#Sports and covid pandemic

[dashiellqvverty]

where do people go for binders nowadays? i haven’t really been binding since before covid and i’m gonna need to buy a new one if i want to start again - the only one i have is a gc2b medium from 2016, which doesn’t quite fit me anymore but also i know their quality isn’t what it is back then. i tried on a large from them a couple years after later thinking it would be too big but it actually ended up being SMALLER so i’ve known since then that i definitely don’t want to buy from them again. anyway i know i want like a size up from what i have now but idk what’s comparable in size/quality to gc2b circa 2016

[healingheartdogs]

Speaking of dog training, I am so badly itching to get back into doing NAVHDA stuff and AKC hunt tests with Hermes. The pandemic has kinda put a stop to us doing any sort of training or event that involves going into public because unfortunately too many abled people hate vaccines and masks BUT IT'S BEEN TWO YEARS AND I WANT TO HUNT WITH MY DOG AND GET MORE TITLES!!! WE ARE BORED!!!

[parttimereporter]

COVID-19 hits the 24 Olympics

[ingredientsonline]

The Best Supplements for Runners

[alpha-mag-media]

Covid-19 pandemic inquiry needed immediately as ‘families who lost loved ones still have unanswered questions’, says TD | 0K510G1 | 2024-01-04 08:08:02 | January 04, 2024 at 09:08AM

Covid-19 pandemic inquiry needed immediately as ‘families who lost loved ones still have unanswered questions’, says TD | 0K510G1 | 2024-01-04 08:08:02 Read More … Check full articles at Source: ALPHA MAG

[ur-mag]

Care home residents compared to ‘reptile house exhibits’ because of pandemic restrictions, Scots Covid inquiry hears | In Trend Today

Care home residents compared to ‘reptile house exhibits’ because of pandemic restrictions, Scots Covid inquiry hears Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS

[losangelesnewsfeed]

"How to Watch Bournemouth vs. Liverpool Premier League Soccer Match from Anywhere: Livestreaming and Broadcast Options"

The Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Liverpool, from anywhere. The match is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 11, 2023, at 10:00 AM EST.The article suggests that one option to watch the match is through the NBC Sports Gold service, which offers live streaming of Premier League matches for a fee. It also provides information on how to access NBC Sports Gold from outside…

[reasonsforhope]

"Millions of Australians just got official permission to ignore their bosses outside of working hours, thanks to a new law enshrining their "right to disconnect."

The law doesn't strictly prohibit employers from calling or messaging their workers after hours. But it does protect employees who "refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact or attempted contact outside their working hours, unless their refusal is unreasonable," according to the Fair Work Commission, Australia's workplace relations tribunal.

That includes outreach from their employer, as well as other people "if the contact or attempted contact is work-related."

The law, which passed in February, took effect on Monday [August 26, 2024] for most workers and will apply to small businesses of fewer than 15 people starting in August 2025. It adds Australia to a growing list of countries aiming to protect workers' free time.

"It's really about trying to bring back some work-life balance and make sure that people aren't racking up hours of unpaid overtime for checking emails and responding to things at a time when they're not being paid," said Sen. Murray Watt, Australia's minister for employment and workplace relations.

The law doesn't give employees a complete pass, however...

"If it was an emergency situation, of course people would expect an employee to respond to something like that," Watt said. "But if it's a run-of-the-mill thing … then they should wait till the next work day, so that people can actually enjoy their private lives, enjoy time with their family and their friends, play sport or whatever they want to do after hours, without feeling like they're chained to the desk at a time when they're not actually being paid, because that's just not fair."

Protections aim to address erosion of work-life balance

The law's supporters hope it will help solidify the boundary between the personal and the professional, which has become increasingly blurry with the rise of remote work since the COVID-19 pandemic.

A 2022 survey by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute, a public policy think tank, found that seven out of 10 Australians performed work outside of scheduled working hours, with many reporting experiencing physical tiredness, stress and anxiety as a result.

The following year, the institute reported that Australians clocked an average of 281 hours of unpaid overtime in 2023. Valuing that labor at average wage rates, it estimated the average worker is losing the equivalent of nearly $7,500 U.S. dollars each year.

"This is particularly concerning when worker's share of national income remains at a historically low level, wage growth is not keeping up with inflation, and the cost of living is rising," it added.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions hailed the new law as a "cost-of-living win for working people," especially those in industries like teaching, community services and administrative work.

The right to disconnect, it said, will not only cut down on Australians' unpaid work hours but also address the "growing crisis of increasing mental health illness and injuries in modern workplaces."

"More money in your pocket, more time with your loved ones and more freedom to live your life — that's what the right to disconnect is all about," ACTU President Michele O’Neil said in a statement.

The 2022 Australia Institute survey... found broad support for a right to disconnect.

Only 9% of respondents said such a policy would not positively affect their lives. And the rest cited a slew of positive effects, from having more social and family time to improved mental health and job satisfaction. Thirty percent of respondents said it would enable them to be more productive during work hours.

Eurofound, the European Union agency for the improvement of living and working conditions, said in a 2023 study that workers at companies with a right to disconnect policy reported better work-life balance than those without — 92% versus 80%."

-via GoodGoodGood, August 26, 2024

[imperatorrrrr]

another new Nico Hischier interview, this time in French, highlights below:

Q: Are you still living your dream? A: Yes, of course. It has always been my dream to be a professional hockey player. It is an honour to be able to do it, to have the health to do it. To do what I love. Many others would have loved to be in my shoes. I wake up every morning with the thought that I am privileged. I do my best to help my team win games. 

Q: You are presented as a hockey star. How big is the pressure? A: It is enormous. It starts right away when you become a professional player. And it stays the whole time. In Europe and across the Atlantic. The pressure is everywhere, not just in hockey. It is about knowing how to manage it. To put yourself in a condition to release it. It is not always easy, when you have thousands of people scrutinizing what you do. You have to take the best of it. The pressure helps me give the best of myself in every situation. That is how I can go to bed with a good feeling without being disappointed in myself. 

Q: "It's not always easy," according to you. What were the most complicated moments of your career? A: The most difficult period was undoubtedly the season marked by Covid. Also because of the injuries that affected me. I learned a lot from that period. There was the virus. I was injured, I trained in my corner. Fortunately, my mother was able to join me, even in times of pandemic, to be by my side during the operation. I realized at that moment that health was the most important aspect. These injuries affected me at the time, but they also sounded like an inner awakening. I was able to put the cursor on what matters and in sport it is health.

Q: How do you deal with loneliness and being away from your loved ones? A: That's not easy either. I love Switzerland. I love being here with my family and friends. It's very important, even more so during the summer, to be with the people who matter, to recharge my batteries. When I go back to the United States, my life pretty much revolves around hockey. Well, only around hockey. We play three to four games a week, we travel a lot. When my friends or family come to see me, it gives me a good boost. To sum up, I appreciate both situations: my life there but also being able to come back, recharge my batteries and go back to America to give my all in hockey.

Q: Who are your friends and how do you find the balance between hockey and everything else? A: In the team, I share a lot of things with Jonas Siegenthaler and Timo Meier. Guys I already knew from a young age. It's cool to be able to play with them. I'm also lucky to have been able to meet players from other countries, to meet new people. Americans, Canadians, Swedes, Czechs. It's very enriching to have all these cultures and to be able to come together around a common passion.

Q: Has life in the United States changed you? What is American in you? A: Open-mindedness. Being open to others, to meeting new people. You don't need to be friends with everyone, but it is important to listen to others, to take their opinions into account. Nevertheless, I remain very Swiss, I feel very Swiss. 

Q: What do you mean? A: I don't know. I'm still very close to my family, my friends. I try not to attract too much attention. I'm content with little things, simple things. A good dinner, a raclette from time to time, a good glass of wine. These are moments that I appreciate.

Q: Let's talk about your club, the New Jersey Devils. A club that has evolved considerably since your arrival? A: That's for sure. It's very different from what I knew when I started. We were among the youngest on the team with Jasper Brett and Pavel Zacha. The other teammates were all more or less in their thirties. Everything was new to me. But it was good. I was able to learn a lot from all the experienced players. They made me understand a lot of things. What it means to be a Devil, how to take care of your body, it was very varied. In the middle of my journey, the team got younger and I had to take on more and more responsibilities. Today, there are obviously some younger than me. It's changed a lot in 7 years and that's normal. For my part, I try hard to present the best version of myself every day. 

Q: You are seen as a leader. You are a leader. Was that natural for you? A: Absolutely. On the ice, it's clear. I've always wanted to do things well. I've always wanted to win. A true leader has to have that mentality, putting your ego aside for the good of the team. Off the ice, I'm not the most visible or the loudest but I also enjoy the camaraderie, the jokes and the outings. Maybe that's where I have the most to learn. But I'm still learning. I'm only 25 years old. There's still more to explore. 

Q: You might think that communication is essential? A: It is very important. You never know how people react, what they need. You have to find a good balance between what you give, what you ask and what you receive. To be a leader, you need empathy, understanding but also firmness in your demands. Some aspects were more complicated for me but I try to find the right balance.

Q: Is the feeling of representing Switzerland even stronger when you have a career so far away like you? A: It's clear. They speak Swiss German in the locker room. I meet friends I had known in juniors. Hockey remains a small world, a small environment and not just in Switzerland. And it's always nice to meet up with people you know to share such an experience in a world championship.

Q: Are you ambitious, optimistic for the next big events, the 2026 Olympics and the 2026 World Cup? A: Of course. We have proven in recent years that we have a very good Swiss team. We know how it works in sport. Every piece is important, every detail counts to reach the top. But we have to believe in our chances. And we have a good group, as I said. I am looking forward to the next tournaments. The Olympic Games are certainly a dream for me, having never been there. It is different from a world championship but we will have the same ambition. You never know in sport. 

Q: Your season is so long. You could skip the Swiss national team selections. Why is it so important? For the good times, the ones that remain. I grew up watching Switzerland. And to be able to represent them, it really means something special to me. It's always a pleasure to wear this jersey, to see the fans of the national team. It gives me a lot of joy. It hasn't happened yet, but the only reason that would make me give up would be physical unavailability or mental fatigue. If I feel fit, I'll go. If not, it's a matter of being honest and giving up, because it wouldn't be good for me or for the team. 

[devil-in-hiding]

why are plus sized people trying to praise themselves and get more inclusivity and representation in the society? when it is something that can be changed and most of them are capable of losing weight? your race, skin etc are something you can’t change because it is something decided by birth, but your weight and your health is something that can be changed. i’m really curious why? and being over the average weight really brings along different health risks, etc. and it affects your functioning ability, like when you try to run or do sports. i’m not talking about people who have a bigger build or just larger bone structures but people who have a lot of meat around their body. is it like a lack of discipline or a stage in denial, because i’ve seen a sharp rise of people promoting fat people in general after covid, and i’ve seen the decrease of productivity, motivation, and discipline in people after the pandemic has happened. i know a lot of people will come at me in the comments calling me fatphobic, ignorant and etc. feel free to, criticise and educate me, please.

I literally have no fucking words for this what the fuck.

People should be allowed to live in their fucking bodies, I don’t need to educate you on shit?? Plus sized, fat, it doesn’t fucking matter, they are existing. And there ARE a shit ton of things that can cause someone to be plus-sized

i literally can not even put together coherent thoughts because what the fuck

does living amongst fat people bother you because let me tell you bud if it does, they are not the problem, you are

people are allowed to live in their fucking skin.

people want to live happily in their bodies without someone ELSE saying “hey you’re living wrong and you disgust me”

it is not your fucking business

and also, LOSING WEIGHT IS FUCKING HARD

i went to the gym, i had a planet fitness membership. it did nothing.

ya know what made me lose all my weight? a fucking drug addiction.

so yeah, people can exist and plus sized bodies should be normalised because not everyone is fucking pole

[yridenergyridenergy]

The wholesome-ish friendship between Shinya and Kyo

Their latest playful Q&A in Haiiro no Ginka vol. 100 has prompted me to compile examples of this weird but overall wholesome relationship that Kyo and Shinya have and which is not obvious at first.

Situation #1

In October 2017, Kyo gifted Shinya with a custom white version of a MadaraNingen one-piece. As far as I remember, that article of clothing was not available for purchase in white at all, to the public. And of course, we all know that Shinya prefers to wear white.

Situation #2

I think that in response to Shinya sharing a video of him briefly playing with the minicars that were sold as tour goods in This Way to Self-Destruction, Kyo posted a story on Instagram of him revving up a bunch of mini-cars and persistently making them hit his phone propped up on a counter and displaying a picture of Shinya. At age 43. To which Shinya made an Instagram post vaguely hinting that: "Good children should not play with the mini-cars to hit someone's picture!"

Kyo's Instagram Story "The proper way to use mini-cars" video

Shinya's translated response

Situation #3

In late 2022-early 2023, Shinya publicly celebrated his bandmates' birthdays via emojis on Twitter, and Kyo was the only one to respond, in kind.

Situation #4

Kyo posted a cryptic picture of Shinya's video meeting with Mana in an Instagram Story and he has mentioned on Twitter at least once that he was watching Shinya Channel (the making of the FaFa onigiri).

In the same vein, Shinya took his failed attempt at needle-felting a pink bunny in March 2022 and turned it into a miniature hammer-wielding bunny in October 2022, in response to sukekiyo unveiling their Mosaic Shoujo PV which featured Kyo in the killer bunny suit.

Situation #5

This very old video of Kyo teasing Shinya by pinching the side of his dress, Shinya reacting by pushing Kyo a bit and Kyo falling into a robot dance in response.

Situation #6

The coffee maker. In one of the live talks held during the COVID-19 pandemic at concert venues, Shinya mentioned having a coffee maker which was of no use to him, and Kyo expressed interest in taking it from him. Later, in the Galacaa livestream talk between the two, it was revealed that Shinya had promised to give Kyo his coffee maker, but he never pulled through on that offer. Kyo, sporting a doodled face to hide his own, insistently questioned Shinya on this unreliability when the topic was brought up by fans in the comments. Shinya kind of struggled but ended up explaning that the coffee maker was really useless because of a defect, that it would not have been an appropriate gift anymore. But he forgot to update Kyo about it after he tried to contact the manufacturer. Kyo replied like: "Oh, alright then."

At some point, Kyo took the matter to Twitter, confronting Shinya about it with their respective member photos to illustrate the dialogue, and Shinya replied the same way.

Situation #7

In that same livestream, Shinya is so used to Kyo's bullshit by now that he completely ignores Kyo's doodle face sheet and casually leans forward to look past him and at the interviewer, sat on Kyo's right. After a while of this, the interviewer points out to Shinya that Kyo is insistently staring at him with this disturbing face, which is when Shinya becomes startled and nervously laughs upon realizing that, also making Kyo chuckle.

Situation #8

More often than others, Shinya and Kyo are documented chatting on the chairs backstage while they wait for everyone to be ready to start the show. Maybe there's something to be said of how they are the two members of the band to leave the stage the quickest, while Kaoru, Toshiya and Die stay for a while to throw picks.

Situation #9

Miscellaneous pictures of the two:

Situation #10

Apparently it was Shinya's earbuds that Kyo used to play with the cat (also Shinya's?) in this famous old video.

Situation #11

Other interactions on Twitter include commentary regarding the song battles that fans were voting on via that same website, during live broadcasts from their manager Fujieda on Galacaa. Kyo and Shinya were the only two members reacting to the songs that were pulled out of the box, Kyo sometimes replying to Shinya's own tweets wondering what he meant or outright questioning his preference.

Another interaction consisted in Kyo copying Shinya's tweets regarding the release of their Phalaris album and twisting Shinya's cute comments into hellish versions.

Situation #12

Probably a bunch of elusive comments throughout the years, but here's an example of something that Shinya said about Kyo in a magazine interview.

Situation #13

In Haiiro no Ginka vol. 100, the members were asked to send each other member five questions. Some chose to personalize them based on what they actually wanted to ask of the others, while a couple decided to send the same questions to all, but members were not told who the questions came from. Kyo picked up on that anonymous part of the game and when answering Shinya's set of questions, he ended each of his short answers with a second sentence that can either just be the Kansai dialect for: "Aren't you Shinya!", or in other dialects, translates more to: "Shinya, you bastard!" hahah. From what I saw, nobody else hinted at who they thought the questions came from in their answers. In reverse, Kyo took up two of his five alloted questions for Shinya with the simple statement: "You don't know you're dead yet!", a quote from Fist of the North Star which is highly intimidating as it hints that someone has defeated the character so easily and lightning-fast that they are a dead man standing, their body having trouble catching up with the reality that they were slaughtered. Shinya, in response to that repeated tease, stubbornly replies in his polite and formal Japanese that: "No, I'm not dead." Their Q&A with the other members were not nearly that quirky.

Situation #14

At his SERAPH birthday concert in 2023, Shinya said that his three treasures in life are:

DIR EN GREY

SERAPH

sukekiyo

Situation #15

Kyo replying to Shinya's post featuring a very old picture of Kyo (which was however respectfully hidden by Phalarisu-kun) by pulling out the oldest/youngest postcards of Shinya he could find, also commenting to paraphrase Shinya: "Postcards that probably no one has anymore." His own postcard depicting him peeks from underneath.

Shinya replied to that with: "I tried to look for it but couldn't find it 🥺"

Situation #16

On Twitter, Shinya posted a photo with other artists which he explained as: "Yesterday, we had a birthday celebration for everyone born in February and March 🎂 Happy birthday everyone 🎉🎉🎉"

To which Kyo directly replied: "I wasn't invited." (born February 16th)

And Shinya responded with: "The DIR EN GREY guys are a bit mean 🥺"

Kyo never replied to that.

Situation #17

Going to combine two things considering how long ago they were.

Shinya and Kyo were the first members of Dir en grey to meet, and the day right after I posted this compilation happened to be the 28th anniversary of when they first performed together.

There's also an anecdote that, way back then, no one in the band knew how to contact Kyo because none of them had his phone number, but eventually Shinya just casually revealed that he had it all along and said: "Oh I'll just call him"

Situation #18

Shinya and Kyo are the only members who are clearly dog lovers in the band, while Die and Toshiya are part of the cat team. Shinya used to have a dog (chihuahua?) and Kyo now has Pun-cha. Shinya recently wore a sweater with a dog on it.

Situation #19

In a tweet that Kyo has since deleted, he wrote that if there was one grudge he still held, it was that he never appeared on the cover of a Rockin'f magazine. Shinya also wasn't featured, so he added that while he doesn't have a grudge against them, he has declined interviews and comments for a certain magazine after that.

Situation #20

During their European tour 2024, Kyo and Shinya embarked in a playful spat on Twitter, seemingly out of boredom while traveling on the tour bus. It was funny the way it culminated in both of them forcing the other to subscribe to their fan clubs to find out more. On Kyo's side at least, I didn't see anything related to that on kyo-online for real hah.

Situation #21

Shinya took the time to snap a picture of Petit Brabançon playing on the Yunika Vision screens while he was out solving a game, then posting that on Twitter and promoting Petit Brabancon. " I heard Kyo sing while solving a mystery in Shinjuku"

He also made numerous mentions of the Petit Brabancon posters around Gorilla Hall in his video touring that venue:

... Did I miss any? And there will undoubtedly be more to come!

Thank you very much to shinyaburashka, mementoboni, lamenty45 and degtau for your help!

[fairy25]

The pupils of the patients with PTSD not only showed an exaggerated response to threatening stimuli, but also to stimuli that depicted “positive” images, such as exciting sports scenes.

Co-author Professor Nicola Gray, from Swansea University, said: “This shows that the hyper-response of the pupil is in response to any arousing stimulus, and not just threatening ones.

“This may allow us to use these positive pictures in therapy, rather than relying upon negative images that can be quite upsetting to the patient, and therefore make therapy more acceptable and bearable.

“The current Covid-19 pandemic is expected to produce a large increase in instances of PTSD from the traumatic events that have occurred. Clearly, better forms of therapy would be of a great help, but these ideas need testing before we can put them into clinical practice.”

Lead author Dr Aimee McKinnon, who conducted the research at Cardiff University but is now at Oxford University, said:“These findings allow us to understand that people with PTSD are automatically primed for threat and fear responses in any uncertain emotional context, and to consider what a burden this must be to them in everyday life.

“It also suggests that it is important for us to recognise that, in therapy, it is not just the fear-based stimuli that need [deliberate] re-appraising. If someone with PTSD is faced with any high-level of emotional stimulation, even if this is positive emotion, it can immediately trigger the threat system.

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Zhiying Zeng’s eyes begin to sparkle and her gestures become more animated as she recounts the day her lifelong Olympic dream came true.

She had to wait longer than most athletes, too: At 58 years old, Zeng will be one of the oldest Olympians at Paris 2024.

But for Zeng, whose Olympic journey began in China in the 1970s and culminated in qualification for Chile’s table tennis team earlier this year, it was worth the wait.

She had even retired from professional table tennis aged 20 – something which allowed her the opportunity to uproot her life in Asia and move across the Pacific Ocean to Chile – and at one stage went almost 20 years without playing.

“It was the biggest dream of my life,” she tells CNN Sport with a thick, unmistakable Chilean lilt.

“Even when I was a little girl and they would ask me what my dream was, I would say: ‘Become an Olympian.’”

Chile has now been Zeng’s home for 35 years and she is as Chilean as they come.

She is known in her adopted country as ‘Tania’ – because Chileans struggle pronouncing the Z in her name – and her favorite dish is pantruca, a kind of dumpling soup.

She also eats beans, a staple of the Chilean diet, every week.

Zeng loves empanadas, too, but doesn’t indulge too much now that she’s an elite athlete again. “Too many calories,” she laughs.

From China to Chile

Zeng was born in Guangzhou in 1966 and picked up a paddle almost as soon as she was physically able.

Her mother was a table tennis coach, which meant the then-government housed the family next to a sports complex, allowing Zeng to train every day and surround herself with professional players.

She was trained by her mother until the age of nine when, Zeng says, she became a typical grumpy child that didn’t want to be coached by a parent.

So her mother enrolled her in a school that employed a table tennis coach and after nearly two years, aged 11, she entered an elite sports academy.

Even in China, by far the world’s most dominant table tennis nation, Zeng’s talents were evident from an early age.

She became a national junior champion and won several regional tournaments before turning professional at the age of 12.

When she was 16, she was called up to the Chinese table tennis team for the first time.

“So many players in China have that dream because it’s so hard to achieve,” she says.

However, in 1986, two years before table tennis made its Olympic debut at the Games in Seoul, the “two color rule” was introduced, meaning the two sides of the paddle now had to be different colors instead of both black.

Zeng explains that the two faces of the paddle produce different types of effects on the ball and she would regularly rotate it in her hand to confuse opponents.

The different colored faces meant opponents could better predict her shots.

“The change of rules affected my game a lot,” she recalls. “That’s when I had a big downturn and left the national team.”

It was a painful moment for Zeng, who says she idolized players who were not much older than her that had already become Asian or world champions, and she was desperate to follow in their footsteps.

But the rule change paved the way for the next chapter in Zeng’s remarkable story.

In 1989, she received an invitation to coach schoolchildren in Arica, a city in northernmost Chile.

It was a job she adored, but it wasn’t until 2003 that she picked up the paddle to play competitive table tennis again.

She wanted to introduce her son, who was 13 at the time, to the sport in order to drag him away from playing too many video games and watching too much television.

In 2004 and 2005, Zeng comfortably won two national tournaments but once again stopped playing when her son was old enough to go to training on his own and travel with the team’s coach.

Third time’s a charm

Zeng only picked up a paddle again when the Covid-19 pandemic struck.

“More than anything, just to exercise because we weren’t doing anything locked down in the house except eating!” she laughs.

“I got the bug and, once we were able to leave, I immediately wanted to play against someone to see what level I was at – and see if I could I still run or not.”

She contacted the federation in Iquique, where she lives today and owns a furniture business, and was soon playing – and winning – regional tournaments against mostly men given there were few female players.

“That gave me a lot of confidence,” she says.

“I had no problems with running, with fatigue or anything. I wanted to know how much more I could do.”

In 2022, the Chilean Table Tennis Federation sent an announcement to the regional associations that it was hosting a tournament to put together a team for the 2023 South American Table Tennis Championships.

Despite her success, Zeng was skeptical about going.

All of the best players in the country would be there and she doubted that she would be able to keep up.

In the end, she only went because a friend managed to convince her.

“‘Go and find out if you can compete or not. If not, at least you’ll be left with no doubts,’” she recalls her friend telling her. “I thought she had a point.”

Zeng qualified for the team, of course, and led Chile to first place in the team tournament, while also coming second in the singles and women’s doubles.

“I forgot what I was afraid of and what I was worried about,” she says.

But it wasn’t until the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago that her life really changed.

After her first appearance at the tournament, Zeng became a national icon overnight.

After losing the first two sets in her opening match, Zeng rattled off four straight to win 4-2 in front of her new adoring fans.

Chileans gave her the nickname ‘Tia Tania’ – Auntie Tania – and the AP reported that one young fan said he had gone just to watch the “table tennis grandma.”

Even Chilean President Gabriel Boric became a fan and congratulated her on a “tremendous” victory.

Zeng, who will play Lebanon’s Mariana Sahakian in the preliminary rounds of Paris 2024 on Saturday, says being in Santiago as an athlete during the Pan Am Games was a surreal experience.

She spent much of her time with other athletes, going out to dinner and taking photos.

“I lived like that when I was 15,” she says, recalling her time as a professional in China.

“It had been a long time since I experienced something like this. I was like an excited teenager again. I forgot I was 56!”

It proved to be a successful tournament on the table, too, as Zeng won team bronze for Chile alongside Daniela Ortega and Paulina Vega.

Zeng’s sons also noticed that her Instagram following had grown by almost 10,000 in a matter of days and had to teach her how to use social media, so she could keep her hordes of new fans updated.

Finally, 38 years after she gave up on her Olympic dream, Zeng qualified for Paris 2024 at a pre-Olympic qualifying tournament in Lima, Peru, in May this year.

Zeng says she didn’t sleep at all the night before the deciding game as she played out every imaginable scenario in her head.

On match point, when she went to collect the ball, her mind again began to run wild.

“Calm, calm,” Zeng, who says mental fortitude is her biggest asset in table tennis, repeated to herself. “You’ve got one more point.”

After winning match point, the emotion of everything she had experienced in the sport came flooding out.

Her father, who is 92 and regularly visits her in Chile, and her brother stayed up until 5 a.m. in China to watch the match, while her husband and friends were in Lima to celebrate the moment with her.

“My dad was able to see his daughter qualify for the Olympics,” she says, visibly emotional.

“He used to take me to training and to matches when I was a girl and now at 57, I made it. I made it.”

[myalgicencephalomyelitiscfstom]

An essay by two young people from the UK who have suffered from long COVID for more than two years.

They write about living with long COVID, major adaptations they have had to make and the lack of help and understanding.

"Many of us have been told that we are simply “unfit” from the pandemic’s wider effects, that we should “push through” our symptoms, discomfort, and illness, and that we should continue with sports and other activities. This makes us feel ignored and gaslighted about our symptoms."

[alpha-mag-media]

Covid-19 pandemic inquiry needed immediately as ‘families who lost loved ones still have unanswered questions’, says TD | 4F2TDLS | 2024-01-03 08:08:01 | January 03, 2024 at 09:08AM

Covid-19 pandemic inquiry needed immediately as ‘families who lost loved ones still have unanswered questions’, says TD | 4F2TDLS | 2024-01-03 08:08:01 Read More … Check full articles at Source: ALPHA MAG

[ur-mag]

Care home residents compared to ‘reptile house exhibits’ because of pandemic restrictions, Scots Covid inquiry hears | In Trend Today

Care home residents compared to ‘reptile house exhibits’ because of pandemic restrictions, Scots Covid inquiry hears Read Full Text or Full Article on MAG NEWS