Readable, teachable news.
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
An athlete who stepped aside during the Sochi Winter Olympics to let a teammate shine, will be awarded a special medal “from the people of Canada.”
During last winter’s Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Canadian speed skater Gilmore Junio did something incredible.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) has made a strong statement against racism.
Yesterday, they banned the owner of the LA Clippers basketball team from basketball for the rest of his life. They also said he has to pay a fine of $2.5 million.
Every professional baseball pitcher wants to throw the ball so the batter can’t hit it.
There are lots of ways to do that.
One way is for the pitcher to throw the ball so that, after it leaves his hand, it “dips down.” That’s known as a curve ball.
Curve balls are tricky to throw. One reason is that it’s hard to grip the smooth, slippery ball.
Last week, a pitcher from the Yankees baseball team was caught using sticky pine tar so he could grip the ball better.
The National Hockey League (NHL) playoffs are in full swing.
Sixteen teams have qualified to play in the ‘new season.’
Often the playoffs are referred to as a ‘new season’ because regular season statistics don’t count any more.
The CBC announced last week that it plans to cut 657 jobs over the next two years.
The CBC (Radio-Canada in Quebec) had to drastically cut the amount of money it can spend (its budget). Because it had to cut more than $130 million, it had to let go of many people’s jobs because it would not be able to afford to pay their salaries.
The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics came to a close on Sunday.
During the closing ceremonies, all of the athletes walked into the arena together.
At the end of the closing ceremonies, a display is always put on by the country that will host the next winter Olympics. Pyeongchang, South Korea, will host the 2018 games.
Here are just a few of the interesting events that defined this year’s Winter Olympics for Canada and internationally…
Yesterday was golden for Canada’s female Olympians.
In one of the most exciting hockey games ever played, the Canadian women’s team took the top prize. It was a clash between long-time rivals US and Canada, the best versus the best.
The American women had a solid 2-0 lead going into the third period. But with less than four minutes to go, Canada’s Brianne Jenner put the puck past American goalie Jessie Vetter. The score was 2-1.
The Olympics are about athletics and competition.
However, with representatives from so many different countries coming together in one city, it is often about “politics” and “political issues” as well.
In other words, different countries have different rules, laws and beliefs.
Sometimes, countries’ beliefs clash.
That has been the case in Russia at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
Watching the best-of-the-best compete for gold at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics is inspirational.
But beyond the performance of the athletes, there have already been many other inspirational moments at these Olympics.
Russian cross-country skier Anton Gafarov fell and broke his ski during the Men’s Sprint Free Semifinals.
In true Olympic spirit he tried to keep going, knowing that although he no longer had any chance of winning, he needed to finish the race he had started.
However, his ski was broken in half.
He would end up limping across the finish line in front of the world, not to mention his fellow Russians who were cheering from the sidelines.
On Saturday, Mark McMorris won Canada’s first medal at the 2014 Olympics–a bronze in snowboarding.
That was quickly followed up by two more medals for Canada: Justine Dufour-Lapointe won Canada’s first gold and her sister, Chloe, earned Canada’s first silver medal.
McMorris is a native from Regina, Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan is known for having very flat terrain, yet McMorris was determined to be a world-class snowboarder.
