Tag: America

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Barber outlasts fellow Aussie to win as HUGE line-up of events loom: Comm Games LIVE

Barber outlasts fellow Aussie to win as HUGE line-up of events loom: Comm Games LIVE

Australia took home a stunning nine gold medals on Saturday and there are plenty more chances to add to the tally on Day 10 of the Commonwealth Games.

Foxsports.com.au has you covered with live updates from all the key events, which you can follow below!

DAY 9 WRAP: Aussies claim nine gold in staggering Commonwealth Games blitz

MEDAL TALLY: Aussies’ gold rush after Poms turn up heat in Comm Games race

JAMAICAN STAR KEEPS AUSSIES OFF PODIUM

Australia was a whisker away of earning a podium finish in the women’s 4 x 100m women’s relay, but it sadly wasn’t to be.

Ella Connolly ran a blistering opening leg and the Aussies were in the lead at the halfway mark, but sadly fell away as Jamaica crept ahead on the final stretch thanks to a blistering leg from Elaine Thompson-Herah.

The race was won by Nigeria.

BARBER SURVIVES AUSSIE’S ONSLAUGHT IN THRILLING JAVELIN FINAL

Despite throwing two personal bests, Mackenzie Little could not dethrone Kelsey-Lee Barber as she secured her first Commonwealth Games gold medal.

Barber took the lead with her first throw of 63.52m, but Little quickly surged ahead and set a new personal best of 64.03m.

Little then extended the gap at the top even more with a throw of 64.27m as she smashed her personal best yet again.

But under enormous pressue, Barber pulled out a throw of 64.43m to oust Little and win the gold.

AUSSIE STAR CRUELLY ROBBED OF GOLD

Callum Peters can count himself extremely unlucky as he lost the gold medal fight in the men’s middleweight to Scotland’s Sam Hickey.

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TINGAY OUSTED IN GRUELLING RACE

Australia’s Declan Tingay led for most of the men’s 10km walk but was unfortunately pipped to the gold medal as Canada’s Evan Dunfee won the event.

NO LUCK FOR SCOTT IN BOXING BATTLE

Kaye Scott’s tilt at a gold medal has unfortunately ended at the hands of Wales’ Rosie Eccles.

Eccles outclassed Scott throughout the fight as both women showed they were willing to trade early in the first round.

But it was the Welsh star who got the better of the exchanges and forced the referee into a standing count for Scott with a minute left in the first round.

Scott survived and finished with flurries of punches, but was almost certainly behind on the judges’ scorecards.

The tough times continued into the second round, as Scott faced a standing count with two minutes to go before a third and final standing count arrived with 90 seconds remaining.

Despite the unfortunate ending, it is an improvement on Scott’s previous Commonwealth Games performance in which she won the bronze medal.

BAKER WINS GOLD!

Georgia Baker has won Australia’s first gold medal of the day after taking out the women’s road race in the cycling.

It was a gruelling race that pushed the six-strong Australian contingent to the brink, but Baker finished first over the line in what was her third gold medal in Birmingham.

Baker is joined on the podium by fellow Aussie Sarah Roy, who came third.

Georgia Baker wins the gold medal. Picture: Channel 7
Georgia Baker wins the gold medal. Picture: Channel 7Source: Supplied

AUSSIE WINS SILVER IN FIRST-EVER GAMES

In his first Commonwealth Games, Lin Ma has secured a silver medal for Australia in the men’s table tennis singles Classes 8-10.

Ma sadly lost to Wales’ Joshua Stacey, who won by three sets to two.

JUMPING JENNEKE JUST SHY OF PB IN HURDLES FINAL

Michelle Jenneke was unfortunately outclassed in the women’s 100m hurdles final, as Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan took home the gold medal.

Jenneke was right in the mix at the very start, but the heavy hitters eventually pulled away.

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HEARTBREAK AS AUSSIE STAR HOSPITALISED

Australian cycling star Rohan Dennis has unfortunately been forced to withdraw from the men’s road race, joining Caleb Ewan on the sidelines.

An Aus Cycling statement read: “Rohan Dennis will take no further part in the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games following medical advice.

Dennis, who took gold in the Men’s Individual Time Trial on Thursday, woke up on Saturday morning in discomfort and was taken to a local hospital to undergo tests and observations.

As a precaution, Dennis was advised to withdraw from today’s road race, but remains comfortable and under observation.”

Australia’s six-man team for the event is now down to four, with Luke Durbridge, Luke Plapp, Miles Scotson and Sam Fox set to compete.

Australian Michelle Jenneke came fifth in the 100m hurdles final. Picture: Michael KleinSource: News Corp Australia

ATHLETICS

All eyes will no doubt be on Peter Bol, who is competing in the men’s 800m final at around 4.35am.

Jessica Hull is also a strong chance at a medal when she competes in the women’s 1500m final alongside fellow Australians Abbey Caldwell and Linden Hall.

Caldwell and Hall progressed to the final after finishing inside the top four of their race with times of 4:13.59 and 4:14.08 respectively while Hull had a time of 4:16.13.

CRICKET

Australia won a thriller in the opening pool game against India but will they be able to get past their fierce rivals when it matters most?

The two will face off for the gold medal in the T20 final, with that game scheduled for around 2am.

Hot favourites Australia toppled New Zealand by five wickets in their semi-final while India edged England by four runs in a thrilling contest.

Ash Gardner was the hero when these two sides met in the pool stages, striking an unbeaten 52 from 35 balls to help the gold medal favourites chase down a 155-run target.

Australia struggled early in that game, with Indian seamer Renuka Singh recording 4-18 in just four overs as the top-order fell apart before Gardner’s heroics saved the day.

NETBALL

It all comes down to this for our Aussie Diamonds, who will take on Jamaica in the gold medal match at 5.30am.

Australia gave up a six-goal lead in a stunning 57-55 loss to Jamaica in the pool stages, with international superstar Jhaniele Fowler starring in the upset win.

The West Coast Fever sensation scored 47 goals and backed it up with a perfect 54 from just as many attempts as a perfect shooting night saw Jamaica take down the Silver Ferns in the semis.

Australia booked its spot in the final with a 60-51 win over England in a spiteful game in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Gretel Bueta was the standout in that victory, with 43 goals at 98 per cent accuracy.

Gretel Bueta in action. (Photo by Eddie Keogh/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

HOCKEYROOS

And as if the cricket and netball finals were not enough, the Hockeyroos will also be in action against England in the women’s gold medal match.

That final is scheduled for midnight, with Australia booking its spot in the decider after defeating New Zealand and India.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

There are two chances for Australia to claim gold in beach volleyball, with the first final at 1am as Paul Burnett and Chris McHugh take on Canada.

Later in the early hours of the morning, attention will turn towards the women’s doubles final. Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy took home silver for Australia at Tokyo and will be looking to make it gold at Birmingham when they face defending champions Canada at 6am.

CYCLING

Four men will be representing Australia in the men’s road race at 9:30pm.

BADMINTON & TABLE TENNIS

Hsuan-Yu Wendy Chen and Gronya Somerville will be looking to progress through to the gold medal match when they play England in the women’s doubles semi-final.

Meanwhile, Yangzi Liu will be going for bronze in the women’s singles table tennis at 8.05pm before Finn Luu and Nicholas Lum do the same in the men’s doubles event at 10.05pm.

Gronya Somerville of Team Australia celebrates winning a point. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images

DIVING

14-year-old starlet Charli Petrov and veteran Melissa Wu took gold in the women’s 10m synchronised dive and there are more opportunities for medals on Sunday.

All eyes will be on Brittany O’Brien, Maddison Keeney and Georgia Sheehan as they compete for a medal in the women’s 3m springboard prelims at 8.44pm.

Follow all the action live below! Can’t see the updates? Click here!

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Editorial | If America wants to host sports events …

Editorial | If America wants to host sports events …

After the World Athletics Championships ends in the United States city of Eugene, Oregon, on Sunday, among the things that must be urgently on the agenda of the sport’s governing body, World Athletics, is a serious consideration about whether the United States should be allowed to host future games, and under what conditions. This should be part of a broader review of the obligations of the countries that agree to put on international events, to ensure that participants have relative ease of entry into those states, including being awarded travel visas on a timely basis.

Getting American entry visas has been a big problem for many athletes at these games. In Jamaica, we are aware of the case of Chad Wright, the discus thrower, who, after a frustrating circle around the mulberry bush, only on Friday, the day the games opened, received a visa to enter the United States. Gregory Prince, a 400-metre runner, received his visa only two days earlier. He was similarly on a mad dash to Eugene.

But these are not the only, or even the most egregious, cases of America’s drip-and-dab doling of visas to foreign athletes after their countries selected them as national representatives. There was the embarrassment of the mere en passant mention by US television commentators, during the heats for the men’s race, that Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, the African record holder, and the third-fastest man over the distance so far this year, arrived in Eugene just three hours before he had to hit the tracks. Mr Omanyala received his visa at the last minute. He had contemplated missing the games.

Other big names, such as the Côte d’Ivoire’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou, complained of the frustrations of applying for visas and having to wait for late or last-minute responses from US authorities. “How did they expect the athletes to perform well?” Ms Ta Lou asked in a tweet.

‘COMFORT’ LETTER

At one point, South Africa had 10 athletes stuck in Italy, who, eventually, travelled to the United States under a ‘comfort’ letter, with a promise that they would be issued visas when they arrived in America. Indian athletes, too, had visa problems.

US officials have not spoken definitively to the issue, although there are suggestions that a major part of the problem was the backlog of the visa applications because of the COVID-19 pandemic, when countries shut down international travel. That, however, is not a sufficient excuse. Nor is it enough for athletics officials and other apologists to claim that the issue affected less than one per cent of the more than 5,500 athletes and officials attending the games.

“We’ve battled to do as much as we possibly can,” said Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics. “And we’ve been doing this now for some months. And, of course, there are political complications about nations being able to travel and nations coming into the United States.” This, too, is inadequate.

Most of the cases were not akin to what would apply to athletes from, say, Russia, which, as a country, was rightly or wrongly excluded from these games. And it is especially noticeable that the athletes who had problems were primarily from developing countries, and mostly people of colour.

Moreover, this problem, the denial, or grudging award, of visas to members of sport teams from developing countries of colour is not new. It happens across a range of sporting disciplines. In Jamaica, it is a case not infrequently faced by footballers. Basketball players, too, have been affected.

LACK OF TRANSPARENCY

What is particularly frustrating is the seeming arbitrariness, and the lack of transparency, in the decision-making of American consular officers. Usually, the athletes themselves, and the sporting bodies that select them in good faith and as the best performers in their disciplines, are given no reasons for visa denials. There is often a sense of grovelling when athletes and their sporting associations have to appeal the decisions.

We appreciate America’s right to determine who crosses its borders, and to be careful in the protection of its security. However, if the United States wants to host global sporting events, its sporting associations have to ensure that participants have a reasonable expectation of entry, and that their visas will be processed in a timely and orderly and non-discriminatory manner, taking into account the timing of national selection processes for participants. This might require greater coordination between America’s sports organisations and their foreign policy, border and homeland security apparatus. And have a clear criteria for entry. It might help, too, if the Americans, as part of their outreach in other countries, provide national sporting bodies with a transparent process for the issuing of visas.

Or perhaps we should all just play golf – or tennis.

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Salute to America events kick off in Jefferson City Sunday – ABC17NEWS

Salute to America events kick off in Jefferson City Sunday - ABC17NEWS

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo (KMIZ)

Salut  to America is kicking things off in Jefferson City, Sunday through Monday, bringing people two days of music, food and lots of family activities for the Fourth of July.

Organizers say events are set to get started at noon. This year, carnival rides will be back with the formally added inflatable park and axe throwing activities. In 2021, while in a pandemic, organizers say the company hired to run the carnival rides had to back out due to staffing shortages, which made them add new attractions.

Along with live music and various food vendors to choose from on High street, there will also be a Red, White, and Bloom Parade that will take place at 6:15 p.m. Sunday evening.

Salute to America Parade Map

According to the route, the parade will travel down Monroe Street to High Street, around to Jefferson Street, making its way back to East Miller Street. Salute to America will wrap up the holiday with the Red, White, and Boom Fireworks Sky Concert at 9:45pm Monday.

 As people get out for events on Sunday and Monday, they will  need to be aware of road closures.

Road closures and available parking for Salute to America

Street closures in Jefferson City for Salute to America:

  • East High Street from Monroe to Broadway
  • Capitol Avenue from Main Street to Adams Street
  • Madison Street from Wall Way Alley to State Street
  • Washington from Wall Way to West High
  • Circle Drive around the Capitol Building

East High Street from Monroe to Broadway will be closed. Capitol Avenue from Main Street to Adams street will be closed, along with Circle Drive around the Capital and others.

Jefferson City Parking for Salute to America:

  • State East Parking Garage off State Street at Monroe Street (more than 500 spots)
  • West State Park Garage (House of Representatives) off Main Street
  • All state and city lots are available for free parking, as well as off-street parking  on East McCarty Street, Capitol Avenue (east of Adams Street), East Miller Street, and Madison or Monroe from the Expressway to Wall Way.
  • Main Street St. Peter Youth Group Paid Parking $10
  • ADA parking is available:
    • on Broadway just off of West Main Street
    • behind the Governor’s Office Building accessed through Commercial Way from Jefferson
    • in Commercial Alley from Monroe St.

However, organizers say more than 500 free parking spots will be open at State East Parking Garage off State Street at Monroe Street. All state and city lots will be open for parking as well along with Main Street St. Peter Youth Group, who will have parking for $10 dollars.

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Reuters Events Announce C-Suite North America Energy Transition Leaders, for flagship Houston Meeting in November 2022. – News for the Energy Sector

Energy Transition North America event Picture shows; Energy Transition North America. US. Supplied by Reuters Events Date; Unknown
© Supplied by Reuters EventsEnergy Transition North America event Picture shows; Energy Transition North America. US. Supplied by Reuters Events Date; Unknown
Energy Transition North America event Picture shows; Energy Transition North America. US. Supplied by Reuters Events Date; Unknown

Over 350 energy, business and industrial leaders from the North America’s largest organizations will come together in Houston, November 09-10 at Reuters Events: Energy Transition North America 2022, where they will discuss the urgent need to decarbonize North American energy production and deliver strategies to turn global net zero ambition into meaningful net zero action.

Upon the backdrop of the COP27 climate conference, key industry changemakers will strategize pathways to providing a secure, clean and affordable power supply across the U.S. and Canada.

Across two days, Reuters Events will unpack the leadership and finance questions, deep dive into the importance of carbon management and business model innovation, and identify the key technologies and innovations available to deliver a decarbonized, electrified energy grid.

Full event information is available here.

With a legacy of convening leading energy and industrial executives, Reuters Events: Energy Transition North America provides a central meeting place for boardroom leaders committed to net zero to convene, build strategies and establish partnerships. The 2022 speaker faculty so far boasts:

  • Bob Dudley, Chairman, OGCI
  • Patti Poppe, Chief Executive Officer, Pacific Gas and Electric
  • Gretchen Watkin, President, Shell USA, Inc
  • Rafael Chaves, Chief Sustainability Officer, Petrobras
  • Ralph Izzo, Chief Executive Officer, PSEG
  • Alistair Vickers, Chief Executive Officer, bp Wind Energy
  • Jesse Arenivas, President, CO2, Kinder Morgan
  • Amos Hochstein, Senior Advisor Global Energy Security, U.S. Dept. of State
  • Maria Pope, Chief Executive Officer, Portland General Electric
  • Chris Golden, US Country Manager, Equinor
  • Joseph Dominquez, Chief Executive Officer, Constellation Energy
  • Sandhya Ganapathy, CEO, North America, EDPR
  • Enrico Viale, Head of North America, Enel
  • Susan Nickey, Chief Client Officer, Hannon Armstrong
  • Mauricio Gutierrez, Chief Executive Officer, NRG Energy

And many more!

“Securing a just and effective energy transition in North America will be crucial to reduce global emissions and ensure security is the defining challenge of our time,” said Owen Rolt, Head of Energy Transition at Reuters Events. “It is fitting that this year we will again be featuring one of the strongest lineups of any energy event in the world.”

To facilitate this seismic shift for the energy industry, Reuters Events has built the forum around five critical themes: Delivering Net Zero North America, Security and Supply, Carbon Management Strategies, Climate Technology, and Electrification and the Grid

Those interested in taking part in the forum can find out more information here.

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Anxiety in America: COVID ‘Takes a Backseat’ to Global Events

Anxiety in America: COVID 'Takes a Backseat' to Global Events

With two years of COVID-19 in the rearview mirror, anxiety among US adults has turned instead toward global events, results from the annual Healthy Minds Poll from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) show.

“It’s not surprising that recent events, such as the war in Ukraine, racially motivated mass shootings, or the impacts of climate change, are weighing heavily on Americans’ minds,” APA President Vivian Pender, MD, said in a news release. 

“COVID-19 in a way has taken a backseat, but the pandemic and its mental health effects are very much still with us. It’s important that we are cognizant of that and continue to work to ensure people who need psychiatric care, whether the causes are tied to the pandemic or to other issues, can access it,” Pender added.

Results from this year’s poll were released yesterday during the APA 2022 Annual Meeting.

Record Low COVID Anxiety

The poll was conducted by Morning Consult between April 23-24 and included 2210 adult participants.  

Results showed that anxiety about COVID is at its recorded lowest, with 50% of respondents indicating they are anxious about the pandemic. This was down from 65% in 2021 and from 75% in 2020.

Instead, nearly three quarters (73%) of adults are somewhat or extremely anxious about current events happening around the world, 64% are anxious about keeping themselves or their families safe, and 60% worry about their health in general.

Overall, about one third (32%) reported being more anxious now than last year, 46% reported no change in their anxiety level, and 18% were less anxious.

About one quarter (26%) have spoken with a mental healthcare professional in the past few years, which is down from 34% in 2021. In addition, Hispanic (36%) and Black (35%) adults were more likely to have reached out for help than White (25%) adults.

Despite the US Surgeon General’s recent advisory on the mental health crisis among children, the poll results also showed that Americans are less concerned about their children’s mental health than last year. A total of 41% of parents expressed concern about this topic, which was down from 53% in 2021.

Still, 40% of parents said their children had received help from a mental health professional since the pandemic hit. Of that group, 36% sought help before the pandemic, whereas half said the pandemic had caused mental health issues for their children.

“While the overall level of concern has dropped, still 4 in 10 parents are worried about how their children are doing, and a third are having issues with access to care,” Saul Levin, MD, CEO and medical director of the APA, said in the release.

“This is unacceptable and as a nation, we need to invest in the kind of systems that will ensure any parent who’s worried about their child has access to lifesaving treatment,” Levin added.

Workplace Mental Health

In addition, the poll showed employees often have a tough time getting mental health support from employers, or are hesitant to ask for help.

“What’s troubling about the results of this poll is that even as the pandemic has continued and its mental health effects wear on, fewer employees are reporting that they have access to mental health services,” Pender said. 

“Workplaces need to ensure that they are paying attention to what their employees need, particularly now, and moving away from mental health benefits isn’t the right move,” she added.

About half (48%) of those polled said they can discuss mental health openly and honestly with their supervisor, down from 56% in 2021 and 62% in 2020.

Only about half (52%) said they feel comfortable using mental health services with their current employer, compared with 64% in 2021 and 67% in 2020.

In addition, fewer workers felt their employer is offering sufficient mental health resources and benefits. This year, 53% of workers thought resources and benefits were adequate, which was down from 65% in 2021 and 68% in 2020.

“It’s quite concerning to see that fewer people feel comfortable discussing mental health with a supervisor, at a time when people experiencing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other conditions are on the rise and impact nearly every aspect of work, including productivity, performance, retention, and overall healthcare costs,” Darcy Gruttadaro, JD, director of the APA Foundation’s Center for Workplace Mental Health, said.

“As rates of these conditions rise, we should see more employees knowing about available workplace mental health resources, not less,” Gruttadaro says.

Strong Bipartisan Support 

Perhaps unexpectedly, the poll shows strong support among Democrats, Republicans, and Independents for three APA-backed approaches to improve timely access to mental health care and treatment.

Specifically, about three quarters of those polled support:

  • making it easier to see a mental health professional via telehealth,

  • allowing patients to receive mental health care through a primary care provider,  

  • funding mental health care professionals to work in rural or urban communities that are traditionally underserved.

“We’re in a moment when mental health is a big part of the national conversation, and clearly political party doesn’t matter as much on this issue,” Pender noted. 

“It’s a rare thing in Washington these days to see such a resounding endorsement, but there is strong support for these practical workable solutions that mean more access to mental health care,” she said.

“What you see in this poll is agreement: it’s hard to access mental [health care] but we do have great solutions that could work across party lines,” Levin added.

“Many policymakers, in the administration and in Congress, are already putting these ideas into action, and they should feel encouraged that the public wants to see Congress act on them,” he said.

American Psychiatric Association (APA) 2022 Annual Meeting. Released May 22, 2022.

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Bobsled, skeleton WCups return to North America

Bobsled, skeleton WCups return to North America

Bobsled and skeleton World Cup races will return to North America this fall for the first time since before the pandemic, finally giving U.S. and Canadian athletes a chance to compete on home ice again.

The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation has decided to start the 2022-23 season with three stops in the U.S. and Canada before the Christmas break. The tour will open on the 2010 Olympic track in Whistler, Canada, from Nov. 22-27, then move to the 2002 Olympic track in Park City, Utah, from Nov. 29 to Dec. 4, and from there it will go to Lake Placid, New York.

The first event in Lake Placid is the world push championships at the newly remodeled indoor facility at the Mount Van Hoevenberg complex on Dec. 7-8, followed by a regular World Cup the following week.

“After two seasons of not hosting IBSF World Cup competitions due to COVID-19, we are excited to be back in North America to start the upcoming season with events in both Park City and Lake Placid,” USA Bobsled and Skeleton CEO Aron McGuire said. “Building on the success from the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, USA athletes are looking forward to racing on home tracks and in front of a home crowd.”

The most recent World Cup sliding event in North America was in 2019. All three North American tracks lost events — including world championship races in Whistler and Lake Placid — because of the pandemic, with international officials relocating those events to Europe and Asia.

American and Canadian sliders have spoken out in recent months about a wish for more races on home ice, and having essentially the first half of the bobsled and skeleton World Cup seasons in North America should be a boost to both programs.

It also will save on travel — the U.S. and Canadian teams won’t have to head to Europe for races this season until around Jan. 1. In many years, the North American teams have been in Europe before Christmas, returned home for holiday breaks, then had to eventually head back to Europe for the remainder of the season.

The remainder of the international bobsled and skeleton schedule for this coming season: Winterberg, Germany, on Jan. 3-8; two separate events in Altenberg, Germany, on Jan. 10-15 and Jan. 17-22; world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Jan. 24 through Feb. 5; the resumption of World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria, on Feb. 7-12; and the finale in Sigulda, Latvia, on Feb. 14-19.

Luge’s World Cup schedule for the coming season has yet to be announced. Officials in Park City have expressed interest in playing host to a luge event this season as well.

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Advancing towards an efficient, affordable, sustainable future in Latin America – Event – IEA

Advancing towards an efficient, affordable, sustainable future in Latin America - Event - IEA

Securing clean, affordable, modern and sustainable energy for all is critical. Globally, 785 million people lack access to electricity and 2.6 billion people do not have access to clean cooking. Energy efficiency and renewable energy must work hand-in-hand to reach this important goal.

This opening event will focus on the challenges and opportunities to achieve equitable clean energy transitions in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will launch a week of capacity building and exchange among policymakers and experts from around the region focused on energy efficiency.

The launch event will bring together leaders from the region to discuss how to advance energy efficiency. Speakers will include global and regional leaders on energy, energy efficiency, and energy transitions. It will be fully open to the public and streamed in English, Spanish and Portuguese.