Monthly Archives: June 2022

Experts think China pulled punches in muted reaction to Jacinda Ardern-Joe Biden meeting – New Zealand Herald

Posted: June 3, 2022 at 12:12 pm

President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the Oval Office of the White House - China's reaction was muted. Photo / AP

China's reaction to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's meeting with US President Joe Biden was been relatively muted in the view of longtime China watchers - despite a Government spokesman accusing New Zealand of spreading "disinformation" as a result of the visit.

Ardern met Biden at the White House on Wednesday morning, New Zealand time.

The meeting produced a joint statement that noted New Zealand and the United States' close ties on matters of security and singled out China's recent inroads in the Pacific as concerning.

"We note with concern the security agreement between the People's Republic of China and the Solomon Islands," the declaration read.

"In particular, the United States and New Zealand share a concern that the establishment of a persistent military presence in the Pacific by a state that does not share our values or security interests would fundamentally alter the strategic balance of the region and pose national-security concerns to both our countries," it said.

After that meeting, China's foreign affairs ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the statement was a "hype-up" and had "ulterior motives to create disinformation and attack and discredit China".

University of Canterbury Professor Anne-Marie Brady, an internationally renowned expert on the propaganda system of the Chinese Communist Party, said there had not been much fallout from the meeting.

"It's a very bad look for the Xi Government to have got NZ-China relations to the point that they'll say their concerns in public," Brady said.

Brady said China's recent diplomatic push into the Pacific was beginning to look like an act of hubris, particularly after it failed to get Pacific island nations onboard with a cooperation agreement, which leaked last month, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was touring the region.

"The Xi government's strategic overreach in the Pacific is turning into a diplomatic failure. They don't want the Chinese public to be raising questions about the failure of BRI [the Belt and Road Initiative - President Xi's key foreign policy platform].

"The Wang Yi trip to the Pacific has been a disaster for China. Almost every Pacific state he has visited has politely rebuffed the plan to create a cross-Pacific security agreement led by China that excluded New Zealand and Australia," Brady said.

Former diplomat, and former executive director of the NZ China Council Stephen Jacobi, who led programmes in New Zealand on BRI agreed the reaction from China was fairly soft.

"You've got to see [the reaction] in the context of the rivalry and strategic competition with the US," Jacobi said.

Jacobi said it was only the very end of China's official response to the meeting, which urged New Zealand to hew to its historically independent foreign policy, which was directly addressed to New Zealand, rather than jointly at New Zealand and the US.

"Of course this is the first thing they've said. We're going to have to watch to see if something else happens," Jacobi said.

Jacobi noted that he had spent the day at the China International Import Expo, where China's ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong had not once mentioned the growing tension between the two countries.

"The ambassador made no mention of it at all in his speech - which was focused on Chinese growth, the success of Covid, the opportunity for New Zealanders to do more business in China," Jacobi said.

He said there was no indication yet that China would look to apply informal sanctions against New Zealand exports. Australian exporters have struggled at times to get goods into China. It has often been presumed this is in retaliation at Australia's more hawkish stance on relations with the superpower.

"There is no suggestion that is a problem at the moment," Jacobi said.

"Of course, we just signed the FTA upgrade, which gives us new procedures to manage difficulties if they arise," he said.

He said the next step in the relationship with China was having a high-level ministerial visit, either the prime minister or the foreign minister. This was difficult at the moment given China's zero-covid policy.

"We have to maintain the direct discussion and engagement," he said.

Jacobi said China had some understanding for New Zealand siding with the United States on particular issues.

"We are who we are, right - we are a Western democracy. That's kind of what we do. The Chinese, however, are quite capable of reading between the lines on these things," he said.

University of Otago Professor Robert Patman agreed the fallout from Ardern's visit had been muted.

"The Chinese continue to make the distinction between Australia and New Zealand in terms of their respective relationships with Washington," Patman said.

He said that while New Zealand was close to the US, it was not in "lockstep" on certain issues like Australia was perceived to be.

"We have a different worldview from both Australia and the United States," he said.

Patman said this difference fed all the way into things like the recently announced Aukus security agreement between Australia, the US, and the UK. He said not being part of the agreement had benefits to New Zealand.

"It gives us a chance to diversify economically," he said.

Patman said Ardern's foreign policy appeared to recognise that China, as a superpower, was going to be involved in the region one way or another, so New Zealand would have to find a way to strengthen the democracies of the Pacific to respond to that challenge.

"We can't contain China, and nor can we take a top-down position, where we say to them 'we know what's best for you'... that's not going to work," Patman said.

"If you're a micro-state you've got opportunities. There's more than one game in town," he said.

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Experts think China pulled punches in muted reaction to Jacinda Ardern-Joe Biden meeting - New Zealand Herald

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‘Seventy years of grit, grace and glory’: NZ tribute to Queen – Otago Daily Times

Posted: at 12:12 pm

The Queen is a woman "who smiles with her eyes" and relates easily to people from all walks of life, former Commonwealth secretary-general Sir Don McKinnon has told those at a service of tribute in Wellington.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was among dignitaries marking the milestone of seven decades on the throne at St Paul's Cathedral in Wellington.

She was joined by the government's administrator Dame Helen Winkelmann.

Attention then shifted to representatives of the Defence Forces as they marched to the cathedral's altar.

The deputy Speaker, Cabinet Ministers, members of the diplomatic corps and members of the public were then formally welcomed to the service.

Bishop Duckworth reminded the congregation Elizabeth was just 25 when she became Queen, and during her 70 years of service "the world has changed dramatically".

"The Queen remains a symbol of our constitutional arrangements."

She has visited Aotearoa 10 times and laid the foundation stone of St Paul's Cathedral during her first visit, he said.

Former deputy prime minister and ex-Commonwealth secretary-general Sir Don McKinnon gave the keynote address, describing the Queen as "a remarkable woman" who was probably the most photographed person in the world.

He did not want to "upset the Buckingham Palace courtiers" with anything he said, recalling the regular meetings

He would always try to "have a laugh" with her and regularly discussed the All Blacks and other topics that would lighten the occasion.

"Her interests were far and wide" but talking about horses and cattle always engaged her interest.

"She had an immense knowledge of horse breeds all over the world."

This was a response he would expect from horse people everywhere, he said.

On Commonwealth Day a reception was always held at Marlborough House in London and he saw her genuine warmth and her ability to relate to people from all walks of life.

"Incredibly warm personality, very calm all the time, smiled with her eyes very vividly and serene when you think of all that was going on around her.

"Seventy years of grit, grace and glory," he said in conclusion.

Ardern did a short reading from an entry into Hansard in 1952 written by former prime minister Sidney Holland who attended the funeral of George VI, Elizabeth's father, and saw her write her signature as queen for the first time.

Holland observed in his Hansard entry that perhaps it was the start of a new Elizabethan era and Ardern said his words were prophetic as she has become the first monarch to be queen for 70 years.

The Queen had been staunch and a comfort during times of tragedy, she said.

It concluded with prayers and the singing of God Save the Queen.

The cathedral's bells rang as people left.

Overnight the UK began four days of pageantry, parties and parades to celebrate Queen Elizabeth's reign.

The first day included the traditional Trooping of the Colour and a flypast of 70 aircraft over The Mall and Buckingham Palace.

Senior royals joined the Queen on the palace balcony to watch the flypast.

However, at the end of the day the palace issued a statement saying the Queen will not attend a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul's Cathedral tomorrow because she was suffering "some discomfort" after a full programme earlier today.

The 96-year-old monarch has cancelled several appearances in recent months because of mobility issues.

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Skier Lindsey Vonn to ask IOC to give 2030 Olympics to Salt Lake City – Salt Lake Tribune

Posted: at 12:11 pm

Lindsey Vonn poses with her career's medals in the finish area after the women's downhill race at the alpine ski World Championships in Are, Sweden, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. Vonn, a Park City resident and the most decorated female skier in the world, will travel with a delegation from the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games to IOC headquarters in Switzerland to lobby for the 2030 Olympics to be held in Utah. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

| June 3, 2022, 12:56 p.m.

The group angling to bring the Winter Olympics back to Utah has found one sure-fire way to snag the attention of the International Olympic Committee during a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, later this month. Its bringing along Lindsey Vonn.

Theyll be paying a lot more attention to her than they will to us, Fraser Bullock, the president and CEO of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, half-joked Thursday after a committee board meeting at Vivint Arena.

Vonn, the most decorated female skier in history, will be part of the committees five-member delegation that is scheduled to meet with IOC members on June 14-16. The delegation, along with members of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, will be making a final push to convince the IOC to designate Utah as the host of the 2030 Winter Games over the likes of Sapporo, Japan, and Vancouver, Canada.

The IOC is expected to narrow the field to one or two sites during a Dec. 5-7 meeting. The host of 2030, and perhaps 2034, will be announced during the IOC general session in Mumbai on May 31-June 1, 2023.

Last year, Vonn was one of 10 athletes named to the SLC-Utah groups strategic governing board, joining the likes of skiing icon Ted Ligety and gold-medal figure skater Nathan Chen. Vonn first competed in the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002 and she currently lives in Park City.

Local organizers want to emphasize that their bid is athlete-focused and athlete-driven. Catherine Raney-Norman, the SLC-Utah committees chair and a four-time Olympic speedskater, said having Vonn along will drive home that message.

The best part of my role is when I get to call the athletes and ask them to be a part of the Olympic bid process, Raney-Norman said. And she was instantaneously, Absolutely! How can I be involved? This is something Im passionate about.

And so just to have her as a part of this effort is amazing, right? And for her to be championing what were trying to do and to make time in her schedule to come with us. I think shes going to share an incredibly unique experience as an athlete, as a global leader in sport, as a champion of mental health. And I think its going to be a huge thing.

Vonn, 37, wont need many introductions at IOC headquarters, and not just because of her celebrity status. IOC President Thomas Bach invited Vonn, who retired in 2019, to join him in thanking the people of South Korea during the closing ceremony for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. In 2015, he expressed admiration for her determination after she won four World Cups in her return from a knee injury that kept her out of the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. She finished her career with three Olympic medals.

Ninety percent of athletes being in this position would have said, OK, this is it. I would have loved to have another end to my career, but its finished, Bach told USA Today. To take this decision, to be back and to be back in this form, now being the most successful skier ever, its a great achievement.

Im really full of admiration.

Athletes from various nations including Pita Taufatofua, of Tonga, at left, United States' Lindsey Vonn, third from left, and Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, fifth from left, pose during the closing ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Organizers of Utahs Olympic bid hope that still holds true.

A study released last month by the IOC reported Utah is one of two Olympic sites, alongside Vancouver, that still uses all of its venues. In addition, the 2002 Games were one of the few in Olympic history that netted a profit. Many of the people behind those Games, including Bullock are heading the push for 2030, and a recent report by the Kem C. Gardner Institute estimated the next Utah Olympics would have an economic impact of $3.9 billion.

Those are the qualities the local delegation, which also includes Nubia Pea, the director of the Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs, and Utah Games advisor Darren Hughes, will try to talk up during their June 13-16 visit.

Were going to go over there, Bullock said, to see if we can really utilize the strength of our bid to get continued serious interest in continuing a dialogue with the United States.

With so much ground to cover in such a short time, Vonns speed may prove as useful as her celebrity.

Whatever tools she uses, Bullock said he thinks shell be a valuable asset.

With Lindsey Vonn, [shes] the most successful female competitive skier in history and shes well known and well respected, Bullock said. And so her voice carries weight, and its important. And the fact that shes willing to take the time to go with us and spend time advocating for us shows that she believes that Salt Lake would be a great host.

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Decision to add women’s Nordic combined to Olympics approaches – Steamboat Pilot & Today

Posted: at 12:10 pm

In three weeks, the fate of gender equality at the Olympics will be decided.

Sometime during its executive board meeting on the weekend of June 24, the International Olympic Committee will decide if womens Nordic combined will be an Olympic sport. Nordic combined, which features ski jumping and cross country skiing, is the only sport in both the summer and winter Olympics in which women do not compete.

The decision, expected to come on June 26, is almost a decade in the making and will have serious consequences no matter which way the board sways.

Best-case scenario, the sport is included in the 2026 Olympic Games in Italy.

For a while, the worst-case scenario would be pushing that goal back yet another four years, but lately, there have been rumors circulating that there could be an even more drastic outcome.

In the aim for gender equality, adding women is one option and nixing the men is another.

Blake Hughes, the interim chief operating officer at USA Nordic, the governing body of Nordic combined and ski jumping in the United States, said even having the conversation about removing men is surreal and extreme.

That rumor started circling the last couple weeks, said Hughes. Its an even more frustrating way to just put a Band-Aid on something so they can fix inequality by taking mens Nordic combined out. I think its a quick and easy way for the older generation of men and women who are running the Olympic committee to force their hand and say, This is how were going to make it equal by taking mens Nordic combined out, which I dont think is appropriate at all.

I dont want to think about it, said USA Nordic womens Nordic combined head coach Tomas Matura.

Annika Malacinskis future is in the fate of the IOC executive board. The Steamboat Springs skier and womens national team member joined a large portion of the international womens Nordic combined community earlier this week with a collaborative social media post calling for the inclusion of the sport.

Malacinski said she hopes the posts inform more people of the upcoming decision and puts some pressure on the board by showing a lot of people have their eyes and ears on them. People can also express their opinions by reaching out to an IOC member.

I feel like everyones had very high hopes of it being in 26, and now that the decision is coming closer, I think its kind of scaring everyone, Malacinski said. It will be the end of womens Nordic combined if they do not put it in the Olympics.

National team members Tess Arnone and Alexa Brabec also hail from Steamboat Springs.

The men are set to compete in the 2026 Olympics, but the exclusion of women, or even the men, could start a domino effect that could add up to the end of Nordic combined.

Of course, there are many options in between the best- and worst-case scenarios, including the men competing in the Olympics, but perhaps the popularity of the sport declining due to inequality or the newfound insecurity of the sport. Women could leave the sport of Nordic combined for hopes of making an Olympic debut in ski jumping or another discipline, knocking back the sports progression and potentially dashing future hopes of Olympic inclusion. Without the option to compete in the Olympics, athletes may no longer have sponsors and may question the purpose of spending so much time, effort and money to compete at the World Cup level.

On paper, the decision to include womens Nordic combined in the Olympics appears obvious.

The International Ski Federation published a womens Nordic combined strategy in November 2016, which included a structured pathway for growth and a calendar marking anticipated milestones.

The strategy document says Nordic combined is the smallest of the Nordic disciplines, but its also an original sport, having appeared in every Winter Olympics, the first of which took place in 1924.

Five of the six milestones established in the strategy were met. In 2018, Rena, Norway, hosted the first-ever womens Continental Cup. Steamboat Springs hosted the second in December of that year. In early 2019, Lahti, Finland, hosted the Junior World Ski Championships in which young women competed in Nordic combined for the first time.

The next winter marked the first appearance of womens Nordic combined in the Youth Olympic Winter Games and the World Cup, and in 2021, womens Nordic combined was added to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships docket.

However, the sport did not debut in the 2022 Olympics as initially hoped. The IOC denied the inclusion of the sport in 2018, due to a lack of athletes and not yet having a World Cup circuit, knocking the sport off its original trajectory. Nevertheless, the sport continued to grow and prove that it was worthy of inclusion on the biggest stage.

The IOC is pushing to equal participation: the same amount of women and men athletes, Matura said. I cant see why they wouldnt add womens Nordic combined.

Since 2015, the sport has grown from 77 registered athletes to 190, according to the 2022 progress report. While the decision has to be made now whether the women will compete in 2026, Hughes said the board should consider how the sport will continue to grow.

By the time we get to 26 in Italy, itll be ready to be in the Olympics, Hughes said. I believe its ready to be in the Olympics now, but for sure in four years.

Malacinski, who is the top American womens Nordic combined athlete and a consistent top-15 finisher at World Cups, may have to reconsider her career path if the decision does not allow women to compete in the Olympics.

Its going to be taking a lot of girls dreams away and show younger girls to not get into the sport, which would be even worse, she said. There would be no future for womens Nordic combined.

I dont want to send the message to say, If you dont get your way, just quit, she added. But at this point in time, I invest so much of my time and energy and money into the sport that if we are not getting recognized for what we are I dont know if I would continue Nordic combined.

To reach Shelby Reardon, call 970-871-4253, email sreardon@SteamboatPilot.com or follow her on Twitter @ByShelbyReardon.

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Lia Thomas plans to keep swimming – with an eye on Olympics – The Associated Press – en Espaol

Posted: at 12:10 pm

Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas said she intends to keep competing, with the ultimate goal of reaching the Olympics.

In an interview that aired Tuesday on ABCs Good Morning America, Thomas also disputed those who say she has an unfair biological edge that ruins the integrity of womens athletics.

Trans women are not a threat to womens sports, she said.

Thomas became a leading symbol of transgender athletes stirring both opposition and support when she joined the Penn womens swim team after competing for three years on the mens squad at the Ivy League school.

In March, Thomas won the womens 500-yard freestyle at the NCAA championships in Atlanta, becoming the first transgender woman to claim a national title in swimming. She has since graduated from Penn and plans to attend law school, in addition to pursuing her goal of qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Olympic swimming trials that will determine the team for the Paris Games.

I intend to keep swimming, Thomas told ABC. Its been a goal of mine to swim at Olympic trials for a very long time, and I would love to see that through.

USA Swimming has used a review panel to make individual determinations on a case-by-case basis since 2018. Thomas would need approval from the governing body to attempt to qualify for the next Olympic trials.

Thomas, who grew up in Austin, Texas, said she fell in love with swimming at age 4 but felt increasingly disconnected from her body as she grew older.

I didnt feel like I was a boy, she said.

After high school, Thomas earned a spot on the mens swimming team at Penn. But by her sophomore year, she struggled with deep depression and suicidal thoughts.

I was barely going to classes. I could really barely get out of bed, she recalled, finally telling herself: I cant live like this anymore. I want to live again. I want to be able to do things I enjoy.

Thomas said a fear of not being able to compete in the sport she loved kept her from transitioning initially. But at the end of her sophomore year, she began hormone replacement therapy.

The mental and emotional changes actually happened very quickly. I was feeling a lot better mentally. I was less depressed, she said. And I lost muscle mass and I became a lot weaker and a lot, a lot slower in the water.

Thomas began swimming on the Penn womens swimming team at the start of her senior year, following NCAA guidelines in place at the time that athletes must complete one year of hormone replacement therapy to change gender categories.

The scrutiny over Thomas grew as she achieved far more swimming success competing against women than she did before.

Transgender athletes have now become a prominent political target, with many conservative states pushing through laws that require high school athletes to compete as the sex they were assigned at birth.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a proclamation that declared the NCAA runner-up, Florida-born Emma Weyant, as the real winner of the womens 500 title.

The NCAA has changed its transgender eligibility guidelines to allow each sport to follow the rules set by each sports national governing body.

Thomas, in the interview with ABC, pushed back on some of the criticism she received particularly during her senior season, when she rarely spoke to the media. She scoffed at the notion that she transitioned in order to have more success as a swimmer.

We transition to be happy and authentic and our true selves, she said. Transitioning to get an advantage is not something that ever factors into our decisions.

Thomas also said its not fair to prevent transgender people from competing in sports, or to limit them to competing only against each other.

In addition to not allowing the full athletic experience, thats incredibly othering to trans people who already face immense discrimination in other parts of our lives, Thomas said.

She said the highlight of her college graduation was hearing her name called as Lia Thomas.

When I actually got to walk across the stage and hear them say my name, she said, it was very cool.

___

More AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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USA Softball POY Jocelyn Alo: ‘You will be seeing me in the 2028 Olympics’ – Just Women’s Sports

Posted: at 12:10 pm

Some days, Oklahoma softball star Jocelyn Alo still has a hard time wrapping her head around all that shes accomplished. She sat down with Whistles No Days Off series, where she discussed her off-the-charts hitting, what its like playing for Patti Gasso and more.

Its still kind of surreal, said Alo of the home run that broke Lauren Chamberlains record for the most in college softball, revealing that she was so locked into the moment that she didnt hear the crowd. But it was special, she said, that her record-breaking home run come in her home state of Hawaii.

Since then, Alo has hit more home runs, becoming the all-time leader in home runs across baseball or softball in the NCAA. Also said that the work she puts into her hitting helps to set her apart from the rest.

She further cemented her legacy Wednesday when she was named the 2022 USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year after helping lead Oklahoma to its sixth-straight Womens College World Series. Shes the fifth player in history to win back-to-back Player of the Year honors.

Alo heads to the WCWS in Oklahoma City leading the nation with a 1.163 slugging percentage and .634 on-base percentage.

There is pressure, for sure, but our coach [Patti Gasso] always says that pressure is a privilege, Also said. I manage pressure by staying within myself and not trying to make the moment too big.

She then said that playing for Gasso is everything I ever wanted in a coach and a whole lot more.

To play under a woman, a boss lady, was something different for me, said Alo, noting that Gasso has helped her grow not just as an athlete but also as a woman.

Having won just one national championship during her time at Oklahoma, Alo will look to add one more as her college career comes to a close. But she also is looking ahead, aiming to play in Los Angeles at the 2028 Olympics.

You will be seeing me in the 2028 Olympics, I know that, she said. Both baseball and softball are not a lock for the 2028 Games, with cheerleading, cricket, flag football and lacrosse also looking for inclusion, but dont bet against Alo.

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2024 Olympics at Teahupo’o: Here’s How the Qualifying Process Works – TheInertia.com

Posted: at 12:10 pm

The 2024 Olympics might still be a few years out, but if the last few have has taught us anything, its that those years are flying by. And, since the 2024 Olympics are of the French variety, Olympic surfing is set to run at Teahupoo which, of course, is just about the best possible place to run an Olympic surfing event. The ISA, forward looking as it is, just released the official avenues of qualification.

The Olympic QS builds on the previous system used for Tokyo 2020, reads a press release, ensuring the participation of the worlds best professional surfers as well as promoting geographical universal opportunities for surfers from around the world at the Games.

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Surfing did pretty well in its inaugural year at the 2020 Tokyo Games, and if wave quality is any barometer of how much interest the general public shows, Teahupoo is going to be a chart topper if the conditions cooperate.

Teahupoo will be a spectacular, magical showcase for our sport in the Olympics, ISA President Fernando Aguerre said. Surfing was a very popular sport in the 2020 Tokyo Games. Olympic Surfing in 2024, will certainly expand on the Tokyo success. We are super excited to share this tangible pathway for surfers to reach their Olympic dreams.

Teahupoo was chosen because Olympic organizers decided that it would offer an opportunity to engage French overseas territories and their communities in the Olympic Games for the first time in history while showcasing Frances rich and diverse heritage. A good decision, right?

According to Aguerre, there were a few important considerations that came into play when figuring out how the qualification process was going to work. It also dictated a few small tweaks.

Surfing is such a personal, individual expression of performance that it was really important for us to continue to enable the surfers to win the right to qualify based on their own performances, he explained. For this reason, all qualification places, with a few noted special exceptions, will be made by name. Providing the winning teams at our World Surfing Games in 2022 and 2024 the opportunity to win additional slots, regardless of the two-per country limit, is an important innovation that will further motivate the top surfing nations to win the ISA Team World Champion Trophy.

So heres how its going to work, all bullet-pointed and straight(ish) forward.

The hierarchical order of qualification will be as follows:

Got that all? Me neither. But if you want to dive a little deeper into it, theres more here. But honestly, Im just excited about the possibility of running an Olympic event at maxing Chopes.

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Kyle Hamilton wants to see NFL play games in Asia, the Olympics – FanSided

Posted: at 12:10 pm

Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton opened up about his Korean heritage, sharing that he wants to see the NFL play games in Asia and the Olympics one day.

American Football is a global sport: there are girls and womens tackle leagues in Morocco, the Poly Bowl brings together vaunted high school players of Polynesian descent, and the IFAF Championship brings together teams from all over the world.

Still, the NFL remains primarily North American-based, although there are significant efforts to grow the sport in Europe. Londoners love watching the Jacksonville Jaguars play at Wembley, and this season, the NFL will host a Tampa Bay Buccaneers-Seattle Seahawks matchup in Munich, Germany.

In his lifetime, Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton hopes to see the game grow even further. In an exclusive interview with WBALs Melissa Kim, Hamilton opened up about his Korean heritage, fighting against AAPI hate, and seeing the game he loves grow in Korea.

Maybe, in Korea one day, I think thats a part of the game that can be improved upon a lot, just growing in Asia, Hamilton said.

Hopefully one day, before I die, I want to see football in the Olympics, he continued. Thats a goal for me.

Hamilton, who is considered to be the steal of the NFL Draft, is one of three active Korean-American NFL players, joining Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and Atlanta Falcons kicker Younghoe Koo.

Hopefully, my influence off the field [in donating to Stop AAPI Hate] has resonated with them as well, and they know the person behind the helmet, behind the facemask, Hamilton said of the next generation of Asian-American footballers.

Although the NFL doesnt have Asian-based games on its schedule, perhaps it should because American football has been played in Korea for over 70 years.

The Korean American Football Association (KAFA) has two primary divisions: university teams, and senior teams in the Korean National Football League (KNFL). Like college football, KAFA teams host bowl games, but unlike in the United States, the collegiate champions play the KNFL champions in a Super Bowl-like matchup. The collegiate teams play in the Tiger Bowl; the KNFL teams play in the Gwanggaeto Bowl; the collegiate champion and KNFL champion face off in the Kimchi Bowl. One dominant KNFL team is the Seoul Vikings, the two-time Kimchi Bowl champions and the seven-time Gwangaeto Bowl champions. On the university side, the DongEui University Turtle Fighters are frequent victors, winning the Kimchi Bowl in 2016 and 2017.

The Kimchi Bowl is Koreas equivalent to Japans Rice Bowl, the championship game between the professional-levelX-League champion and the Japanese collegiate champion. Although American football isnt as established as Nippon Professional Baseball, perhaps the NFL could recruit players from Korea and Japan. If Ichiro, Shohei Ohtani, and now Seiya Suzuki have proven anything, its that American professional sports leagues should look to Japanese ones to recruit the best of the best.

As far as bringing football to the Olympics, thats something that Hamilton might see in Los Angeles in 2028. Team USA flag football is competing at the World Games this July in Birmingham, Alabama, and the NFL is already a premier partner of the Games as the flag football sponsor. Representation at the World Games could make a case to add flag football to future Olympic Games. And if flag football does reach the Olympics, perhaps Jona Xiao,the Chinese-American quarterback for the Los Angeles-based She-Unit, could make history leading the first Olympic womens flag football team. After all, Xiao already made Team USAs 2020 prelim roster.

Hamilton is paving the way for the next generation of Asian-American athletes, amplifying AAPI voices here and looking to connect the NFL with football fans in Korea. Although he has yet to play in his first NFL game, Hamilton is already a Ravens star whose passion for the game shines on and off the field.

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

Posted: at 12:10 pm

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The latest sports news locally and nationally, and what's happening in sports this afternoon and tonight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We rely on the support of our subscribers to fund our journalism. If youre not already signed up, we hope you will consider subscribing. Already a print subscriber? If you havent already, please activate your digital access.

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The Jordan Peterson Meat-Only Diet – The Atlantic

Posted: at 12:09 pm

I know how ridiculous it sounds, Mikhaila Peterson told me recently by phone, after a whirlwind of attention gathered around the 26-year-old, who is now offering dietary advice to people suffering with conditions like hers. Or not so much dietary advice as guiding people in eating only beef.

At first glance, Peterson, who is based in Toronto, could seem to be one of the many emerging semi-celebrities with a miraculous story of self-healingwho show off postpartum weight loss in bikini Instagrams and sell one thing or another, a supplement or tonic or book or compression garment. (Not incidentally, she is the daughter of the famous and controversial pop psychologist Jordan Peterson. More on that later.) But Peterson is taking the trend in extra-professional health advice to an extreme conclusion: She is not doing sponsored posts for health products, but actively selling one-on-one counseling ($75 for a half hour) for people who want to stop eating almost everything.

Peterson seems to be reaching suffering people despite a lack of training or credentials in nutrition or medicine, and perhaps because of that distinction. Her Instagram bio: For info on treating weight loss, depression, and autoimmune disorders with diet, check out my blog or fb page! The blog, which is called Dont Eat That, says at the top that many (if not most) health problems are treatable with diet alone. This is true, if at odds with the disclaimer at the bottom of the page that her words are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

I told her Im surprised people need further counseling, in that an all-beef diet is very straightforward.

They mostly want to see that Im not dead, she said. What I basically do is say, Hey, look at all the things that happened to me and brought me to where I am now. Isnt it weird? And then let people draw their own conclusions.

Peterson described an adolescence that involved multiple debilitating medical diagnoses, beginning with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Some unknown process had triggered her bodys immune system to attack her joints. The joint problems culminated in hip and ankle replacements in her teens, coupled with extreme fatigue, depression and anxiety, brain fog, and sleep problems. In fifth grade she was diagnosed with depression, and then later something called idiopathic hypersomnia (which translates to English as sleeping too much, of unclear causewhich translates further to sorry we really dont know whats going on).

Everything the doctors tried failed, and she did everything they told her, she recounted to me. She fully bought into the system, taking large doses of strong immune-suppressing drugs like methotrexate.*

Her story took a dramatic turn in 2015, when the underdog protagonist, nearly at the end of her rope, figured out the truth for herself. It was all about food.

Peterson adopted a common approach to dieting: elimination. She started cutting out foods from her diet, and feeling better each time. She began with gluten, and she kept going, casting out more and morenot just gluten or dairy or soy or lectins or artificial sweeteners or non-artificial sweeteners, but everything. Until, by December 2017, all that was left was beef and salt and water, and, she told me, all my symptoms went into remission.

And you quit taking all your medications?

Everything.

There is so much evidenceabundant, copious evidence acquired over decades of work from scientists around the worldthat most people benefit from eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and seeds. This appears to be largely because fiber in plants is important to the flourishing of the gut microbiome. I ran this by some experts, just to make sure I wasnt missing anything that might suggest a beef-salt diet is potentially something other than a bad idea. I learned that it was worse than I thought.

Physiologically, it would just be an immensely bad idea, Jack Gilbert, the faculty director at the University of Chicagos Microbiome Center and a professor of surgery, told me during a recent visit to his lab. A terribly, terribly bad idea.

Gilbert has done extensive research on how the trillions of microbes in our guts digest food, and the look on his face when I told him about the all-beef diet was unamused. He began rattling off the expected ramifications: Your body would start to have severe dysregulation, within six months, of the majority of the processes that deal with metabolism; you would have no short-chain fatty acids in your cells; most of the by-products of gastrointestinal polysaccharide fermentation would shut down, so you wouldnt be able to regulate your hormone levels; youd enter into cardiac issues due to alterations in cell receptors; your microbiota would just be devastated.

While much of the internet has been following this story in a somewhat snide way, Gilbert appeared genuinely concerned and saddened: If she does not die of colon cancer or some other severe cardiometabolic disease, the lifeI cant imagine.

There are few accounts of people having tried all-beef diets, though all-meatknown as carnivoryis slightly more common. Earlier this month, inspired by the media conversation about the Peterson approach, Alan Levinovitz, the author of The Gluten Lie, tried carnivory, eating only meat for two weeks. He did lose seven pounds, which he attributes to eating fewer calories overall, because he eventually got tired of eating only meat. He missed snacking at coffee shops and browsing the local farmers market and trying out new restaurants around town, cooking with his family, and just generally enjoying food.

I was psychologically exhausted, Levinovitz told me. When he returned to omnivory, he regained the lost weight in four days.

Peterson told me it took several weeks for her to get used to the beef-only approach, and that the relief of her medical symptoms overpowers any sense of missing food. If even a tiny amount of anything else finds its way into her mouth, she will be ill, she says. This happened when she tried to eat an organic olive, and again recently when she was at a restaurant that put pepper on her steak.

I was like, whatever, its just pepper, she told me. Then she had a reaction that lasted three weeks and included joint pain, acne, and anxiety.

Apart from having to exist in a world where the possibility of pepper exposure looms, the only other social downside she notices is that she hates asking people to accommodate her diet. So she will usually eat before she goes to a dinner party, she told me, but then Ill go drink and enjoy the party.

Drink, as in, water?

I can also, strangely enough, tolerate vodka and bourbon.

The idea that alcohol, one of the most well-documented toxic substances, is among the few things that Petersons body will tolerate may be illuminating. It implies that when it comes to dieting, the inherent properties of the substances ingested can be less important than the eaters conceptualizations of themas either tolerable or intolerable, good or bad. Whats actually therapeutic may be the act of elimination itself.

For centuries, ascetics have found enlightenment through acts of deprivation. As Levinovitz, who is an associate professor of religion at James Madison University, explained to me, the Daoist text the Zhuangzi describes a spirit man who lives in the mountains and rides dragons and subsists only on air and dew. Theres an anti-authoritarian bent to pop-culture wisdom, and a part of that is dealing with food taboos, which are handed down by authorities, Levinovitz said. Those are government now, instead of religious. And because they are wrong so oftenor, at least, apparently wrongthats a good place to go when carving out your own area of authority. If you just eat the wrong foods and dont die, thats a ritual way to prove that you go against conventional wisdom.

Petersons narrative fits a classic archetype of an outsider who beat the game and healed thyself despite the odds and against the recommendations of the establishment. Her story is her truth, and it cant be explained; you have to believe. And unlike the many studies that have been done to understand the diets of the longest-lived, healthiest people in history, or the randomized trials that are used to determine which health interventions are safe and effective for whom, her story is clear and dramatic. Its right there in her photos; it has a face and a name to prove that no odds are too long for one determined person to overcome.

The beneficial effects of a compelling personal narrative that helps explain and give order to the world can be absolutely physiologically real. It is well documented that the immune system (and, so, autoimmune diseases) are modulated by our lifestylesfrom how much we sleep and move to how well we eat and how much we drink. Most importantly, the immune system is also modulated by stress, which tends to be a by-product of a perceived lack of control or order.

If strict dietary rules provide a sense of control and order, then Petersons approach is emblematic of the trend in elimination dieting taken to an extreme: Avoid basically everything. This verges into the realm of an eating disorder. The National Eating Disorder Association lists among common symptoms refusal to eat certain foods, progressing to restrictions against whole categories of food. In the early phases of disordered eating, as with bipolar disorder or alcoholism, a person may look and feel great. They may thrive for months or even years. But this fades. Whats more, the temporary relief from anxiety may mean that the source of the anxiety goes unsought and unaddressed.

I asked Peterson about the possibility that she may be enabling people with eating disorders. She said she would draw a line if a client were underweight or inducing vomiting. Otherwise, its extremely disrespectful to people with health issues caused by food to be lumped into the same category as people with eating disorders. More of the same blame the patient stuff that doctors and health professionals already do.

The popularity of Petersons narrative is explained by more than its timeless tropes; it has also been amplified by the fact that her father has occasionally cast his spotlight onto her story. Jordan Petersons recent book, Twelve Rules for Life, includes the story of his daughters health trials. The elder Peterson, a psychologist at the University of Toronto, could at first seem an unlikely face for acceptance of personal, subjective truth, as he regularly professes the importance of acting as purely as possible according to rigorous analysis of data. He argued in a recent video that American universities are the home to ideologues who claim that all truth is subjective, that all sex differences are socially constructed, and that Western imperialism is the sole source of all Third World problems. In his book, he writes that academic institutions are teaching children to be brainwashed victims, and that the rigorous critical theoretician is morally obligated to set them straight.

It is on grounds of his interpretation of income data, for example, that he has spoken out against the idea of a wage gap between men and women being unfair, as it can be explained away by biological factors associated with certain personality traits that are more valuable in the capitalist marketplace. From arguments from social-science evidence, he has expressed uncertainty that lesbian couples can raise children without a male father figure. And it is academic evidence that leads him to write in his book that the so-called patriarchy is an arbitrary cultural artifact.

Yet in a July appearance on the comedian Joe Rogans podcast, Jordan Peterson explained how Mikhailas experience had convinced him to eliminate everything but meat and leafy greens from his diet, and that in the last two months he had gone full meat and eliminated vegetables. Since he changed his diet, his laundry list of maladies has disappeared, he told Rogan. His lifelong depression, anxiety, gastric reflux (and associated snoring), inability to wake up in the mornings, psoriasis, gingivitis, floaters in his right eye, numbness on the sides of his legs, problems with mood regulationall of it is gone, and he attributes it to the diet.

Im certainly intellectually at my best, he said. Im stronger, I can swim better, and my gum disease is gone. Its like, what the hell?

Do you take any vitamins? asked Rogan.

No. No, I eat beef and salt and water. Thats it. And I never cheat. Ever. Not even a little bit.

No soda, no wine?

I drink club soda.

Well, thats still water.

Well, when youre down to that level, no, its not, Joe. Theres club soda, which is really bubbly. Theres Perrier, which is sort of bubbly. Theres flat water, and theres hot water. Those distinctions start to become important.

Peterson reiterated several times that he is not giving dietary advice, but said that many attendees of his recent speaking tour have come up to him and said the diet is working for them. The takeaway for listeners is that it worked for Peterson, and so it may work for them. Rogan also clarified that though he is also not an expert, he is fascinated by the fact that he hasnt heard any negative stories about people who have started the all-meat diet.

Well, I have a negative story, said Peterson. Both Mikhaila and I noticed that when we restricted our diet and then ate something we werent supposed to, the reaction was absolutely catastrophic. He gives the example of having had some apple cider and subsequently being incapacitated for a month by what he believes was an inflammatory response.

You were done for a month?

Oh yeah, it took me out for a month. It was awful ...

Apple cider? What was it doing to you?

It produced an overwhelming sense of impending doom. I seriously mean overwhelming. Theres no way I couldve lived like that. But see, Mikhaila knew by then that it would probably only last a month.

A month? From fucking cider?

I didnt sleep that month for 25 days. I didnt sleep at all for 25 days.

What? How is that possible?

Ill tell you how its possible: You lay in bed frozen in something approximating terror for eight hours. And then you get up.

The longest recorded stretch of sleeplessness in a human is 11 days, witnessed by a Stanford research team.

While there is debate in the scientific community over just how much meat belongs in a human diet, it is impossible for all or even most humans to eat primarily meat. Beef production at the scale required to feed billions of humans even at current levels of consumption is environmentally unsustainable. It is not even healthy from a theoretical evolutionary viewpoint, the microbiome expert Gilbert explained to me. Carnivores need to eat meat or else they die; humans do not. The carnivore gastrointestinal tract is completely different from the human gastrointestinal tract, which is made up of a system designed to consume large quantities of complex fibers.

What the Petersons are selling is rather a sense of order and control. Science is about questions, and self-help is about answers. A recurring idea in Jordan Petersons book is that humans need rulesits subtitle is an antidote to chaoseven if only for the sake of rules. Peterson discovered this through his own suffering, as when he was searching the world for the best surgeon to give his young daughter a new hip. In explaining how he dealt with Mikhailas illness, he writes that existence and limitation are inextricably linked. He quotes Laozi:

It is not the clay the potter throws,

Which gives the pot its usefulness,

But the space within the shape,

From which the pot is made

Dietary rules offer limits, good or bad, that help people define the self. This is an attractive prospect, and anyone willing to decree such rulesdietary or otherwiseis bound to attract attention. Fox News recently declared Peterson the lefts public enemy number one in a segment where he discussed with Tucker Carlson why the left wants to silence conservative thought. Though to have lived through the last year is to have lived in a world where Peterson and his ideas have enjoyed near-constant amplification.

The allure of a strict code for eatinga way to divide the world into good foods and bad foods, angels and demonsmay be especially strong at a time when order feels in short supply. Indeed there is at least some benefit to be had from any and all dietary advice, or rules for life, so long as a person believes in them, and so long as they provide a code that allows a person to feel good for having stuck with it and a cohort of like-minded adherents. The challenge is to find a code that accords as best as possible with scientific evidence about what is good and bad, and with what is best for the world.

* This article previously misidentified Peterson as the author of a guest post on her blog.

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