ground. He had counted down the days until he got to meet Yuuri face-to-face and now he was going to cry in front of his hero. Swallowing hard, Minami continued to bore holes into his feet with his gaze. “They say I can’t do a lot of things, but I know I can.” His breath hitched. His brain wanted to ask Yuuri for advice, but he couldn’t get the words out.

Sitting back on his heels, Yuuri sighed. “Kids used to make fun of me too.” Pausing, Yuuri nodded with a sympathetic smile when Minami looked at him. “They said I was too chubby to be a runner. They told me I would sink like a rock in the water.” A blush crept over Yuuri’s face as Minami watched him intently. “You know what I told them?” Waiting until Minami shook his head, Yuuri smiled. “I told them I was Kirby. And I was going to suck up all their insults and use them to become stronger.”

Minami clamped his hands over his mouth as the giggles escaped. He wanted to be confident like Yuuri but he didn’t know how. Through his shocked giggles, Minami asked, “what can I tell them I am?” Rotating his wrist, Minami looked sadly at his hand, letting it drop to his side with a thud against his leg.

Thinking about it with a finger over his lips, Yuuri broke into a grin. Sliding his phone from his pocket, Yuuri’s fingers flew over it, turning the screen to show a screen of images to Minami. “Tell them you’re a cyborg.” Using his index finger, Yuuri clicked on one of the pictures. “See this guy? He’s my favorite. He is a pirate cyborg. He can sword fight and cook and pilot space boats!”

Squinting at the picture, Minami shook his head. “They all kind of look like bad guys.”

“Well, looks can be deceiving,” Yuuri locked his phone and put it back in his pocket. “Just because someone looks different, doesn't mean they're bad, right? You can be a good guy cyborg with lots of talents.” Pushing up from the ground, Yuuri patted Minami on the shoulder. “If anyone makes fun of you, tell them you are a cyborg on a mission to collect gold medals.”

“I can do that!” Minami shouted, throwing his arms around Yuuri’s waist. “Thank you, Katsuki Yuuri! You’re my hero!” Turning to smile at the cameras, Minami continued to hang from Yuuri’s waist until his mother pulled him away.

“Ah, wait,” Yuuri took a step toward Minami and his mom, “can I ask why you chose that picture?” Pointing a finger toward the picture in Minami’s hands, Yuuri looked nervously at the little boy.

Smiling down at the picture of Yuuri rolling out of a fall and back onto his feet in the middle of a race, Minami took a deep breath. “Because you fell down. You fell down, but you got right back up and you still won the race. It reminds me to always get back up.” Feeling his mom tug his arm, Minami waved at Yuuri as he was pulled away, leaving Yuuri to stare speechless behind him.

The second time Minami saw Yuuri Katsuki in person, his hero was standing outside of his school, next to his mother. Minami had sprinted away from his friends, running as fast as his mismatched legs could carry him. He stopped short when he noticed the bike leaning against Yuuri’s leg. Lifting a shaky hand, Minami gingerly touched the modified handle bars, glancing up at Yuuri in confusion.

“This was my first bike,” Yuuri explained, lifting the metal frame to spin it around. On the left side of the bike was a specialized pedal, the kind that Minami had been circling in magazines at his doctor’s office for two years. “I had to contact a few different people, but I had it fixed up for you. New tires, special parts, it’s all set. Now all you have to do is learn to ride it.” Yuuri’s laughter burst out of him as Minami dived into his arms.

Tears streamed down Minami’s face as he buried it against Yuuri’s waist. He had been saving up to buy a bike, but it had grown harder to convince his neighbors that he was capable of performing chores for money. They had taken one look at his hand or at his leg, offering to give him the money instead of making him earn it. Minami didn’t want pity so he never accepted any of it.

The bike from Yuuri didn’t feel the same way. As Yuuri helped him take a seat, hand firmly gripping at the back of the bike, Minami didn’t feel even an ounce of condescending judgment. Yuuri’s instructions were concise and helpful without the patronizing tone that Minami’s gym teacher liked to use.

His first ride home, flanked by Yuuri on one side and his mother on the other, was wobbly and resulted in a heavy line of sweat across Minami’s brow. Every ride after that was an improvement, and he had weekly phone calls with Yuuri to update him on his progress. Even on the coldest days, Minami happily rode his bike to school, smiling as his peers rode beside him. It was his first step towards being exactly like Yuuri Katsuki and Minami loved every second of it, even the seconds spent patching scrapes and scratches from tumbles onto the ground. Just like Yuuri, he always got back up and kept going.

Now, that same teenager Minami had looked up to had become the man who ran beside him as his coach. Their relationship had started that day in the meet-and-greet line and had continued to be a staple in Minami’s life throughout every major life event. Yuuri had attended Minami’s graduation and had been there when Minami signed with his first coach.

It was Yuuri’s abrupt retirement after the last summer Olympics that had encouraged Minami to reach out. While he never asked Yuuri why he retired, Minami did ask the most important question on his mind. Thus, from thousands of miles away, Yuuri Katsuki became Minami’s coach and together they were preparing for Minami’s first appearance at the Paralympics.

Nudging Yuuri as they jogged, Minami motioned towards his watch and nodded back toward the training facility. With his own nod, Yuuri changed direction in stride with Minami to head back to the building on the hill. It was a light practice day, as they had a more important activity for that afternoon. With another nudge, Minami took off at a sprint, challenging his coach to a silent race as they tore off back to the locker room.

Ever the efficient team, Yuuri and Minami worked to hand out drawstring bags to all of the children gathered outside of the training facility doors. Each bag contained items from Minami’s sponsors. He never kept more than he could use himself, getting permission from each sponsor to pass the goods onto the children of the Katsuki & Kenjirou Kids. Every week, Minami and Yuuri would pack a new set of bags, and every week their group of children with a wide range of disabilities would gather for a mile ride around the training park. It was Minami’s favorite day of the week and he knew without asking that his coach felt the same way.

“Are we ready to ride?” Minami yelled, pumping his fist in the air as the children behind him cheered. Next to him, Yuuri laughed, raising his own fist to mimic Minami’s. Behind them, the fleet of K&K Kids were ready for their weekly ride, cheering as they set off down the path on varying forms of modified bikes.

Smiling back at his coach, Minami set a steady pace, listening to the happy chatter of the kids all around him. Of all the lessons Yuuri had taught him, the most important was to look beyond himself to see the difference he could make in the world.

What Minami didn’t know was that he had taught Yuuri this lesson first, on the day they first met, when Yuuri learned the true definition of being a hero.

[newstfionline]

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

U.S. population growth slows (The Economist) In mid-December the US Census published new population estimates (to be used for comparison when official census data are released in 2021). For those keen on growth, they offer mostly grim reading. California’s population has stalled and may, for the first time, be declining. Illinois, which has shed over 250,000 residents in a decade, has shrunk for seven successive years. In the year to July, thus counting in little pandemic effect, New York endured more shrinkage than any state: it lost 126,000, or 0.65%, of its people. Some states, mostly in the South, are growing fast, but not enough to lift the national rate. Overall, America’s population is barely inching up by historical standards. In the year to July it grew by 0.35% (or 1.2m) to 329m. No year since 1900 has seen such a miserly gain, though the year to next July could be slower still. Even in the dark days after the first world war, as the Spanish flu raged, growth was faster. William Frey of the Brookings Institution calculates expansion in the decade to July 2020 at just 6.6%. If his sums are right, that is the lowest decadal gain since 1790.

Washington braces for intense opening to a pivotal year (AP) The tumult of 2020 isn’t over yet. The opening week of the new year will be dominated by a collision of events that will test America’s commitment to democracy, shape President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming administration and determine the future of the Republican Party. It begins on Tuesday with two runoff elections in Georgia that will decide control of the Senate. Biden’s ability to easily set up his Cabinet and enact a legislative agenda hinges on Democrats capturing both seats. The focus shifts to Washington on Wednesday, where Congress is set to certify Biden’s victory in the Electoral College. The typically procedural afterthought is now a battle as some Republicans, eager to satisfy President Donald Trump’s most loyal supporters, say they won’t certify the results of a free and fair election. Others in the GOP are warning that such moves are destructive. Even in a capital that has become somewhat accustomed to the chaos of the Trump era, the tension heading into this week is particularly acute. The repercussions could be long-lasting, influencing the course of Biden’s administration and ultimately the American resolve to peacefully transfer power from one party to another.

The time to question election results has passed, all living former defense secretaries say (Washington Post) The time to question election results has passed, and there is no role for the military in changing them, all 10 of the living former defense secretaries said in an extraordinary rebuke to President Trump and other Republicans who are backing unfounded claims of widespread fraud at the ballot box. The former Pentagon chiefs issued their warning Sunday evening in an opinion piece that they co-wrote and published in The Washington Post. Its authors include Trump’s two former defense secretaries, Jim Mattis and Mark T. Esper, as well as each surviving, Senate-confirmed Pentagon chief dating back to Donald H. Rumsfeld in the 1970s. It comes as concerns persist that Trump might seek to use the military to keep himself in office, despite his electoral loss. “Our elections have occurred. Recounts and audits have been conducted. Appropriate challenges have been addressed by the courts. Governors have certified the results. And the electoral college has voted,” the former defense secretaries wrote. “The time for questioning the results has passed; the time for the formal counting of the electoral college votes, as prescribed in the Constitution and statute, has arrived.”

Mexico’s president reaches the people with morning show (AP) Retired auditor Rafael Silva pours himself a cup of coffee and turns on his television at 7:00 a.m. each weekday morning to watch. Also in Mexico City, Amalia Meléndrez tunes in after her morning bath. Four thousand miles away in the United States, engineer Raúl Juárez connects to the internet no matter where he is —at home or in his car—to see the show they all wouldn’t miss for anything. It’s not a Mexican soap opera—though its number of viewers rivals some—it’s the daily, marathon morning press conference that President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given every weekday since he took office on Dec. 1, 2018. That’s over 500 opened-ended news conferences, sometimes lasting as long as three hours. They are a platform for the president to relay information he says the media ignores or misrepresents. Others say they are propaganda venues López Obrador uses to attack his critics. They are undeniably a break with the past in a country where some presidents could go years without taking an unvetted question from a reporter. “It’s my favorite series,” said Ana Errasti, an interpreter in Mexico City. “Any reporter can go up and directly question the president, and he shows his human side, without a script.”

Britons flying home to Spain caught in post-Brexit red tape (AP) Blame COVID-19 travel restrictions or Brexit but whatever the cause, some British citizens trying to return to their homes in several European countries this weekend were barred from boarding flights. Airlines refused documents that before Brexit had been valid proof of the Britons’ status as residents in Spain, Italy and Germany, although Spanish authorities claimed that the issue had been resolved by mid-Sunday. Their ordeal came amid heightened travel restrictions due to a coronavirus variant that has been blamed for faster contagion in the U.K. and highlights the bureaucratic complexities resulting from Britain’s departure from the 27-nation European Union. Around 300,000 British citizens are registered as permanent residents in Spain, although before Brexit, many more had been living full or part-time in the country without officially registering.

UK prime minister orders new virus lockdown for England (AP) Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Monday a new national lockdown for England until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus, even as Britain ramped up its vaccination program. Johnson said people must stay at home again, as they were ordered to do so in the first wave of the pandemic in March, this time because the new virus variant was spreading in a “frustrating and alarming” way. From Tuesday, primary and secondary schools and colleges will be closed for face to face learning except for the children of key workers and vulnerable pupils. University students will not be returning until at least mid-February. People were told to work from home unless it’s impossible to do so, and leave home only for essential trips. All nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services.

Scottish independence (Foreign Policy) British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has made clear his views on a potential referendum on Scottish independence, telling the BBC that such votes should only be held “once in a generation.” Under current rules, a referendum would likely need the support of the government in London to go ahead. Johnson’s remarks come as Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon continues to push for Scottish independence, saying Scotland is “committed to a legal, constitutional route to becoming an independent state,” in an opinion piece published in the Irish Times on Saturday.

British Court Addresses Fate of Julian Assange (Foreign Policy) A British judge will today decide whether to extradite Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to the United States to face an 18-count indictment related to the release of thousands of documents, including diplomatic cables, published by Wikileaks in 2010 and 2011. Assange has been held in high-security Belmarsh prison since his forced removal from the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where he had spent the previous seven years. Reporters without Borders (RSF) chief Christian Mihr, whose organization has been ever-present at Assange’s British trial, was pessimistic about today’s ruling. “I’ve always said that this is a political process. That means there is political pressure. And that means—as sad, as tragic as that is—I won’t be surprised if the court approves extradition,” Mihr told Deutsche Welle. The United Nations special rapporteur on torture Nils Melzer said the U.S case against Assange is “just because he practiced investigative journalism.” / Later (BBC): Wikileaks founder Julian Assange cannot be extradited to the United States, a court in London has ruled. The judge blocked the request because of concerns over Mr Assange’s mental health and risk of suicide in the US. US authorities have 14 days in which to lodge an appeal and are expected to do so.

The Tokyo Olympics hit the 200-days-to-go mark (AP) The countdown clock for the postponed Tokyo Olympics hit 200 days to go on Monday. Also on Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he would consider calling a state of emergency as new coronavirus cases surge to record numbers in Tokyo and neighboring prefectures. Japan has never had a lockdown for COVID-19, attempting to juggle the economy and health risks. It’s nearing deadline time for Tokyo Olympic organizers, the International Olympic Committee, and various Japanese government entities as they try to pull off the Games in the middle of a pandemic. Officials have promised to announce concrete plans early in the new year about how to get 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes into Japan; about the safety of the Athletes Village, and hundreds of thousands of fans, media, judges, officials, broadcasters and VIPs. The new year is here.

South Korea’s population falls for first time in its history (The Guardian) South Korea’s population has fallen for the first time in the country’s history, as it battles an ageing population and chronically low birth rate. The latest census figures, released at the weekend, show the population stood at 51,829,023 at the end of December, down 20,838 from the previous year. Data reported by Yonhap showed the country recorded 275,815 births in 2020, compared with 307,764 deaths. The trend, which has also led to a population decline in neighbouring Japan, is adding to pressure on the government to address the long-term demographic challenges posed by a rapidly ageing society and one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.

Australia’s Influence in Pacific Islands Grows as China’s Wanes (Bloomberg) Australia is moving to boost ties with small island nations off its eastern coastline, pushing back against China’s growing influence in the Pacific Ocean as the virus outbreak hinders travel. Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government has promised to supply its neighbors with Covid-19 vaccines in 2021 as part of a A$500 million package aimed at achieving “full immunization coverage” in the region. It also recently signed a “landmark” deal with Fiji, one of the region’s most populous nations, to allow military deployments and exercises in each other’s jurisdiction. “China has largely been missing in action in regards to providing Covid-related support in the region,” said Jonathan Pryke, who heads research on the region for Sydney-based think tank the Lowy Institute. “Australia has built up an amount of goodwill by not forgetting about the Pacific in a time of crisis.”

Tensions with Iran (Foreign Policy) Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has seized a South Korean-flagged tanker and its crew, Iranian state media reported Monday. Tensions between Seoul and Tehran have escalated since South Korea froze $7 billion of Iranian funds in its banks after the United States reimposed sanctions on Iran following the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018. Iran also announced Monday that it had resumed 20 percent uranium enrichment, the most significant breach of the 3.67 percent enrichment agreed as part of the 2015 nuclear deal that was signed by several major world powers, including the United States. The move puts Iran one step closer to reaching the 90 percent enrichment required for a nuclear warhead and sets up an early challenge for the incoming Biden administration. Sunday marked the anniversary of the assassination of Iranian military commander Qassem Suleimani, and the United States was wary of a possible retaliation. The U.S. Defense Department announced that the USS Nimitz, due to leave the Persian Gulf, would remain in the region due to threats made against President Donald Trump and other senior officials by Iranian leaders. The move came just three days after the aircraft carrier had been ordered to return home as a message of de-escalation.

100 Civilians Are Reported Dead After Attacks in Niger (NYT) A hundred civilians were killed in attacks by suspected militants in the West African nation of Niger on Saturday, according to government officials. Armed men shot men and boys in what was said to be a revenge attack on the villages of Tchoma Bangou and Zaroumadareye. The villages are in the southwestern region of Tillabéri, where civilians have increasingly come under attack in the past two years. “They opened fire on everybody,” said Jahafar Koudize, a resident of Tchoma Bangou who managed to escape. The attack, which came just a week after Niger’s presidential election, is one of the country’s deadliest ever. Prime Minister Brigi Rafini, in remarks broadcast Sunday on national television from a visit to the area of the assaults, put the death toll at 100 but did not say who was responsible, Reuters reported.

Faith and spirituality in the time of Covid (BBC) Like many last March, the pandemic took Misha Allard by surprise. The 36-year-old from Toronto, Canada, had recently quit her corporate job to pursue an acting career—something she felt was her “calling”. With productions halted and no work in sight, Ms Allard decided to use the spring to explore another calling—her growing interest in spirituality. Like many millennials, Ms Allard had not attended church in years. Now, with nothing but time on her hands, she decided she would revisit her faith and see if she could find it a home. The pandemic had caused most churches to go from in-person worship to online services, which made it easy for her to try out different denominations. One of the churches she visited was the Meeting House, a protestant church that a friend had told her was “a church for people who don’t like church”. “They were doing a four-part series on basically love, and the fact that Jesus is love, and that so resonated with me, because I really believe that, and now more than ever do we really need love,” she says. For decades, religious attendance in most parts of the world has been declining. But the pandemic may just be reversing that trend, leaders from several faiths say, in part because the move to online services has helped make it easier for people to participate. “We’ve seen not only the numbers grow, but the kind of people, the people who wouldn’t typically feel comfortable even going to church, or setting a foot inside a new church,” says Bruxy Cavey, the lead pastor at the Meeting House.

[mhsn033]

BBC Women’s Sport Survey: How decisions on abortion and starting a family affect female athletes

“It used to be a in actuality easy decision to plan. The day after the operation, I won a saunter.”

That decision used to be abortion and Lucy – no longer her proper name – used to be competing on the very high of her sport.

A BBC look of elite British sportswomen has figured out that honest over 4% of respondents get hold of had abortions, on fable of they felt a diminutive one would get hold of an assign on their sporting careers. Right here’s more than twice the moderate price of abortions in England and Wales over the final decade, which stands at round 1.7 per 100 females.

“I used to be 21. I knew existence would be over for me doing what I mandatory to present in my sport,” says Lucy, one in all the 22 females of 537 look respondents who said she has had an abortion.

“You honest couldn’t produce what I went on to present. The dangers are excessive in my sport. You is more seemingly to be either in or out. It only in actuality worked for me after I didn’t get hold of any responsibilities to any individual else.

“I make no longer be apologetic about it at all.

“I very important kept it to myself. I’ve never spoken about it. I never told any individual – or no longer it’s bit of an wonderful feat at one of these young age that I honest went and sorted it out and then carried on as if nothing had came about.”

One rugby participant, who had already had a diminutive one, said she had a termination on fable of she used to fret that a scar from a C-share would possibly well maybe erupt as a outcomes of all but again and all but again crouching within the scrum.

“I mandatory to get hold of but some other child nonetheless I knew if I did I’d no longer be ready to play my sport from now on,” she says. “I didn’t are attempting to renounce my sport.”

Others get hold of no longer needed to plan that decision but, nonetheless say they know what they’d produce.

“Sadly that is something that my associate and I get hold of needed to discuss – what if…?” says Para-archer Jodie Grinham.

“Or no longer it is a laborious one. I take a seat there with tears in my eyes on fable of or no longer it is so laborious to claim. Or no longer it’s in actuality laborious to claim to your associate who in actuality needs a diminutive one: Look, I in actuality akin to you with all my coronary heart nonetheless if we were to descend pregnant, we wouldn’t be ready to sustain it.

“Or no longer it’s very laborious to claim: ‘I in actuality akin to you nonetheless I mustn’t get hold of your child factual now.’ Or no longer it’s dreadful, it in actuality is.

“We set apart so many measures in situation to make certain would never be ready to occur. I’ve set apart my physique below hundreds of stresses, hundreds of mood swings honest so I make certain I’m able to head and compete and get hold of my occupation. Or no longer it’s bloody laborious to get hold of these conversations nonetheless we’re so fortunate we can.”

Three years ago, American former Olympic 400m champion Sanya Richards-Ross revealed she had had a termination a day earlier than leaving for the 2008 Beijing Video games, where she won a gold and bronze medal.

She later said every female athlete she knew had had an abortion nonetheless the misfortune used to be “no longer talked about” and that she felt she had helped hundreds of females by speaking publicly about it.

Jodie Grinham won a silver medal on the 2016 Rio Paralympics

Per the look, honest over one in three (34%) get hold of delayed starting a family on fable of of their sporting careers.

“I’d doubtlessly be pregnant now or attempting [if I was not an athlete],” Grinham, 27, says.

“But I’m no longer in that 9-5 job where it is more permitted that a girl will settle on a whereas off at some level in her occupation to get hold of a diminutive one – you get maternity duvet for these forms of jobs. I make no longer get maternity duvet for my occupation; no-one goes in snort to head and compete and shoot for me.

“A man… if he and his wife judge to get hold of a diminutive one, he can actually get hold of a diminutive one at any level. Sadly, whereas you compete which that you just would be capable to maybe presumably inch over the delivery and that is rubbish nonetheless it would no longer settle on a toll on his physique, his physique, his coaching ability, no longer having to physically tackle the being pregnant.”

And for athletes who produce judge to inaugurate a family all the device thru their careers, there is meticulous planning fervent to hit the ‘excellent timing’. And naturally, no guarantees.

“In verbalize to get hold of a diminutive one I’d get hold of to get hold of it the twelve months after a Video games twelve months, or going into the Europeans twelve months, so I’m able to get higher – on fable of I need to be relief the twelve months earlier than a Video games twelve months to pick out a quota situation to then put collectively for the Video games,” says Grinham.

“The misfortune I’ve bought is that if I make no longer apply that structure and get hold of a diminutive one on the inappropriate level, then I’m showing that my occupation is no longer in actuality the precedence.

“Why would I be selected? If I used to be going out partying every weekend, I’d no longer be viewed to be a committed athlete. For me, if I judge to get hold of a diminutive one a twelve months earlier than a Video games, then I’m no longer committed to going to the Video games.”

Grinham says she seems at her time table for planning a family in four-twelve months blocks, coinciding with the sporting calendar.

And the window of opportunity is extremely tiny.

“Exclaim, if next twelve months after the Video games used to be the twelve months we decided to get hold of a diminutive one, it would possibly well maybe must be a case of: We’re going to present all the pieces we can, we will get hold of to check fertility, we will get hold of to present ovulation tests, we will get hold of to get this bang on. Otherwise, sadly, we will get hold of to wait but some other four years,” says Grinham, who says she has additionally regarded as freezing her eggs.

“We get hold of four months and if we won’t produce it in four months then we wait four years!”

‘In verbalize for you to advance relief relief, you should be the appropriate’

Correct over a quarter (26%) of these who took part within the look said they felt supported by their membership or governing physique to get hold of a diminutive one and return to their sport, nonetheless more than a Third (36%) said they did no longer.

Of the 184 who said they’d delayed starting a family, 29% p.c said they felt supported and 52% did no longer (the rest ticked ‘no longer appropriate’).

Among the tips expressed within the nameless look were:

“If I wasn’t doing sport, I’m able to imagine I positively would get hold of settled down by now and had a family. I honest positively wouldn’t produce it now whereas I’m doing sport.”

“I deem it is loads more durable for females to get hold of a family whereas taking half in sport. No-one in our sport has ever had a diminutive one and advance relief and on account of this reality I make no longer feel assured that I’d get hold of the improve necessary to inaugurate a family, basically monetary. If I wasn’t a fleshy-time athlete, I’d get hold of hoped to were well on my device in a occupation and get hold of already started a family.”

“I haven’t pursued a family. In loads of ways right here’s on account of sport, nonetheless then I get hold of continuously been self-funded – I wish I will get hold of depended on an profits within the sports I were occupied with.”

“I get hold of continuously said to my fiance that I’m no longer having babies until I’m happy and until I get hold of done what I are attempting to present with sport. I’m able to imagine or no longer it’s laborious to present what I get hold of to after that. My physique clock is ticking in my head. I make no longer are attempting to search out out too unhurried that or no longer it’s made it hard to get hold of children. If I am going and get hold of a diminutive one and get hold of 9 months off, then I’m doubtlessly no longer going to be the appropriate or the tip. Ought to you advance relief and are attempting to be picked, you should be the appropriate, nonetheless that is honest sport.”

Abortion is one in all many considerations raised by the BBC Elite British Sportswomen’s Peek. BBC Sport can be intellectual a spotlight on the others with protection at some level of the week on the BBC Sport web reveal, BBC Radio 5 Stay and BBC TV. More knowledge would be figured out right here.

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[olympic2020tickets]

Olympic Canoe: Canoeist Funk warns long term effects of coronavirus on athletes are "still unknown"

German canoe slalom paddler Ricarda Funk speaks she trusts that the long-term belongings of coronavirus should be anxiety for all athletes. Funk, who has already qualified for the rearranged Tokyo Olympic Games, supposed that although athletes are used to protecting themselves and staying healthy, the coronavirus has presented new challenges in this regard.

Olympic fans from all over the world are called to book Olympic 2020 tickets from our online platforms for Olympic Tickets. Olympic Basketball fans can book Olympic Canoe Tickets from our ticketing marketplace exclusively on reduced prices.

Speaking as part of the International Canoe Federation's series of podcasts How Sports Stars Cope in COVID-19 lockdown, Funk described coronavirus as scary. If you get it, maybe there is a remaining impact, I don’t know. So yes, I am a little bit scared, but I just try to stick to the rules, and I think if you keep this in mind we should be safe. We never really know, you could be infected and you don’t know.

"Of course it is a little bit frightening because it’s new, and we don’t know yet the influence on athletes," Funk supposed.

Funk, who has won five World Championship medals counting one gold as well as two general World Cup titles in the K1 class, was on her way to Australia to make for the Olympics as the coronavirus pandemic began to take hold around the world.

"I was expecting it somehow, it was the right decision and I’m fine with this because the health of the public is much more important than the Olympic 2020 Games," Funk supposed.

But we all have to get through this, and I think we will find a good way. It’s crazy because in 2016 my selections were awful. I was in good form, but I just couldn’t bring it down. I trained hard since 2016, after failing, I had this goal in my head and I wanted to go there, and then I finally made it, and now for the first time in history, this has happened.

“Verfuerth, who has been locked down in Arizona for several months, said she had experienced a rollercoaster of emotions during the pandemic.”

Funk was joined on the podcast by Kaitlyn Verfuerth, who has represented the United States in tennis at three Paralympic Games and is now attempting to qualify for the Tokyo Paralympics in the sport of para canoe.

"It’s very unclear, some days you feel good, and some days you ask by hand why do you even want to get out of bed," Verfuerth supposed.

I keep trying to find things to motivate me, and staying fit is one of them.  Back in March, I was in a lull when everyone was still debating if some of our activities and competitions were still going to happen. I felt really in this limbo, do I continue to train, am I supposed to train because I’m not supposed to be around anybody, what’s the point of training if I’m not going to compete.

Olympic 2020 fans can get Olympic Tickets through our trusted online ticketing market place. Sportticketexchange.com is the most dependable way to book Olympic Packages.

[sportsintersections]

12 Exciting and Moving Sports Books with Disability, Chronic Illness, & Neurodiversity Representation

These sports books, from memoirs to romances, all contain some sort of disability, chronic illness, and/or neurodiversity representation. There are definitely some limitations and gaps in this list – YA fiction books tend to focus on romance when it comes to teens with chronic illness, and there are definitely more books out there about teens who have recently acquired physical disabilities and/or are using mobility aids only temporarily. That said, every year there is more representation out there! And please let me know if there’s anything great that I’m missing.

All books are YA fiction unless otherwise noted.

The Running Dream, by Wendelin Van Draanen

When Jessica loses a leg in a car accident, she thinks her life is over, and she’s certain she’ll never run again. As she deals with crutches and a new prosthetic, she comes to see her past judgment of a classmate with cerebral palsy in a new light; especially when that classmate is now tutoring her to help catch up on the schoolwork she missed. Jessica’s emotional journey as she deals with a huge change in her physical abilities and navigating a world that isn’t designed for people with disabilities, the trauma of the accident, and her resulting survivor’s guilt are realistic and moving.

Rules for 50/50 Chances, by Kate McGovern

Seventeen-year-old Rose Levenson is faced with an impossible decision: does she want to know how she’s going to die? When she turns 18, she can take the test that will tell her if she carries the genetic mutation for Huntington’s disease, the degenerative condition that she has watched destroy her mother’s body from the inside out. If she knows the future, will she still want to pursue her passions, like going to ballet school, or falling in love? But then she meets a boy who has been dealt a similar genetic lottery. Is it worth hoping for the future, if it could include him?

The Year We Fell Down, by Sarina Bowen (new adult)

Corey Callahan was expecting to start her freshman year in college as a varsity hockey player, but instead she arrives in a wheelchair, after an accident on the ice leaves her partly paralyzed from the waist down. She has to live in a special accessible room away from all the other freshmen, but she gets to know the hockey player across the hall, who is extremely hot…but also has a girlfriend. Should she just forget him? Would he even like her anyway, when she feels broken? (Note: although there isn’t much hockey actually played in this book, it forms an integral part of both protagonists’ identities). TW for the use of ableist slurs (by characters with disabilities).

How We Roll, by Natasha Friend

Quinn loves her family, friends, skateboarding, and basketball, but when she’s diagnosed with the auto-immune disorder alopecia and loses all her hair, her friends suddenly disappear. Then she meets Nick, a former football player who is now in a wheelchair after a freak accident. Together, they figure out how to regain confidence and self-esteem, even though their lives look different than they expected, and maybe find love along the way. Note: Quinn also has a brother with autism.

Just Don’t Fall, by Josh Sundquist (memoir)

Josh was only nine years old when he was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, the cancer that would lead to the loss of his left leg. This story is just as much about his coming-of-age in a small Southern town as it is about his passion for skiing. But the exciting, moving, and often funny story takes the reader along on the bumpy road to the Paralympics in Turin.

Pinned, by Sharon Flake

At first glance, Autumn and Adonis seem to have nothing in common: Autumn is popular and outgoing, whereas Adonis keeps to himself. Autumn is a star wrestler, but she has a learning disability that makes reading a struggle; Adonis is in a wheelchair, but he’s a strong reader who loves books. Told in alternating points-of-view with two very distinct voices, this book is a testament to unlikely friendships, identity, and difference. It’s especially rare to see characters of color who have physical and/or intellectual disabilities in YA. TW: some non- or dubious- consensual kissing/romantic advances.

The Beginning of Everything, by Robyn Schneider

Ezra was the varsity tennis captain with a whole blessed life ahead of him, but then he shattered his leg in a car accident. This book has funny, witty dialogue and romance reminiscent of John Green, but also has more serious and moving moments. Ezra is unlikable, especially at first, when he’s very spoiled and kind of a jerk, but he becomes a sympathetic and relatable protagonist by the end. TW: animal death.

Pop, by Gordon Korman

After his parents split up, Marcus moves to a new town where he doesn’t know anyone, and strikes up a friendship with an older man named Charlie, who turns out to be the infamous football star Charlie Popovich, “the King of Pop.” But what damage exactly can all the “pops” in football cause? Full of pranks and suspense, this is a funny sports story with a goofy older character that makes the serious issues it deals with (dementia caused by repeated head injury) more accessible and approachable. It’s also full of entertaining football scenes.

A Matter of Heart, by Amy Dominy

Sixteen-year-old Abby Lipman seems destined for great things – a state swimming championship, and maybe even the Olympics. But then she faints at a swim meet and gets a sobering diagnosis of HCM, a heart condition that has led to the sudden death of young athletes. How is she going to figure out who she is and what this means for her life, without the one thing she’s always known? TW: suicidal ideation.

My Shot: Balancing It All and Standing Tall, by Elena Dell Doyne (adult memoir)

Elena Delle Donne, 2015 WNBA MVP and Olympic medalist, shares her story of passion, hard work, loyalty, and family. She was a basketball prodigy who gave up a scholarship and chance to play for the legendary Geno Aurriema at UConn to stay close to her sister Lizzie, who has multiple disabilities, including cerebral palsy. Elena talks about the emotional and psychological challenges of competing at the highest level of a sport, as well as the long-term health challenges she has from recurrent Lyme disease, in this inspiring and interesting memoir.

Hit Count, by Chris Lynch

How do we reconcile Americans’ love of football with our knowledge of its long-term effects? That’s the question that Chris Lynch asks in this engaging story of a teen football star who loves being in the center of the action, even (especially) if it means getting hit and hitting back even harder. Everything is fine -- even though he might have a little pounding in his head, a little dizziness, a little confusion from the chronic head trauma, it’s worth it for the exhilaration of the tackle! But eventually the people he loves him tell him he has to stop. What will he choose? TW: the descriptions of violence and injuries can be quite graphic.

Kicking Up Dirt: A True Story of Determination, Deafness, and Daring, by Ashley Fiolek (adult memoir)

Ashley Fiolek, a deaf motorcross champion at only 19, tells of her rise to the top of a male-dominated sport in her memoir. Although many of the blurbs for the book talk about Fiolek “overcoming” her disability, the actual book is frank and straightforward about her experiences, how it’s felt to accomplish all that she has, and her frustrations about the inequality faced by women in motorcross.

[All cover images belong to the publishers].

For more YA books with portrayals of disability (not necessarily about sports), check out Disability in Kidlit (although it hasn’t been updated in a couple of years). Also, find a list of “7 Documentaries by Deaf and Disabled People” (a list inspired by Netflix’s generally well-liked new documentary “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution”), here.

[thisdaynews]

Coronavirus: What could it mean for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

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Coronavirus: What could it mean for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics run from 24 July to 9 August

With the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo just over five months away, and coronavirus continuing to cause havoc for the sporting calendar, attention has turned to how the Olympics might be impacted.

BBC Sport’s Laura Scott has spoken to health experts, athletes and specialists, including major events underwriters, on the various factors at play and contingency plans.

The effects of coronavirus on sport are beginning to be felt by all, including by the athletes themselves.

Just last week, Jamaica’s double Olympic sprint champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce competed at the Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow but decided to leave her young son at home.

“That is one of the reasons I actually didn’t bring my son with me to Glasgow because I didn’t want him travelling because I don’t know what is happening right now,” she told BBC Sport after winning the 60m.

Meanwhile, Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who is one of Team GB’s top medal hopefuls after winning heptathlon gold at the World Championships, said she was “lucky” she hadn’t planned her winter training around the World Indoor Athletics Championships, which were due to be in Nanjing, China next month but have been postponed until next year.

“Hopefully it [coronavirus] will clear up by Tokyo because a lot of athletes have put four years’ worth of prep into this,” she added.

Tokyo 2020 organisers, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) have insisted cancellation is not being considered.

Last week, John Coates, the head of an IOC inspection team, said: “We can confirm Tokyo 2020 remains on track.”

Dr Brian McCloskey, former public health director for London 2012, agreed it is not necessary for cancellation to be on the cards at this stage.

“It is important to remember there was a huge clamour for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games to be cancelled because of the Zika virus outbreak, but those Games went ahead without any problem,” said McCloskey.

“And the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010 were during the 2009 pandemic flu season and again they went ahead and created no particular problems either for the country hosting or for other countries around the world.

“So there is good precedent for saying these things can be done safely during a public health emergency but obviously it is important to keep the risks under review.”

McCloskey said he had been told the first case of coronavirus in Tokyo was detected by the surveillance system set up as part of Olympics planning.

“The system we put in place in London to ensure we could detect an unusual disease outbreak happening was something we shared with the Japanese organising committee and the ministry of health in Tokyo,” he said.

On whether there will be a deadline to make a decision, McCloskey said: “Essentially they can make the decision any time they like up until the day of the opening ceremony, but in reality teams will be coming into Japan for their training camps from several months before the Games start.

“I think by that stage it is unlikely people will want to change their mind after the teams have arrived in the country.”

Coronavirus: what you need to know

How much would cancellation of the Olympics cost?

No Olympics has ever been cancelled or postponed due to anything other than war. To do so for a virus would be unprecedented.

However, communicable diseases would form part of the insurance policy for Tokyo 2020, at a premium of about £300m.

A leading Lloyd’s of London underwriter told BBC Sport: “While a normal event cancellation policy might have a very specific exclusion with regards to communicable disease, normally when you buy a policy for an Olympics you won’t have a communicable disease exclusion.

“So theoretically, if the Tokyo Games were cancelled due to coronavirus, and whether or not that is because they suddenly can’t allow any Chinese athletes to attend and that is unacceptable, or if we just simply have a continued spread and it is decided that it is just not right and safe to continue with the Games, then the policy would be triggered.”

Asked about how much the organisers may have paid to insure the Games, they said: “A rate will depend on where the Olympics are, but you can pay anything from 1.5% to maybe 3% on the actual sum insured.”

Given the Tokyo 2020 organisers recently said their budget was £9.7bn, if the premium was 3% of the sum insured it would have cost £291m.

While the organisers would typically insure to cover lost revenue from ticket sales, the IOC may have also taken out its own insurance to cover sponsorship and broadcasting revenue.

Reports from London 2012 show that at this stage in the build-up, reporting was under way within the disease surveillance system.

Health Protection Agency (HPA) documents show that between January and May 2012 there was a “requirement for exception reporting so any significant issues that might affect the delivery of the Games would be reported. In addition the HPA was looking at information received from athletes’ training camps”.

The surveillance system involved collaboration with 200 countries and picked up “routine infections, such as norovirus in several athletic teams” before they got to the athletes’ village and “chickenpox among crew on a floating hotel for Games-related staff”.

Contingency plans included the ability to quarantine each team when they arrived at the athletes’ village.

Experts predict a similar arrangement would be possible in Tokyo, with the potential to screen athletes for coronavirus.

Tokyo will be 33-year-old Fraser-Pryce’s fourth and final Olympics.

“I’m hoping this situation will be cleared soon enough so we can all get back to not worrying and travelling,” she said.

“It definitely puts a dampener on a lot of things that are happening in the world so we’re hoping things will settle down and go back to normal.”

Landmark events like the torch relay – which begins in Greece on 12 March before the ‘grand start’ in Japan on 26 March – and crucial team holding camps may yet be impacted by this global health emergency.

With several years’ worth of planning having gone into Tokyo 2020, from organisers and athletes alike, there is widespread hope – and confidence from experts – that it can continue “on track” as the countdown to the opening ceremony on 24 July ticks on.

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[kansascityhappenings]

Simone soars: Biles named Associated Press’ 2019 Female Athlete of the Year

They’re called “Simone Things,” a catchall phrase for the casual ease with which Simone Biles seems to soar through her sport and her life.

The irony, of course, is that there’s nothing casual or easy about it. Any of it. The greatest gymnast of all time and 2019 Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year only makes it seem that way.

Those jaw-dropping routines that are rewriting her sport’s code of points and redefining what can be done on the competition floor? Born from a mix of natural talent, hard work and a splash of ego.

USA’s Simone Biles waves as she arrives for the womens all-around final at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Hanns-Martin-Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart, southern Germany, on October 10, 2019. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP) (Photo by LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP via Getty Images)

The 25 world championship medals, the most by any gymnast ever? The result of a promise the 22-year-old made to herself when she returned to competition in 2017 after taking time off following her golden run at the 2016 Olympics.

The stoicism and grace she has shown in becoming an advocate for survivors — herself included — and an agent for change in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal that’s shaken USA Gymnastics to its core? The byproduct of a conscious decision to embrace the immense clout she carries.

“I realize now with the platform I have it will be powerful if I speak up and speak for what I believe in,” Biles told The Associated Press. “It’s an honor to speak for those that are less fortunate. So if I can be a voice for them in a positive manner, then of course I’m going to do whatever I can.”

And it’s that mission — combined with her otherworldly skill and boundless charisma — that’s enabled Biles to keep gymnastics in the spotlight, a rarity for a sport that typically retreats into the background once the Olympic flame goes out.

She is the first gymnast to be named AP Female Athlete of the Year twice and the first to do it in a non-Olympic year.

Biles edged U.S. women’s soccer star Megan Rapinoe in a vote by AP member sports editors and AP beat writers. Skiing star Mikaela Schiffrin placed third, with WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne fourth.

Biles captured the award in 2016 following a showstopping performance at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where she won five medals in all, four of them gold. She spent most of the following 12 months taking a break before returning to the gym in the fall of 2017, saying she owed it to herself to mine the depth of her talent.

Day 11 Simone Biles of the United States waves to someone in the audience while waiting on the podium to receive her gold medal after winning the floor exercise during the Apparatus Finals at the Rio Olympic Arena on August 16 , 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images)

  Check social media following one of her routines and you’ll find people — from LeBron James to Michelle Obama to Chrissy Teigen — struggling to distill what they’ve witnessed into 280 characters or fewer, with whatever they settle on typically followed by multiple exclamation points and a goat emoji, a nod to Biles being considered the Greatest Of All Time.

Her triple-twisting double-flip (the “triple double”) at the end of her first tumbling pass on floor exercise is a wondrous blur.

Her double-twisting double-flip beam dismount (the “double double”) is so tough the International Gymnastics Federation made the unusual decision to downplay its value in an effort to deter other gymnasts from even trying it.

This is both the blessing and the curse of making the nearly impossible look tantalizingly attainable. When Biles learned about the FIG’s decision, she vented on Twitter, her palpable frustration highlighting the realness she’s maintained even as her first name has become synonymous with her sport’s royalty.

It can lead to a bit of a balancing act. In some ways, she’s still the kid from Texas who just wants to hang out with her boyfriend and her dog and go to the grocery story without being bothered. In other ways, she’s trying to be respectful of the world she’s built.

Take the GOAT thing. It’s a title she embraces — Biles wore a goat-themed leotard during training at the national championships in August — but also takes with a grain of salt, determined to stay grounded even as the hype around her grows.

Simone Biles competes on the balance beam during Women’s Senior competition of the 2019 U.S. Gymnastics Championships at the Sprint Center on August 11, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Yes, GOAT happens to be the acronym for her planned post-Olympic “Gold Over America Tour,” but ask her where the inspiration came from and she laughs and gives credit to a friend, Kevin, who came up with it in a group chat. It is both paying tribute to and winking at her status at the same time.

Biles has become well aware over the last three years that her every word and action carries far greater weight than she ever imagined.

Her most impactful moment of 2019 might not have come during a meet but sitting for an interview on the eve of winning her record sixth national title, when she fought back tears while talking about how USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the FBI failed to protect athletes during an investigation into Nassar’s abusive behavior.

The moment went viral, as most things surrounding her tend to do these days.

“I’m starting to realize it’s not just the gymternet anymore,” Biles said, using the term for her sport’s dedicated fans. “It’s an overall thing. It’s weird to get that kind of attention, but at the end of the day, I feel gymnastics has been overlooked in non-Olympic years. Yeah, it puts pressure on me. But I’m not trying to think about all the attention from the outside world.”

The attention figures to only grow in the run-up to Tokyo, where she will attempt to become the first female gymnast in more than half a century to repeat as Olympic champion. Her smiling face serves as the exclamation point at the end of every television promo for the Summer Games.

Let it be known: The smile is real. That might not have always been the case, but is is now.

Heading into the final months of a singular career, she is trying to revel in the journey while anxiously awaiting what’s next. Add it to the list of Simone Things.

“I feel like this is the beginning of my life and I don’t want gymnastics to be my whole entire life,” she said. “I’m definitely going to soak in the moment and enjoy it so 10 years from now I can look back and say ‘I had the time of my life out there’ … rather than ‘I was good, but I was miserable.’”

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/12/26/simone-soars-biles-named-associated-press-2019-female-athlete-of-the-year/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2019/12/27/simone-soars-biles-named-associated-press-2019-female-athlete-of-the-year/

[daunkemangi]

Paralympic Dream

This writing is solely my story. So, be ready if readers find it scattered, so long, or too me-oriented from start to end. Readers might also directly jump to the last paragraph where the points I want to deliver is summarized. Yet, the best virtual ovation is sent out to readers who read through paragraph over paragraph 😊 Wishing readers find this story convenient!

I think I was fifteen back then. I was in 3rd grade of junior high school and still an active chairman of OSIS (Stu​​dent Council). Then, that day came. I was assigned by the steering committee to attend leadership camp initiated by Daarut Tauhid –one of the biggest Islamic boarding schools in Bandung (or probably the country?). Frankly, at the beginning I was very reluctant to go; given the fact that my service period was about to end. I was supposed to already have focused on my national examinations, which was just around the corner, which would in absolute determining my graduation status. Yet, as the new OSIS committee election was not over yet, I still bore the responsibility. Meanwhile other schools, I bet, they would assign representative from younger intake. So, there I was, went alone with a bit of frustration –of leaving extra classes, of being had no peers, of staying full time in boarding school. The show must go on no matter what.

The camp was aimed at leadership development for youth. It was held for five days at Ar Rissalah, an Islamic boarding school in Ciamis, Jawa Barat, Indonesia. Yes, I lived there, through days and nights, following the residents’ routine. Also, true, participants were not allowed to leave the host area during the event. Okay, enough for the long meaningless buffer.

I could not clearly remember neither details agendas nor sessions delivered, but I do remember one of the sessions that made me cry out loud. It was Kak Tari who facilitated the session (oh thanks, I still remember her name after twelve years passes). I think she shared us things about fight, survival, and gratitude. How’s life could be so tough, and everyone might have different start-line or tools for going through what’s life would bring. Above all, to always be thankful about who we are and what we have is more important. That was her session about, at least from what I could remember. Then, it was closed by a four-minutes-video. A video that changed the way I see and appreciate imperfections. I keep carrying the value delivered by this video until now –well not perfectly and consistently, but I know it’s inside me somehow.

The video was started with familiar tunes of a song. That was Hero from Mariah Carey. The video visualized some athletes along with their equipment in sports competition situation. Seeing them on the screen making me felt ill at ease, embarrassed of myself, intrigued, and pumped up at the same time. Yes, I got so emotional seeing that video for the first time that, somehow, could not hold my tears down. How I could not be so, the video was so mind blowing to me (at that very moment) as actors of the video were not ordinary, they were athletes with a range of physical disabilities and the scenes were coming from some summer Paralympic games.

At the beginning of the scene, I watched a swimmer living with limb loss wearing goggles by himself, without help. He was ready to jump at the pool podium along with his opponents. Continued with a scene in athletics arena where some wheelchair track athletes prepared on the start-line, on trial of whirling their wheels. There was also scene of some visually impaired runners took start position helped by their guides. Next scenes, some athletes with artificial leg jumped for pole vaulting. A scene of athlete left his crutch for long jump with one leg also drew my attention. Then, a swimmer with dwarfism reached finish-line with big smile on his face. There was also an athlete who finished run with shaking and head not upright yet happily tossing hand with his opponent (later I knew this athlete had neurological disorder). There were also runners on the tracks accidentally crashed each other and then his prosthetic leg was broken. And more other clips that I could not have better description in words. Better to experience watching the clip by yourself.

Well, some of you might have already watched it, but why not to re-watch a meaningful video. I provided the link below. FYI, twelve years ago, I watched it in a way it was a very good quality video. Then, recently I researched and replayed it from YouTube; none of the available video has a fine quality as today’s video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYKUm2vSTao&t=11s

What an old video, isn’t it? Nevertheless, I would say it still delivers great message that sometimes tears still dropped from these eyes as watching this video.

Back to the story. I couldn’t help but crying throughout the video was played. My mind flied away thinking of how they could do that, how they practiced against their physical limitation, how strong they were of taking any risk of more physical injury to compete on the games. Above all, how these superhuman could even exist. Then compare to myself, compare to what I had done. I was a coward.

Every scene on this video is just worth to watch in my opinion, especially for me who often think that my life is way too tough. I could see powerful energy and inspiring spirit shown by the athletes in this short video. Agree, that everyone, oh I mean myself, faces hard times in life, but it is not fair to claim mine is the toughest one, to feel like I am the most miserable living body on earth, to think that no one could ever have big problem as mine, or to be an excuse for giving up. Most of us started life physically very well. Also, most of the world’s facilities in many aspects (public pedestrian, public transportation, markets, etc.) are more average-human friendly. And people with physical impairment should work extra to deal with it to survive.

Trying to put my shoes on their shoes, I could imagine how harder even their problem, yet they keep going. This extra work that they take is what differentiates them to be superhuman, in my opinion. Then, at that time watching the video, I had just known that many of this superhuman work beyond limit of competing in sports. I bow full of my respect for them.

These athletes had truly inspired me. Just like Hero’s lyrics, they showed me that hero lies in everyone’s spirit, it’s just about how people would grow and drive this spirit. The spirit here is hardworking, keep going, and inspiring. They are truly victor.

Ever since then, I got familiar and learned about Paralympic movement. When got back from the camp, I couldn’t stop telling my fellows in the school of how wonderful these athletes were. A true definition of make dream comes true beyond limit. They don’t limit the challenge but challenge their limit. I even once declared that I would watch them competing live. I would say, this was one of my teenage dreams.

In 2009, two year passed from the camp, I attended parliamentary model held by the Republic Indonesia House of Representative. From that event, the first time I knew that Indonesia would host the 26th SEA Games Jakarta – Palembang 2011. My dream was getting closer because every time a country hosts the games, it must be followed with hosting the Para Games. Unfortunately, though I continued studying at a university in Jakarta, I couldn’t make it because of budget and time limitation. Not lying, the ticket was quite expensive as well, while I still fought with my daily life in Jakarta at that time. Well, I was just student back then who tried to be very wise on daily expenditures.

Another chance came when in late 2014 I knew that Indonesia would host Asian Games and Para Games in 2018. As the year was approaching, I got super excited, I told myself that I must make it this time.

And yes, the 2018 Asian Para Games Jakarta was the place and the moment I made my teenage dream come true, a dream to watch live Paralympic. On 7 October 2018, after eleven years passes since my dream statement, I could finally watch live para athletes competing.

Being present in the spectators’ bench and meeting the para athletes was not just exciting, rather it was so radiant, an amazing experience. I would say it was one of the best weekends I ever spent, a fine Sunday morning to evening. I bought a-full-day-pass-ticket so that I could come to as many as possible competition venues. Fortunately, most of the competition venues were in GBK Arena; cost and time efficient.

I watched some events on para swimming in GBK Aquatics Arena. Every time the para athletes were introduced and were on the pool, I shouted their name out loud (especially if they were Indonesian) in the imagination of transferring spirits. In this stadium, I was hoping to watch Jendi Panggabean competing on the pool, unluckily, I didn’t come on the right schedule. Oh yes, Jendi is a successful Indonesian para swimmer who was born normal, but sadly lost his left-leg limb due to motorcycle accident when he was in junior high school. I adore his spirit just by reading his story and seeing his poster stand sturdily on his swim suit without artificial leg. It unveils a very powerful person.

Then, I happened to fully watch final badminton men’s team SL3-SU5 (SL=Standing Lower, SU=Standing Upper) INA vs MAS in Istora GBK. And Indonesia won! I participated in spectators’ seat during the victory ceremony where Indonesia Raya was played and Merah Putih was at the highest pole against Malaysia, Thailand, and India.

At that time also, my first time to see right with my eyes, so close, a female para athlete firmly stood up on a prosthetic leg in one of her leg, from toe until her thigh, respected to the flag. I couldn’t just hold my tears, I was so moved with everything happened at that very moment in Istora.

Next stop was GBK Basketball Hall where wheelchair basketball was held. I watched an intense match between women’s team of Afghanistan vs Thailand where Thailand was in victory. To my mind, watching people running on wheelchair is very challenging and hazardous (I think the risk of injury was also bigger). I imagined how difficult for them to control the wheel when needed to sprint or just easy run or even to stop for shooting the ball to the hanging basket. Also, the way they control hands to whirling the chair and dribbling the ball while in the same time avoiding opponents who tried to take over the ball was just amazed me. How on earth did they do that? Believe me or not, without realizing my tears just dropped. Probably, crashed each others’ wheelchair or fell down with the wheelchair on was just a routine view on the court. However, in my eyes, it was an unfamiliar thing that was exceptional, a great show of warriors.

The other competition I attended was sitting volleyball at Tennis Indoor GBK. I managed to watch winning match of Kazakhstan against Iraq. What drew my attention during the match was spectators who sat next to athletes’ bench. They were number of disabilities students along with their guardian. When the match was over, all the athletes approached them with very special greet that I, who watched across them, was so moved. These athletes were not only supported, but they supported their spectators. Inspiring spirit. I didn’t take video what I saw, yet I could share a similar video posted by International Paralympic Committee on their twitter account just for readers’ reference.

https://twitter.com/Paralympics/status/1050318241061453824?s=20

Basically, sport I wanted to watch the most was para athletics. However, as the para athletics events had not started yet on that day, all I could manage was coming to the training venue which was in Madya Stadium GBK. Well, I was just regular civil resident who had no access to training venue, but I managed to watch the athletes’ practice from the border outside the stadium. I even shouted their name when they passed by my watching point.

Frankly speaking, I had other mission of watching para athletics training session 😊 . I also looked up for contingents from DPR Korea (a.k.a. North Korea). Oh, I missed North Korean. It’s out of topic but should anyone interested, someday I will be keenly to write background of my yearnings to North Korean.

And yes, I made it. By standing by at the transportation spot of Madya Stadium, I met them, took picture with them, shouted our supports for them, and told them why we so cared to North Korean.

Well, eventually I managed to watch para athletics on the final day. I remembered it was on Friday, 12 October 2018. Where I suddenly ask half-day-leave from the office to my boss as all works already finished in the morning. Lucky me, she granted the leave! I immediately left the office to GBK Main Stadium. Kebagusan to Senayan in express to book a ticket as all online tickets were sold out. The para athletics competition started in the afternoon to early night. An unimportant story, I was queueing at the GBK’s ticket box together with Kak Seto (Indonesian famous child psychologist, chief of the National Commission for Child Protection’s advisory board). He brought numbers of students to watch para athletics as well.

Ticket on hand then ready to the stadium. Arrive in the venue, oh Dears, you won’t believe me how wonderful the atmosphere in the stadium was, so high-spirited. Don’t ask me how many spectators who came in to the stadium, it was so full and loud. It was final day. I watched number of track and field events then stood up every time victory ceremony held. From the field event, I watched shot put women in wheelchair category, visually impaired long jumper, and javelin throw. From track event, I watched wheelchair racers, sprinters with prosthetic legs, and long-distance runners with visual impairment.

I witnessed a special moment in long-distance running, men’s 5000M T11 (category of the most severe visual impairment, totally and/or almost blind). If I remember correctly, there were five to seven runners on the track along with their guide (FYI, runners with visual impairment would wear eye-mask and run accompanied by a guide). Everything seemed to be alright after the gun was fired from the start-line. First to second lap all runners were still so intense that each runner run closely overtaking the first position. I think, it happened when entering the third lap, a runner from DPR Korea drained energy and started to be left in quite long distance behind from other runners. Afterwards, the intense run went so low for him that he was laps behind other runners. When almost all runners achieving finished line, he still struggled for another laps. Could you imagine how it feels? Arrive together in the finish-line with the opponents yet you have not really finished the run? Obviously, he lost the competition. But did you know what happen? He did not stop running until 5000M was completed. Although other runners had winning celebration already at the side of the track, he kept running other laps only with his guide on the track. No more competition for him yet finishing what he started. I couldn’t help but yelling his name out loud. I went down in the spectators’ bench to get as close as possible to the track and yell his name also saying to kept going. He got everyone’s eyes in the stadium who also cheered him up. One lap down another lap to go for finish-line. He made it into the final lap and all I could see was his big smile in the finish line (Oh yes, I was sitting in the area close to finish line). Big applause from the stadium when he finally made it to finish-line.

A very inspiring spirit! Now I understand why the game’s slogan was the inspiring spirit and energy of Asia.

So, after so many paragraphs written down above, with buffers here and there, with repetition of words and phrases, the point of my story here was basically very simple. I want to tell background of how I dream to watch Paralympic and journey to finally make it come true. It started by attending a leadership camp and watching an influencing video of Paralympic games, then somehow it drove me to dream. After twelve years, with the great help of the Merciful of Alloh ta’ala, Alhamdulillah, I made this dream came true, of watching live para athletes competing. And watching them competing live brought me even more lesson learn to keep going in life. This Paralympic dream is a proof and reminder to myself that every dream is worth a fight, that dream comes true along with choice of chances to be taken, that dream comes true in the right time, that dream is a magic we freely create to live our life. So, Sevi keeps dreaming, fight for it and don’t forget to always be thankful 😊

Thank you for reading my Paralympic dream. I wish everyone who dreams fight to make it come true.

Credit photographs to Getty Images, IPC (International Paralympic Committee), The Jakarta Post, and Tempo.

[n3rdlif343va]

Chasing Gold Zine Promo Ficlet No. 4

The fourth ficlet in my promos for my piece in the @yoichasinggoldzine! (read on Ao3: Ready )

This is an AU where Yuuri and Victor are retired Olympic athletes, who now coach Paralympic athletes. You can follow the series on Ao3 here

Ficlet 1, Ficlet 2, Ficlet 3 on Tumblr

Pre-orders are now OPEN but the bundles are going fast! Please head to the blog to place your orders!!

The sun was warm on his face as Minami stood on the deck. Behind him, somewhere inside the training facility, his mom and Yuuri were discussing the last-minute travel arrangements. He had tried to be a part of the conversation, but with every box checked on their to-do list, reality became more tangible. Everything he had been working toward, the first chance to achieve the longest-lived dream of his life, was only days away.

Taking a deep breath, Minami closed his eyes, concentrating on the sun heating his skin and the breeze flirting with the strands of his hair. The energy within him vibrated, sizzling like a perpetual lightning strike. From the moment that he had dipped into the cool lake for the first time at five years old, defying the odds by learning to swim without his prosthetic limbs, his dream had started to form. His first glimpse of Yuuri, breaking through the water and storming toward his first victory over Victor, had given him an idol. He began to run, ignoring the kids who made fun of him for his awkward steps as he learned to find his own rhythm. Meeting Yuuri had added fuel to his determined fire and the day Minami had received the bike from him had ignited the hope to go with it.

There had been times though when his resolve was shaken. The whole world existed to tell him no and sometimes Minami felt that his screams of defiance fell on deaf ears. People wanted to doubt him and the power of that doubt, the strength of those negative opinions, always attempted to poke holes in Minami’s confidence. Eyes still closed, chest heaving with the memories, Minami let them run through his mind.

Freak, an older boy laughed, kicking Minami’s metal-jointed leg out from underneath him. The ground met Minami’s hip with a sharp strike and he bit back the instinctual yelp at the pain. Narrowing his eyes, Minami stood back up, refusing the hand offered by his friend. Dusting off his pants, Minami reached out to grab the shoulder of his assailant. “Hey,” he said, voice still even despite the tears he could feel threatening to spill from his eyes. “I’m not a freak, but you’re a jerk. Grow up.” Dropping his hand, ten-year-old Minami threw an arm around his friend’s shoulders and walked away from the silenced bully.

Cripple, a kid had called him at twelve-years-old, shoving at Minami’s shoulder as they lined up to run sprints during their required physical education. With a glint in his eye, Minami had leaned down into his stance, reacting at the sound of the whistle. He had greeted his insulter at the finish line, standing with his hands on his hips, watching with a smug smile as the other boy finally crossed the line.

Weak, his first coach had said, shaking his head as he pulled Minami from the water. Minami’s strokes were unbalanced, the power difference between his two legs was too significant, and there was no way he could train to improve what Minami was born without. Setting his jaw, Minami shoved from the dock, straight into the water. As his coach screamed for him to come back, he took those criticisms and burned them into his muscles, pushing himself to be faster and stronger.

Alone. His last coach hadn’t said the word, but her abrupt decision to retire had left it tattooed on Minami’s heart. They had been an effective team, Minami had been in top form and racing toward their shared goal. Coach Odagaki’s decision to leave their partnership was unrelated to Minami, but he couldn’t help feeling the sting of abandonment.

Your games, Yuri Plisetsky had said, the venom and scorn in those words had continued to smolder deep inside of Minami, even months after their charity photoshoot. Before then Minami had found the building rivalry between himself and Yuri intriguing and fun on certain occasions. He enjoyed the bantering over Instagram and the attempts to one-up each other in their training regimens. That moment at the photoshoot had opened Minami’s eyes to Yuri’s real view of their now-shared world. It had made him angry, and it was through pure willpower that he had hidden that anger. Those words, spoken with condescension and arrogance, remained on loop in Minami’s mind, pushing his desire to put the younger athlete squarely in his place below Minami on the podium.  

Swallowing hard, Minami forced himself to bring every memory back. Each of these moments had shaped him and driven him to where he stood. On the days when he felt the weakest, when the positivity that normally drove him to work past the pain failed him, the faces of these people and the lingering feelings they had planted in his heart compelled him to keep going.

There were other voices as well. The soft, calming voice of his mom, who had talked him through every change to his growing body, both the organic parts and the artificial parts. She had always supported his dream, even when she worried about the realities of it. She had protected him and given him space to push himself, never wavering in her everlasting love and support.

The voices of the trainers, who were constantly astounded at Minami’s strength and resistance, and who knew exactly when and how to encourage Minami to rest. They cared for him and kept him safe, never making him feel as if he was weak or different from the other athletes at the facility.  

Then there was Yuuri. Grinning at the thought of his quiet but demanding coach, Minami opened his eyes, looking down over the track that had been the source of many hours of torture.

Together, Yuuri had said. During the phone call that established the new chapter in both of their lives, Yuuri had promised Minami that victory would be theirs as a team. Every day since then, Yuuri had showed him the never-ending proof of his support, through long nights charting training courses and trips to meet with sponsors or make new equipment purchases. Yuuri made Minami feel important. Yuuri never made Minami feel as if Yuuri was giving up anything by being Minami’s coach. The team effort Yuuri had promised him was alive and well in every day of their partnership.

Minami’s brows furrowed remembering the day that Yuuri had held him through tears, the water of the locker room shower soaking both of them as Minami revealed that he had been receiving hate through his Instagram DMs. When the sobbing had passed, and they were wringing their clothes out, Yuuri had quietly reminded him that the voice of others didn’t have to become his own. Haters would always exist, but Yuuri encouraged him not to give into that evil influence. The only thing that could fight hate, even self-hate, was kindness and Minami was striving to put this belief into practice every day.

Clenching his hand around the metal railing, Minami felt his mind begin to settle. This was just another battle, and Minami was an excellent fighter.

Every day he fought. Minami fought through the doubts of others and the creeping fear that he wouldn’t succeed. He gritted his teeth against the pain, and held his tongue whenever someone let their eyes linger too long on the parts that weren’t naturally his. He pushed his body to its limits and pushed his equipment even further. When his body was ready to break, his spirit continued to hold on, dragging him forward to the next second, through one more minute, until those minutes became success.

Now he was standing on the edge of greatness, feeling the excitement and blinding terror settling from their swirling tornado in his chest. Being scared wasn’t an option. This was his dream to achieve, his medal to win, and only the beginning of everything he planned to accomplish. He had gotten here with faith, sweat, and an undying belief that he would make it. He had no intention of failing now.

Standing at the threshold to the sliding door, Yuuri watched his athlete. He could easily recall the nerves and thrilling anticipation of competition on the world’s biggest stage. Unlike himself, Minami was strong, he was made of light and hope, and there was no way Minami could lose. Taking a few steps forward, Yuuri placed a gentle hand on Minami’s shoulder. “Ready to go?” he asked, smiling when Minami’s eyes met his own.

“I’m ready,” Minami answered. After years of learning what it took to become a champion, Minami was ready to show the world that he deserved his place at the top. With a nod, Minami turned to fall in step with Yuuri, determination carrying him forward to the most important race of his career.

Together they loaded the van, ready to fight for Minami’s dream.  

[fatlier1-blog]

Everything a Paralympic Gold Medalist Does (and Eats) in a Week to Stay Fit

Sweat Diaries

Paralympic athlete Michelle Konkoly shares her Sweat Diary.

A class at The Bar Method. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

Welcome to Sweat Diaries, Be Well Philly’s look at the time, energy, and money people invest in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle in Philly. For each Sweat Diary, we ask one Philadelphian to spend a week tracking everything they eat, all the exercise they get, and the money they spend on both. Want to submit a Sweat Diary? Email ccunningham@phillymag.com with details.

Who: Michelle Konkoly (@michellekonkoly), 26, from Midtown Village

What I do: Second year medical student at Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University

What role healthy living plays in my life: Healthy living means taking care of my body by buying, preparing, and eating nourishing foods; getting plenty of sleep; and keeping my body strong, flexible, and conditioned by doing a diverse array of exercises. In 2011, I suffered a traumatic spinal cord injury that left me with a spine and heel fusion, and permanent weakness in my legs.  Since my injury, I have learned never to take anything my body can do for granted — I had to start from scratch to learn to walk again, and lost 30 pounds of muscle during my recovery.  After re-learning how to walk, I got involved in the Paralympics and won two gold, one silver, and one bronze medal in sprint freestyle swimming events at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics! I’m proud of my muscle because I know how far I had to come to get where I am today.  Now, I’m focusing primarily on school, but I still go to swim meets when I can.

Health memberships: I purchased the “New Client Special” at Bar Method Rittenhouse, which 30 days unlimited for $99. I also have a membership at the Jefferson Recreation & Fitness Center, which was included with tuition.

Monday

Michelle Konkoly trains in the Jefferson pool. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

7:10 a.m. — Alarm goes off, and I wake up and am out the door within five minutes to head to the pool at Jefferson. Fortunately, it’s only a three-minute walk!

7:30 a.m. — Swim at the Jefferson pool.  It’s a 20-yard pool, which is shorter than most pools, but we make it work!  One of my classmates swims with me and we do a tough 4000 yard aerobic workout. I swim faster than when we did the set last week so I am pumped!

8:45 a.m. — Showered, I walk back home and take my corgi, Ollie, out for a walk.

9:40 a.m. — Walk back to Jefferson’s campus for class and stop at dry cleaners on the way.

10 a.m. — Small group class. I eat my breakfast of papaya, pineapple, Greek yogurt, and chia seeds with a homemade latte (two shots and soymilk).  Someone brought in Isgro’s cannolis so I have to eat half of a cannoli as well!

11 a.m. — Facilitate a group for the first year medical students, and have another cup of coffee. Swimming in the morning makes you a special kind of tired.

12 p.m. — Walk to the University Health Center to get the PPD shot I need for volunteering. While I’m waiting, I snack on two leftover paleo chocolate chip cookies I made over the weekend.

2 p.m. — I finally get home, and eat lunch of a kale salad with avocado, carrots, tomatoes, and homemade carrot ginger dressing, plus slice of whole grain bread and some chocolate-covered almonds.

3 p.m. — I head to the Jefferson Library to overview the material for the week. I have three clementines and half a bottle of kombucha I got from the new Sprouts Market last week.

5:45 p.m. — I get home and walk Ollie to Washington Square Park. I finish an almost-empty bag of Skinny Pop kettle corn before I head to barre.

6:45 p.m. — Barre class at Bar Method Rittenhouse.

8 p.m. — Barre doesn’t make me nearly as hungry as swimming, but I’m still excited for my dinner that I prepped yesterday: sushi bowls!  I top some sushi rice with calamari salad my roommate didn’t want, plus some broccoli, edamame, pickled ginger, and nori strips. I also have some almonds and dates.

9 p.m. — Ok, the hunger caught up with me.  I go a little overboard on after dinner snacks tonight and have a sundae of tahini squares with an Enlightened fudgesicle, half a banana and coconut whip, and a slice of chocolate pumpkin bread. I went on a baking spree over the weekend and now have all these goodies sitting around tempting me.

10:30 p.m. — Finish studying and head to bed.

Daily total: $0

Tuesday

Weight lifting to work on fast-twitch muscles. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

8:14 a.m. — Woke up without an alarm. I try to give myself one day a week to sleep in. Once out of bed, I take Ollie for a walk and then eat half a banana and half a slice of chocolate pumpkin bread.

9:15 a.m. — At the Jefferson gym, and I do a one-hour lift, focusing on upper body explosiveness. I have a swim meet coming up in December, and since I swim sprint freestyle, power and fast-twitch muscle work is so important!

10:30 a.m. — Come home, shower, and make a latte to drink as I listen to this morning’s recorded lectures.

A smoothie bowl for lunch. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

12:15 p.m. – Make a smoothie bowl for lunch! I’m obsessed with my Vitamix blender. I make a smoothie out of frozen bananas, peaches, and spinach, almond milk, and Orgain vegan peanut butter protein powder, topped with homemade granola, cacao nibs, chia seeds, coconut, and fruit.  I finish off lunch with some chocolate covered almonds and salted almonds.

1 p.m. — I spend most of the afternoon continuing to work though this morning’s lecture material on dermatology. I walk into to Walgreens as a study break and buy tweezers and a pack of gum ($5.20).

2:45 p.m. — Finish the Sprouts kombucha, along with some more tahini bars (they’re so good!) and some fresh pineapple.

5 p.m. — I get ready for a Jefferson Gala event tonight at the Philadelphia 201 Hotel.  I Uber over with some friends and the venue is gorgeous!

Cake for dessert. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

6 p.m. — At the reception, I have three pieces sushi and a glass of Champagne. For dinner, we’re served bread and salad, and I request the vegetarian entrée of risotto, carrots, and broccoli rabe. I’m not strictly vegetarian, but try to eat less meat whenever possible! Dessert is a beautiful chocolate mousse cake with fresh berries.

9:30 p.m. — Uber back home and walk the dog. I’m craving something crunchy, so I grab a few handfuls of Special K out of the box before getting into bed.

11 p.m. — Bed!

Daily total: $5.20

Wednesday

Michelle Konkoly has an unlimited membership at The Bar Method. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

7:10 a.m. — Alarm goes off and I’m off to the pool.

7:30 a.m. — Swim a 3200-yard workout by myself. Today I used parachutes that are tied to my waist to add extra resistance. It’s tough but really helps me increase my sprint speed and power. I shower at the pool and then come home to walk Ollie.

10 a.m. — Grab my backpack and head to class.  I eat my yogurt with fruit and chia seeds and a latte — I make this breakfast the night before so I can just grab it and go.

12 p.m. — Class ends and I come home. I’ll never get over how hungry swimming makes me in comparison to other workouts!  I grab a couple almonds and pieces of caramel corn before taking Ollie out.

12:45 p.m. — Lunch is a bowl of kale, sushi rice, tofu, carrots, broccoli, and pickled ginger, plus a bit of spicy mayo on top! I also have an apple from when I went apple picking with my mom and sister last week.

2 p.m. — I head to the library and have three clementines as a snack.

3 p.m. — Every Wednesday we have “Cookie Hour” with the applicants interviewing at Jefferson. Current students can come to mingle and of course grab a cookie! Today they have strawberries and mini cheesecakes too, so during my break from the library I head over and have one of each!

5 p.m. — Come back home and have a snack before walking Ollie: a small bowl of Special K with cashew milk and freeze-dried strawberries and almonds.

6:45 p.m. — Barre at The Bar Method. It’s been fun to have the flexibility to try new workouts, rather than having to focus 100% on swimming, like I was during the time leading up to Rio.

Homemade sushi for dinner. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

8 p.m. — Finally time for dinner! I use my sushi bowl meal prep ingredients to make two homemade rolls and have a glass of wine with them.

9 p.m. — As I’m sending emails and studying, I make a bag of light natural popcorn and mix in a few pieces of caramel corn.

10 p.m. — We still have Halloween candy lying around, so I have a couple pieces (Reese’s are my favorite!) before walking Ollie and heading to bed.

Daily total: $0

Thursday

Enlightened ice cream from Sprouts. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

7:10 a.m. — Alarm goes off and I snoozed it for eight minutes.  I almost never hit snooze, but I knew no one was joining me for my swim this morning, so I wouldn’t be holding anyone up if I was a few minutes late!

7:35 a.m. — Swim a 2,900-yard workout.  It’s certainly on the shorter end, yardage wise, but today I used a bungee tether that attaches me to the wall so I can swim continuously against the resistance for the length of my 50 free race (about 30 seconds).  It’s a great way to simulate an Olympic length (50m) pool in our 20 yard pool!  The tether is no joke — my arms are always burning by the end!

9 a.m. — Showered and walked home, then walked Ollie.

9:35 a.m. — Made my favorite smoothie bowl again.

10 a.m. — Head back to campus for class, and drink my latte.  One of my classmates brought in candy, so I have two mini Kit Kats.

12 p.m. — Come back home and have a piece of chocolate pumpkin bread with pumpkin butter while watching lectures.

12:30 p.m. — Eat half of a GIANT apple, plus a kati roll from Masala Kitchen — one of my friends had some extras after an event.

2:30 p.m. — Spend most of the afternoon studying at home, and eat the other half of the giant apple.

4:15 p.m. — Have a pre-dinner snack of bowl of Special K with half a banana, freeze dried strawberries, dates, golden raisins, and soy milk. I also have a cup of pineapple spirulina kombucha.

6:15 p.m. — I take Ollie on a long walk, then have dinner: a kale salad with the rest of my sushi rice, tofu, bit of edamame, and a quarter avocado, plus a bowl of defrosted frozen mangoes, strawberries, and pineapple with coconut flakes.

7 p.m. — I have another event for the first-year med students on campus, so I walk back over. For some reason there’s so much candy around this week!  I have two mini packs of gummy worms as I catch up with my friends at the event.

8:30 p.m. — Come back home and have a true dessert: chocolate! I love Enlightened ice cream, and found a new flavor — black cherry chocolate chip — at Sprouts last week. I eat the whole pint happily as I’m studying, along with a piece of chocolate and two more tahini squares.

10:30 p.m. — Bed!

Daily total: $0

Friday

Spaghetti squash pasta for dinner. Photograph courtesy Michelle Konkoly.

6:38 a.m. — Alarm goes off and I grab a squeezable applesauce packet to eat on my walk to barre.

7 a.m. — Barre. It’s great to get my workout out of the way so early on Friday. I always feel like my posture is so great after barre, too!

8 a.m. — I walk Ollie and make my smoothie bowl. Today I use up some frozen strawberries instead of peaches, and get in some last minute studying as I eat it.

9 a.m. — We have short quizzes every Friday — this week was all about various skin conditions.

10 a.m. — Head back home and have two and a half slices of chocolate pumpkin bread with pumpkin butter as I do some chores and cleaning in my apartment.

11:30 a.m. — I make a homemade iced latte, and have a ThinkThin protein bar and a mini Rice Krispie treat as I do laundry.  I’m heading out of town for a wedding this weekend so I’m trying to get ahead on my normal weekend chores!

12:15 p.m. — I walk Ollie to Washington Square Park and call my dad to catch up as we walk.

1 p.m. — I get a pedicure and gel manicure in preparation for the wedding ($42 with a coupon).

2:30 p.m. — When I get back home, I have a little bit of leftover tofu with a quarter avocado, kale, and edamame, plus the rest of the pineapple spirulina kombucha.  I also finish up the final crumbs of a container of homemade granola, mixed with cacao nibs and golden raisins.

4 p.m. — I spend the afternoon prepping my study schedule for our exam week next week, and have a tiny apple and half a container of Greek yogurt with cinnamon and chia seeds.

6:45 p.m. — I start making dinner, which is really meal prepping for next week! I have four little breadsticks and a bit of olive tapenade while I roast a spaghetti squash.  I make a chickpea/nutritional yeast “cheese sauce” for the squash, and mix it all together with some sun dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives.  I also roast up some leftover veggies from a veggie tray.

7:30 p.m. — I pour myself a glass of white wine as I eat my spaghetti squash creation. The sauce turned out so creamy!

8:30 p.m. — My roommate offers me some of the red wine she brought back from Italy, so of course I have to try it.

9:30 p.m. — I finish up packing for the wedding and have an Enlightened fudgesicle and three pieces of candy for dessert.

10 p.m. — Bed! I have an early train to DC tomorrow, so I’m calling it a night!

Daily total: $42

Weekly Totals

Money spent: $47.20

Swim workouts: 3

Barre classes: 3

Strength workouts: 1

Smoothie bowls: 3

Glasses of kombucha: 4

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Source: https://www.phillymag.com/be-well-philly/2018/11/29/michelle-konkoly-swimmer-food-diary/

[fisicol92]

Four skaters from Japan, Rika Hongo, Keiji Tanaka, Satoko Miyahara and Yuzuru Hanyu talked to us about their skating career before the ISU Four Continents Championships 2017.

Q = Interviewer Wei Xiong for ISU RH = Rika Hongo KT = Keiji Tanaka SM= Satoko Miyahara YH= Yuzuru Hanyu

Q: How did you get into figure skating?

RH: My mother is a figure skating coach. I followed her to work when I was three years old, and I played around the rink. When I was five, I told her that I want to learn figure skating, and that’s how I started.

KT: There was a skating rink near my home, so at the beginning I went there just for fun. It was during my first grade in elementary school. Then I enjoyed it so much that gradually I started to take regular skating classes, and before I realized, I was already a member of the skating club.

SM: I started skating when I was four. I lived in the U.S. for two years and a half when my parents were studying there. There was a skating rink inside a shopping mall, when I went there, I tried to skate for the first time and I really enjoyed it, so I started to skate.

YH: It was my elder sister who started to skate first. At that time I wasn’t particularly into figure skating, but I was just following my sister and skating with her.

Q: When did you decide to dedicate yourself to this sport and be an athlete?

RH: I was inspired by Shizuka Arakawa’s victory at the 2006 Olympics, since then I started to dream about competing at the Olympics, and I started to train hard to be a skater.

After she won the Olympics, there was a parade in her hometown Sendai, and you were the kid who accompanied her in the parade car. Do you still remember that day?

Yes, I remember I was sitting next to her, and I saw the shining gold medal at a close distance. I thought that was so cool and I was inspired.

KT: After I joined the skating club, I think being an athlete just became something very natural to me, and I never thought about quitting because training was tough.

SM: I kept skating and naturally began real training after I came back to Japan. When I was in third grade in elementary school, I competed at my first international competition. Ever since then I realized I would become an athlete.

YH: For me, an athlete equals to an Olympian, an Olympic gold medalist. When I was around five-years-old, I already seriously thought about winning the gold medal at the Olympics. But what made me want the Olympic title strongly was the battle between Yagudin and Plushenko at 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

Q: Did you already have the confidence that you were going to be a top skater in the world?

Tanaka: I still don’t think I am competitive on the international stage, but one thing that inspired me was when Yuzuru won the World Junior Championships. He is the same age as me, and the best among us. When he won the junior title, I thought it was really awesome, and I wanted to catch up with him. So I made up my mind and set my goal to be a competitive skater in the world. One year after, I won the silver medal at junior Worlds.

SM: I didn’t think about being a top skater at that time, but I strongly wanted to go to the Olympics.

YH: Yes! I remember I got the second place at my first ever competition since I started to skate, but soon I won my next competition. I was presented a trophy in that competition, and I lifted the trophy over my head, just trying to imitate what Plushenko and Yagudin always did. It was a small trophy like this size (he pointed to his beverage bottle), and I did it like this (he held up the bottle over his head). It was a small, domestic competition, I think I was five years old, or maybe first grade in elementary school.

Q: Being an athlete is tough, but is there anything even tougher that you hadn’t expected or imagined?

RH: All your time is occupied by skating, I train every day, and it is so difficult to find some time just to hang out with your friends. Also, I need to get up early in the morning, that’s also tough.

YH: The risk of injury is high, and there is no guarantee that the harder you train the better you become, so I think that’s really the difficult part. Also, I think this is unique in Japan, but figure skating is so popular here that I cannot go out easily, and there are paparazzi around, so this is something difficult to deal with too.

(Does training in Canada make things easier?)

Yes, I can get more of my own time in Canada.

Q: What’s your favorite element in figure skating and what gives you headache?

RH: I like the jumps the most. Among all types of jumps, I like toe the most, but I am not good at loop.

KT: I like doing footwork, especially when it fits the music, it feels really enjoyable. As for what I am not good at, compared to those best skaters in the world, I have a lot of work to do on my spins.

SM: I like all elements. But I am not good at twizzles, and I wish I could spin faster on flying camel spins.

Q: Could you share with us the stories or inspirations of your programs this season?

RH: My free skate this season is choreographed by Akiko Suzuki. I want to enhance my presentation, and I think I can learn a lot from her. Before she retired, we were skating in the same rink, and I was always amazed and inspired by her. It feels great that I can continue to learn from her now in this way.

KT: It is a new genre of music (“Federico Fellini Medley”) that I’ve never tried before, so it was really difficult at the beginning of the season, I just couldn’t catch the feeling of the program, and couldn’t show the right facial expression. When I made a mistake on the first few jumping passes, it felt very hard to concentrate on presentation, and hence couldn’t put the program together. But at the NHK Trophy, I did well with the first few jumps, so I carried the momentum to the rest of the program, kept the energy and paid attention to facial expressions. I finally felt I was able to perform this program well.

SM: Tom Dickson recommended the “Star Wars” music to me in the middle of last season, and we started to do the choreography right after the season ended. The music is something different from what I’ve skated to before, but I think it is so cool and I like it.

You are always shy off the ice, is it difficult to skate to something so “cool”?

Yes, I really need to pay a lot of attention to the movements and scale when I skate, and give much more strength than before.

YH: The music of my free skate was composed by a Japanese composer, if I go deep into the story behind the music, it was actually the opening song of 1998 Nagano Paralympics. My mom watched the Nagano Olympics and Paralympics, and then she wanted my elder sister to skate, so she took her to skating class. If you think about it, those Olympics were the starting point of my skating life, so I want to use this piece of music. Also, as I mentioned, it was composed by a Japanese composer, so I think I can continue to present something I’ve learned from “SEIMEI”.

The Olympics really is something special for you, isn’t it?

Yes. On one hand, when it comes to competing at a competition, like in Sochi, I treated it as a normal competition; but on the other hand, I am planning and preparing for the next Olympics, so I guess I have a special feeling for it. Of course, I want to win the gold medal again in Pyeongchang.

Your long program is called “Hope and Legacy”, and you talked about how skaters’ performances can remain as a legacy. Which performance of yours do you think is your legacy?

YH: It was my first novice national championships, which I won. I was very happy at that time, not only happy for the win, but also for my score. It was still under the 6.0 system, I watched competitions on TV a lot, so I knew only those very top skaters in the world could get over 5.5 points, but I got 5.2 for my presentation. I was so happy at that time, and my performance at that competition became my motivation of skating, and it still motivates me now.

Q: What’s your equity in Team Japan? For example, are you the one that laughs the most, or talks the most, or are you the one who likes to give advice and take care of rookies, or are you the one that doesn’t talk at all, etc.

RH: There are younger skaters coming up this season, but this is only my third year on the senior circuit and there are more experienced skaters than me, like Asada or Murakami, so I am the one who still tries to learn from the elders during competitions.

KT: I am the shy one and not good at talking. On the contrary, Yuzuru is very outgoing and really talks a lot, sometimes I cannot follow him.

YH: We are all teammates, but at the same time competitors. For example, I am at the same age with Ryuju Hino and Keiji Tanaka who also competed at NHK Trophy, we know each other since we were kids, we are really good friends off the ice, but on the ice, we are competitors.

Q: Yuzuru, Keiji just said you always talk so much that he sometimes cannot follow.

YH: I admit. I really talk a lot, but I am thankful that he is always willing to listen. Just like I said, we knew each other from long ago, so I feel like he can understand me.

Q: How about in the skating club? For Rika and Satoko, there are many younger girls in your rink, do you give them advice?

RH: I talk to them a lot, but we seldom talk about skating.

SM: I often practice with them, and I get stimulation from them, I enjoy skating with them. I don’t always do that, but sometimes I do give them advice. I also have things to learn from them, so I think it is a very good training environment.

Q: What do you like to do off the ice?

RH: I like sleeping and eating. I especially like ice cream, so whenever there is a limited edition or new flavor of ice cream, I will go get it and enjoy.

KT: I like watching movies. Recently I watch a lot of Japanese movies.

SM: I like reading books and sleeping, and I like cooking. I like something sweet, and I like Japanese food. I cook for my family when I have time.

Q: Yuzuru, you are taking university courses via e-school, right?

YH: Yes, but I am too busy training to keep up with my studies. Nevertheless my classes are very interesting. I am majoring in Human Science, it is very broad, and I study a lot about human, about computer science, etc. Recently I am really into Human Bioethics. I’ve thought a lot about “life” in my life so far, and I am also thinking about “life” when I perform “Hope and Legacy”, so studying Human Bioethics helps my skating. Given that I don’t really have much time, I try to take less courses, but study in depth and make every minute out of it count.

Q: One thing I have to ask Keiji, your name “Keiji” (which means “police” in Japanese) is so special. Who gave you the name?

KT: It was my father. He gave me this name because it is very unique, you can’t really find another person with the same name, and he wants me to be a person with strong sense of justice. He didn’t expect me to be a policeman, but I think this is really a good name, and I am glad that people can remember me by this name.

from isu.org

[deepwithinmybonesfic]

Deep Within My Bones Ch 9-Fall

AU. Viktor wins another gold at the Olympics, and attends the Paralympics as another duty as the King of Ice Skating. Having lost his inspiration and heart, Viktor did not expect to find love in what he sees as the perfect man. Yuuri, after losing his legs, lost his chance to compete on the same ice as his idol. When the world seems to fall into place, what else can be taken away from them? Ch 1-6 is Setup, start at Ch. 6 for the cute romance-y and drama

“Yuuri--- Gomen!” Viktor burst into the dining room, after leaping out of bed, nearly stepping on Makkachin and running down the stairs. Most of the family was gone, as it was nearing 11 o’clock, but breakfast was still laid out on the table. There was a sweet envelope from Hiroko, Yuuri’s mother, and a matching note on the fridge to direct him to the poached eggs hidden inside.

“Huh?” He looked around, and at the two plates still resting next to each other. Yuuri hadn’t eaten yet either.

“Good morning!” Hiroko poked her head in from the door that lead to the living room. “Yuuri…!” She gestured sleeping, her hands by her head like a pillow, before pointing upwards. Viktor looked up, realizing he hadn’t made as much of a gaffe as he thought. Yuuri was still sleeping upstairs. Suddenly the hours they could have been practicing being lost didn’t matter as much anymore.

“Yuuuuuurii!” Viktor cooed, pushing open the door and jumping onto Yuuri’s bed, lying next to him. Vicchan squeaked, but only wriggled from his spot against Yuuri’s belly to closer to his shoulder. Yuuri squirmed, pressing his face into the pillow and groaning. “Noooooo,” He croaked.

“Yuuuri~” Viktor sang, flopping his arm around Yuuri’s back and nuzzling his nose against the man’s warm cheek. “It’s almost eleven, sleeping beauty.”

“Wha?” He lifted his head, blinking at Viktor, before he jolted, scrambling to sit upright. Vicchan huffed and sighed as the blanket shifted underneath him.

“The morning has escaped us.” He pushed the bangs out of Yuuri’s eyes tenderly as he blinked the sleep out of them.

“Oh no, I’m sorry—“

“Nothing to be sorry for my dear,” Viktor offered a smile.

“I’ve just been really tired lately; I didn’t want it to interfere...” He trailed off with a yawn. The smile faded slightly.

“Yuuri, if you need rest, you need to rest.  You can’t push yourself.”

“You skated the china Olympics with the flu.” Yuuri said dully, staring him dead in the eyes, with the cute little squint he got when he wasn’t wearing his glasses. At least Victor thought it was cute.

“Was I that obvious?” Viktor brought out the puppy pout, feigning near tears.

“You still won gold.” Yuuri said, reaching out blindly for his glasses on his bedside table. He patted the table twice before finding the glasses and unfolding the arms.

“But… I rested beforehand!” Viktor hadn’t, but there was no way of him knowing that from the media publications. “And so should you!”

“I’m okay, really.” Yuuri rubbed at his eyes under his glasses. “I went to bed early, I don’t really need to sleep anymore.” Vicchan disagreed with this notion, readjusting and snuggling into the new pile of blankets between Yuuri and Viktor.

“Well, we have breakfast first. Then we can get coffee and Ice Castle.” Viktor nodded, agreeing with his own plan as it tumbled out of his mouth

“Mmm… sounds good.” He stretched before putting an arm on Viktor and pushing him gently. “You’re in the way.” He mumbled

“I’m on your legs? But you don’t have any---“Viktor choked. Way to go, Viktor.

Yuuri rolled his eyes. “You’re—in--- the--- way.” He pushed again, making Viktor sway, but not move anywhere. “You CAN get my legs for me.” He pointed to the prosthetics propped up against the nightstand

“Is this a place you went to often?” Viktor asked, staring at the white plaster and varnished wood roof and raw, natural décor of the coffee shop as they sat, hands wrapped around warm mugs.

“Oh, no… Marigold opened while I was in Detroit, and I went to high school closer to Fukuoka.” Yuuri sounded shy, talking into his mug. The store had an elaborate setup that looked like it belonged to an evil scientist instead of an espresso shop, and the whole place smelled dark and rich. Each menu was hand-written and drawn on homemade paper, with pictures of the menu pasted on like a scrap book. “Yuuko actually told me about it…” He moved to nervously twist the plastic wrapper of the oshibori hand towel between his hands.

“Even if it’s new, I like learning about places you like,” Viktor has been learning to notice when Yuuri was anxious, or cutting himself down. He usually lost eye contact, his smile faltered, and he fidgeted. Sometimes, Viktor could feel it, the fast rush of a pulse even though he was sitting beside him.

What would it be like at the Cup?

“I think I’ve shown you everything in Hasetsu...” Yuuri mumbled, rubbing his thumb against the handle of the mug.

“It still seems so new. I was expecting it to be colder by now. It is in St. Petersburg.”

It was October and the aircon was still blasting. Over the summer, it had been harder to practice, as more and more kids came in to the rink for reprieve from the smothering heat.

“Do you miss it?” Yuuri asked softly, and Viktor had to think a while to make sense of the question.

“What? St. Petersburg?” Yuuri looked up from his coffee, before nodding slightly.

“I….don’t. It’s nice waking up to someone else who does more than bark back.” He mused with a smile. That morning was a perfect example. Things have been waving way slower than he wished for, but now they were happening. He HAD been in Yuuri’s bed before, but this was the first time uninvited. (Sadly, before it was merely to watch videos on YouTube and nico nico).

“It is nice…” Yuuri’s cheek flushed slightly, and he looked down, his lips curling into a smile.

---

“Yes! Next, Lutz!” Viktor clapped as Yuuri went through his routine for the cup. Even in his sweats, he was getting Eros. But that Eros had called out to Viktor from across the ice those many months ago. Even if the judges didn’t see it, his footwork would shine through. Viktor was sure of it.

“Vikkkkktooooor!” The doors to the rink slammed and rattled. Viktor whipped around immediately when he realized did not match the high sweetness of Yuuko or the chorus of her triplets.

“Yuri!” Viktor hissed, sliding to the edge of the rink and stepping off, steeling himself before the small blonde collided with him.  “Welcome to Hasetsu!” His voice wobbled as his stomach was hit in a repeated barrage.

“You asshole! Leaving Russia for almost a year and welcoming me to this backwater town like that!” It was so nice to hear the words and instantly understand them for once, even with the anger and bitterness behind them.

“I’ve missed you too~” Viktor closed his eyes and let Yuri go on until he wore himself out. Yuri stopped, looking up with surprise before remembering his anger.

“Yakov should fire you.”

“Yakov knows what I’m doing” This really wasn’t the time or place to talk about it, especially after a nice relaxed day and coffee with beautiful Yuri. “Does he know YOU are here?”

Yuri faltered for a second. They were more alike than Viktor hoped for. He really wasn’t the best role model, and yet, here he was, a god with someone kneeling at his altar.

“I’ll be back when Yuuri competes in the cup.” Viktor chirped, but this didn’t sooth the angry lines in Yuri’s face.

“I want to know what, exactly, is worth leaving your country behind for.” Yuri snarled. Yuuko had appeared behind the angry Russian child whirlwind.

She caught her breath before her face paled. “Yuuri!” She shrieked, her voice echoing and bouncing across the ice arena. Viktor turned, looking behind him, his stomach falling before he even registered what had happened.

Yuuri was collapsed onto the ice, a dark lump surrounded by blinding white ice.

Viktor didn’t notice exactly when he had left little Yuri and glided across the ice, it seemed like a split second before he had Yuuri off the ice and in his arms.

“Wait—you aren’t supposed to move someone who’s hit their head!” Yuuko called out, before panicking. That was way beyond her high school English. She paced, stepping from foot to foot before she dashed back to the counter and grabbed the first aid kid. She had no idea what could even help among the Band-Aids and athletic tape, but it was something to do.

Viktor felt like the world was dropping out from underneath him, even though his ankles screamed with pain and the cold ice bit painfully into him. He should have let him take a day—slept in even more. They should have gone on another tour of a game center and wasted another 2000 yen and not pushed him. Of course he would push through it, he never wanted to disappoint him, and now he had fallen on the ice and hadn’t bounced back. Now he was gone, and Viktor felt so selfish--- what had he missed?

“Vitya?” He groaned, his beautiful lips pouting and his dark eyebrows pressing together—thank God, thank all the Japanese spirits and Gods and Goddesses and any other higher power anyone thought important enough. “What?” His hands went up to his head, tentatively feeling. He winced, gritting his teeth.

Maybe Yuuri felt awful, but Viktor felt his stomach fly from his feet and up into his throat, his heart bursting. He leaned down and kissed the Yuuri that had gracefully returned to him

“Yuuri! Are you okay?” Yuuko had jogged across the ice, kneeling on the boys other side. He had gone limp in Victor’s arms again, but this time his cheeks flushed, and he his face in his hands. “I-I-I’m sorry.” He stuttered. Viktor tilted his head to the side, much like Makkachin. “What for?”

“I just got dizzy... I’m okay….” He went on to say the same thing in Japanese, Yukos shoulders relaxing by a fraction.

“Oh Yuuri, we should have stopped and gotten juice, the coffee must have—“ Viktor stared to worry, his words tumbling over each other before Yuuri waved his hands.

“No no no , I’m okay! Perfect! Paa-fee-ku-to!” He tried to sit up of his own accord, but couldn’t hide the pain that crumpled his expression.

Yuuko took Yuuri’s hand. Viktor bit back the tug that made him feel jealous, or angry at her. That she was touching his Yuuri, and the man that was in his arms. His student, his Yuuri.

“Yuuko..!” Yuuri sighed, the tone rising and falling, as if he was scolding her. He let her do what she wanted, pulling his gloves off. She peered at his fingertips, turning the hand over and squeezing each part of the bone in each finger like she was trying to find the last bit of toothpaste in the tube. “I’m okay, I swear!”  But Yuuko still frowned, pulling her cellphone out of the pocket of her sweatshirt

“I’m telling your mom.” Yuuko said firmly, pulling up her contact list

“Please don’t, I’m fine, I just didn’t have enough water this morning and we had a late start.”  Yuuri tried to wave the problem away. “I’ll let her know when we’re done; we don’t need to bother her.”

“I promised, and I don’t break my promises.”  Yuuko frowned, before putting the smartphone to her ear and scooting just out of reach of Yuuri

“What is she saying?” Viktor squeaked. His panic had reached his throat. He was okay when the conversation went on around him at dinner or the locals whispered behind his back… Yuuri always gave him the gist of it… and it had never been this serious.

It was almost as if Yuuri had forgotten he was here. Or that he just didn’t want to share whatever Yuuko was so concerned about.

The sharp needle numb settled into Viktor’s legs as the blood drained out of them and they fell asleep. He shifted his legs in front of him, cradling Yuuri in his arms.

“Nothing. I’m fine, Viktor. I’m sorry for worrying you.” This wasn’t enough for Viktor, not enough details, no translation… but when Yuuri looked up at him, with those soft, wide brown eyes… he had to forgive him.

Or at least, reassure him.

“I’m sorry for pushing you. If you weren’t feeling well, we should have taken a break.” Viktor’s eyes were downcast. “I came here wanting to coach you into the international skating league, but I’m a terrible coach.”

It wasn’t just Yuuri’s spill onto the ice. He was being selfish with Yuuri’s choreography. He made it what he wanted to see—the judges came secondary. But Yuuri had put his whole trust in him, and had done everything Viktor had asked of him. Even though he had never agreed to this, or competing against him.

What had he done?

Cold fingers touched his cheek. Yuuri cupped the side of Viktor’s face. “You’re not pushing me anywhere. I’ve wanted to skate on the same ice as you since your first Gold. I should have payed attention to my limits better.”

“We’ll get you there.” Viktor smiled, trying to reflect the small bit of warmth Yuuri had given him.

“Yes. And maybe you can… not kiss me when I’m half passed out.” He looked away from Viktor, shyly hiding a mischievous smile.

The dark green van with Yuutopia Katsuki painted across the side was parked in front of the rink when they finally left the rink, Yuuri nursing a forced juice-box reluctantly. He stopped short, and the passenger door swung open. Mama Katsuki hopped out, running up and grabbing Yuuri’s face in both of her hands. Viktor was lost in the conversation again, but he could tell from her expression that she was worried.

Yuuri sputtered.

“Yuuri? What’s wrong?” Viktor put a hand on his shoulder, trying to ground him. His mother waved toward the car, and Viktor latched onto the one word that seemed to be popping up again and again.

“Yuuri, tell me. What is bi-yo-een?” Viktor squeezed his bicep when Yuuri didn’t answer right away.

“Hospital.”

[thisdaynews]

Change The Game: Dame Kelly Holmes calls for athletes to 'accept who you are'

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Change The Game: Dame Kelly Holmes calls for athletes to 'accept who you are'

#ChangeTheGame panel – Sports minister Mims Davies, BBC Sport’s Barbara Slater, Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, Paralympian Lauren Steadman and England netball head coach Tracey Neville

Change the Game – Women’s sport special Listen again:18:00 BST, Monday 27 May, BBC Radio 5 live

Young female athletes have been urged to be themselves by double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes after women told of abuse over their body image.

Winter Olympian Aimee Fuller said she had been sent “horrific” messages on social media, while swimming champion Rebecca Adlington was “called a whale”.

“You have to think, ‘I am who I am and I like who I am,'” said Holmes.

They were taking part in a #ChangeTheGame discussion for BBC Radio 5 Live’s Friday Sports panel.

Changing the game – Relive the Women’s Sport Show

Golf majors ‘should be equal pay’

Featuring a panel and audience of athletes and coaches, the 90-minute show tackled issues including pay, media coverage and hopes for the future.

It comes after American gymnast Katelyn Ohashi told how her comeback from injury was blighted by comments on social media.

“I was told I didn’t look like a gymnast. I was told I looked like I’d swallowed an elephant, or looked like a pig,” she said.

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I was told I didn’t look like a gymnast – Ohashi

Holmes, who won Olympic gold in the 800m and 1500m in Athens in 2004 after overcoming a series of injuries, made an impassioned plea to the audience.

“Every single person sitting here now in this room are high achievers. Women that should not care what other people perceive you are because you are doing something that many people want to do,” she said.

“The moment you embrace who you are, how you look, how you feel and what you do, other young people will start to look up to you and think, ‘Do you know what? It doesn’t matter – I can be big, I can be short, I can be small’.

“You’re capable of doing whatever you want because you are sitting here now, and we are all so different. I’m 5ft 3in. I was up against athletes who were 5ft 8in, but I still won.

“The spotlight on social media will always present the image of a woman who is slim and beautiful, but if you look at other images – say, of the Kardashians, there are big ladies with big bums and big legs.

“If you want to do sport, you want to do it to be successful, to stand out from the crowd and actually want to achieve something in your life. I think that’s a proud thing to have. And as you get older, you don’t care. I don’t care what people think I look like. I really don’t care.”

A recent survey of 4,500 UK adults found a third had felt anxious about their bodies.

What they said on body image

Rebecca Adlington, Olympic 400m and 800m freestyle swimming champion

The trolling, the media scrutiny I have around my body image…

I achieved two gold medals in Beijing and within days it was “you’re ugly, it’s because you look like a whale, and you’re a dolphin and you’re fat”.

I just wondered what that has got to do with winning a medal. That has nothing to do with my sport.

I will never understand why people send horrible stuff anyway, but even more when it has nothing to do with your performance.

Once you become part of sport, you realise you are all the same. It gave me so much confidence – that all of my peers at school never had. I felt 10 times more confident than them because I had something I was good at and passionate about and I think that can help with insecurities.

Lauren Steadman, Paralympic swimmer and double world champion paratriathlete

As a young girl having one arm, I was very self-conscious.

It wasn’t until I was 14 that I stopped wearing my prosthetic, because I went to a school where they had other athletes with one arm.

They turned round and said: “Why do you wear your arm? We like stumps.” I’d never been in that environment before where people just accepted the disability.

I started my swimming and stopped wearing my arm and grew confident through my achievements.

Aimee Fuller, Olympic snowboarder

I’ve always enjoyed that side of it [social media]. I’ve wanted to share my story. I’ve wanted to inspire other females and I’ve always really been myself. That’s my motto.

I feel like I’ve been very lucky to build a loyal following, but I have seen some horrific messages – mainly direct messages,

Sometimes you get people that don’t have the confidence to write on the wall. More ‘pervy’ things, to be honest, from males.

There are definitely some nasty people out there and I’m just thankful to everyone who has supported me on my journey.

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#changethegame – History of women’s sport

Reporting by Frank Keogh, Denise Evans and Laura Savvas

For details of organisations which offer mental health advice and support, visitbbc.co.uk/actionline

BBC Sport has launched #ChangeTheGame this summer to showcase female athletes in a way they never have been before. Through more live women’s sport available to watch across the BBC this summer, complemented by our journalism, we are aiming to turn up the volume on women’s sport and alter perceptions.Find out more here.

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