Commonwealth Games – podium protests permitted

  • Medallists can show support for Black Lives Matter and LGBT+
  • Protests subject to guidelines as hate gestures are forbidden

The 4,500 athletes expected in Birmingham this summer will also be permitted to wear clothing, armbands and badges on the podium to support social justice causes under radical new β€œguiding principles” for athlete advocacy due to be announced on Tuesday. …

Guardian

I’d call this radical β€”Β but progress. Homosexuality is still illegal in 36 of the 72 nations that will compete in Birmingham, for example. That should change sooner than later.

Tommie Smith and John Carlos 1968 Olympics – protesting racial injustice in America

preventing teen suicide

Ian took his own life at age-14.

His family wants to offer options for any kids who might feel depressed at times.

The Live Hard Movement is dedicated to providing love and light within the darkness of those affected by the depth of depression and suicide.

Live Hard was of the Charities being promoted at this year’s Charity Choice Invitational in Washington State.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

5 Parkettes coaches under investigation

… The notices of allegations against the five coaches were issued Feb. 10 and are not public, but a source with knowledge of the accusations provided details that they involve physical and emotional abuse primarily between 2013 and 2016 reported by at least 11 gymnasts. …

Parkettes owners and 3 coaches named in SafeSport allegations. Former athletes claim weight-shaming and sexual harassment at elite gymnastics club

IOC must set minimum Olympic age

It’s stupid and inconsistent to have different age requirements for the Olympic sports.

Especially if you can’t enforce Olympic rules for athletes under age-16.

By Paris the minimum age should be 16. Or even age-18.

The Recent Rise of Child Athletes in the Olympic Games

TOKYO, JAPAN – AUGUST 04: Bronze medalist Sky Brown (age 13) of Team Great Britain (right), Gold medalist Sakura Yosozumi of Team Japan (center) and Silver medalist Kokona Hiraki (age 13) of Team Japan (left) pose after the Women’s Skateboarding Park Finals on day twelve of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Urban Sports Park on August 04, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Utah 198.0 on Pride / Olympian Night

Season high.

The Utes celebrated both equal opportunity for all AND Olympians.

Opinion polling has shown an increase in support for LGBT rights in the state. A 2017 Public Religion Research Institute poll showed that 44% of Utah residents supported same-sex marriage, a significant increase from the early 2000s. …

Kamila Valieva – Olympic quads

Amazing. She twists so quickly.

I’m so sorry this historic accomplishment is being overshadowed by why her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, couldn’t prevent Kamila from taking a prohibited substance.

My second question is WHY the IOC doesn’t have a minimum age for all Olympic sports.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

good news for Gymnastics in the USA

More than half of the 18 women invited to Olympic trials in St. Louis last month (2021) were women of color.

While numbers are still low on college teams, there is progress. Black womenΒ account for nearly 10% of the scholarship athletesΒ at the NCAA Division I level, an increase from 7% in 2012.

More than 10% of USA Gymnastics membership self-identify as Black. …

Will Graves – β€˜This can be me’: Black participation rising in gymnastics (July 23, 2021)

About 12.1% of Americans are Black so the USA is getting close to equal representation in Gymnastics, an expensive sport.

Simone Biles, right, hugs Gabby Douglas after the Secret U.S. Classic

400.750 Illinois – Ohio State 394.500

Illinois won at home on Pride day.

So far as I can recall, this is the first Men’s Gymnastics team to celebrate gender equality as a competition theme.

Another step forward in the quest for equal opportunity for all.

Illinois MAG – Pride Night

Today. Saturday February 5, 2022.

Remember the date.

Same sex marriage only passed in the backwards USA in 2015.

This is an important step for equal opportunity for all.

lawyer writes apology letter

Former Australian National Coach Perry Liddick was required to to apologise to double Olympian Georgia Bonora.

In a VERY short letter she acknowledged her behaviour was unacceptable and the language she used towards Bonora was belittling, offensive and humiliating.

When contacted by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, Liddick said β€œvaluable lessons had been learned all around” and it was time to move on.

Click through if you want to see how a lawyer writes a letter of apology.

I’d like to thank Georgia, who is now a coach in Melbourne, for her courage in speaking up. I’m sure it wasn’t easy.

Celebrated coach belittled, humiliated gymnast, tribunal finds