Kenyan superstar breaks her own 1500m world record
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Perth Now
6 hours ago
- Perth Now
Olympic gymnast Frederick Richard sets new backflipping world record - whilst raising over $60k for charity
Olympic gymnast Frederick Richard has become a backflipping Guinness World Record holder whilst he raised more than $60,000 for charity. The Paris 2024 bronze medallist surpassed the previous 1,001 backwards somersault title as he completed 1,111 of them in 12 hours. Frederick's record attempt took place where his gymnastics career began at Premier Gym in Stockton, Massachusetts - and over 55,000 people watched him perform his stunts. More than 1,200 people donated to his GoFundMe crowdfunding page while the decorated athlete was trying to smash the Guinness World Record. So far, he has raised $60,917 for providing professional gymnastics equipment for underprivileged kids in Africa. However, the Team USA men's artistic gymnastics team member is keeping his GoFundMe crowdfunding page live so Frederick can hit his $100,000 target. And on the day he took home a Guinness World Records title - May 2-3 - he became an uncle. He was determined to finish his backlipping action before midnight so he could visit his family and meet his new nephew, Amir.
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Paris' ‘filthy' river reopens to swimming after 100 years. I jumped in
In fact, it took 36 years and a herculean clean-up operation costing €1.6 billion ($2.9 billion) – including a vast run-off basin that can hold 20 Olympic swimming pools' worth of water – for his dream to come true when last year the Seine was famously opened to athletes for the Paris Olympics. Even so, heavy rain meant that only five of the 11 scheduled events were able to take place. Now, authorities are confident they have improved matters even further and to prove this point, Eve Plenel, the head of public health for Paris City Hall, was up for a dip. 'There is no need to worry. The water is tested every 15 minutes for everything. If (it) is not swimmable, it will be closed until it is, just like beaches,' she said, insisting the Seine was now among the most closely scrutinised waterways in France. Personally, I was more concerned about the prospect of a close encounter with the pacu, the testicle-biting fish that was caught a decade ago in the Seine. 'I know they eat pigeons' I also struggled to erase images of a 2.17 metres giant catfish caught last month within a few hundred yards of the bathing zone, cut off from the rest of the river by a few fig-leaf buoys. I know they eat pigeons. Small children at a push? Thankfully, the bathing area is out of bounds for the under-14s. Another worry was being squashed by a bateau-mouche, the tourist boats that ply the river and point out the sights. Some 300 craft pass the bras-Marie every day. Paris town hall officials assured me they were barred from passing during bathing opening hours – to the reported fury of tourist operators. Perhaps all this – plus the coolish weather after a blistering heatwave – explained the relatively modest queue that formed ahead of the 8am opening time when Paris' Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo came in person to see the first bathers off. Loading In the queue was Noémie Wira, 30. 'I'm a Parisienne and it's such a thrill to be among the first to take a dip. It's taken a century, but the promise has been kept. It's great to say our generation can swim in the Seine in three amazing locations. Am I worried about my health? I'll let you know in three days,' she told me. Sarah Hosking, 53, originally from Vancouver, Canada, and a Parisienne for the past 17 years, said she felt 'a little leery about opening my mouth' but that it was a 'dream come true' to be able to swim in central Paris, 'just like in Copenhagen '. She sang the mayor's praises for 'pushing it through'. 'Enough of doing things that are just for tourists. We want stuff for us.' Only on Tuesday, Paris was sweltering under record 40°C temperatures but the air was almost chilly as I approached the water. However, there was relief when we were informed the temperature was a bath-like 25C. I strode through the turnstile without a ticket – all bathing areas are totally free and there is no time limit, but the bras-Marie zone is limited to 150 bathers at a time (the other sites can hold 300 and 150 respectively). A green flag fluttered over the wooden decking that serves as a changing area with lockers to store belongings. There are no changing rooms. A yellow flag signals caution, and red is no-go. Caps and goggles are not compulsory but all bathers are required to be tethered to a fetching yellow inflatable tow float. The next hurdle was the obligatory 'swim test'. 'Well, it's not really a test, we just observe people's first few strokes and fish them out if they don't pass muster,' said lifeguard Trady, who kept an eagle eye on bathers. 'This is a small, protected area but the Seine is a dangerous place,' he warned. Indeed, a sign outside points out potential threats: passing boats, currents, and 'gripping plants'. Intriguingly, it was only in French. Could this be some covert plan to reduce over-tourism?, I mused. But now, the moment had finally arrived and I glided into the river and took a few strokes before plunging below. It felt exhilarating and frankly historic to be among the first 100 members of the public to bathe in Paris since 1923. Loading Parisian Hector Pellegars, 27, said: 'I didn't expect it but there was a feeling of intimacy between me, the city and the river which I have never experienced. It was also very weird as the image I had of the Seine when growing up in Paris was an open-air sewer. Now the water is clean enough for us to swim in and it's fantastic.' Paddling past was Tom, a British 24-year-old from Bath now living in Lyon. He said: 'In England, I've swum in some pretty grim rivers. Now we realise just how grim they are with all the water company problems going on, so this doesn't bother me much, frankly.' Could it catch on across the channel in the UK? 'The Thames is a bit of a long shot. But if they've done it here, why not?,' he said. It was a delightful and surreal experience to view Paris from water level after all these years of observing it from the banks. Indeed, it had become a running joke for me to predict: 'One day I will literally go 'in Seine'.'
Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘You've got to control the game without the ball': The masterminds rebuilding the Matildas
Sam Kerr, Steph Catley, Ellie Carpenter and Caitlin Foord are synonymous with Matildas mania, but behind every famous foot on the field, there's a formidable group, under new coach Joe Montemurro, dedicated to restoring the team to glory. It's no small feat. Hopes were high after the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, but they came crashing down with a disastrous Olympic campaign under Tony Gustavsson. Injury then left interim coach Tom Sermanni to pick up the pieces without Kerr or forward Mary Fowler. In theory, Montemurro has until March to get the Matildas into shape for their next major test. As evidenced by the team's loss to world No.46 Panama on Saturday, in reality, he has no time to waste. Montemurro is well aware of this. He's won league titles with Arsenal, Juventus and Lyon, and could have coached any side in the world. But the coach born and raised in Melbourne chose to come home to Australia and take charge of a Matildas side that has become one of Australia's most popular – and embattled – national teams. Loading One of his first moves as Matildas coach was to revamp his back-room staff, bringing in trusted assistants to set the team up for the AFC Asian Cup in Australia in eight months. Montemurro's Matildas, bolstered behind the scenes by a formidable team with decades in the game and trophy-winning experience in Australia and overseas, is aiming to win the continental title again after Sermanni's Matildas first won it in 2010. On-field talent including Kerr, Catley, Carpenter and Foord are complemented by the appointment of a new video analyst, James Slaveski, who has been a data and scouting guru for A-League clubs and Football Australia, and conditioning expert Emanuele Chiappero, who worked with Montemurro in France and Italy, and will be the key figure keeping the Matildas in top physical shape. The players joined Montemurro and his new coaching staff for the first time in Perth in June for a win and a draw against Slovenia, and two games against Panama in July. We go behind the dressing-room doors to meet the team behind Montemurro's Matildas. 'It's just a natural psyche for footballers that they want to have the ball … you've got to control the game without the ball.' Joe Montemurro Joe Palatsides, assistant coach with 'tactical nous' Montemurro looked to proven lieutenants led by Palatsides, whom he has known since they were young men playing together at Brunswick Juventus in Melbourne's north. Funnily enough, neither is going by Joe in camp. Players call Montemurro by his nickname, 'Pep', (short for Giuseppe) and Palatsides by 'Pala'. The pair linked up as coaches when both were at Melbourne City, and Palatsides was reunited with Montemurro when he took over at French powerhouse Lyon last season before following him back home. 'He was a very good coach back then at Melbourne City but he's gone to another level since he's been involved with these great teams in Europe,' Palatsides tells this masthead from Perth. 'When I saw Joe go to Arsenal, I was wondering how he's going to go?' says Palatsides, who has also worked as technical director for Football Victoria and is known for his tactical nous. 'People don't rate Australian coaches that highly over there but I think that's changed now with Ange Postecoglou and others. Then you see Joe and what he's done since then – in the women's game, I would think he's considered in the top three coaches in the world. 'He could have been in line for every job in the world but he's chosen the Matildas, and he's proud of that fact.' Palatsides, a former Socceroo, relishes the chance to again don the green and gold, even if it is the coaching polo shirt. 'Pulling on that Socceroos jumper gave me goose bumps but I didn't realise how special this was until I got here, talked to the girls and coaches, and that buzz goes through you,' Palatsides says. 'I'm excited for what the future holds.' The video analyst informing Joe Montemurro's Matildas' strategy Former Young Socceroos football analyst James Slaveski will use footage of matches and training sessions to break down the team's performance into smaller parts. A key part of a video analyst's job is to identify areas of strength and weakness in individual player performances and overarching team strategy, as well as help coaching staff develop tactics to address those and improve. Another aspect of Slaveski's job, however, is reviewing footage of an opponent's matches and developing strategies to exploit that team's weaknesses and bolster the Matildas' defensive and offensive tactics against the opponent's strengths. Emily Husband, assistant coach with comeback cred The UK-born defensive whiz played youth football for Leeds United and Manchester City before moving to the American college system. She is fresh from steering Central Coast Mariners to claim the A-League Women's title, in just their second season back in the competition, 13 years after the team's financial collapse. Before joining the Mariners two years ago, Husband had not coached professionally. She recently told this masthead she had initially turned down the A-League job, thinking she wasn't ready. Loading That was despite a dominant record as coach of Sydney University in the NPL NSW league. Husband explains she will play a key role in the Matildas' defensive game. 'Pep loves to have the ball and that's his mantra but I'm quite the opposite,' Husband says. 'I think about the defensive side of the game. We all see the game differently and that's why we are a good group.' Leanne Hall, set piece coach in charge of 'defining moments' The former England goalkeeper has been an assistant manager with both Arsenal, where she worked with Montemurro, and Aston Villa women. She says Montemurro is a transformative coach. His Melbourne City sides dominated the A-League Women in a way few teams have, while at Arsenal, his possession style was different to every team. Once he led the Gunners to the English Women's Super League title, other teams copied it. 'Joe's known in England as the coach that brought the Barcelona style tiki-taka [passing style] to the women's game,' Hall recalled. 'Arsenal was his first gig, and I was there with him and the difference he made in the way that the game is played in the WSL was huge. And now lots of teams try to play that style, and I do think Joe's has a massive impact on that.' Hall's set-piece coaching could prove vital when the clutch games come around. 'In the final stages of major tournaments, one in every six goals comes from set pieces so they are pretty defining moments,' Hall says. Hall will likely help Montemurro monitor the growing number of Matildas playing in England, and says she has developed a newfound respect for Australian players during her first trip Down Under. Despite the jet lag, Hall already feels at home. 'The best thing I can say is that I've been here a week, but I already feel myself within the group and the culture of the team which is amazing,' Hall says. So, what will Montemurro's Matildas look like? There are clues from Montemurro's time at Arsenal and Juventus, where he had to grow the players' belief that they could beat the power clubs. The Matildas will need similar help as they try to beat bogey side Japan in the Asian Cup, potentially without injured superstar Fowler. Palatsides says that belief comes from Montemurro's ability to instil confidence in his players. 'Part of his success is the way the girls react to him,' Palatsides says. 'You don't always see that with coaches. There is always a difference, a small difference, between men's and women's football, but it's very specific and the way Joe has adapted himself and created these cultures has been the secret to his success.' When it comes to the style of play, Montemurro is belligerent in his demands that the team hold possession, connect with smart passing and defend intelligently by forcing the opposition into spaces they won't score from. Matildas sides haven't always had the confidence to back their own passing and movement skills against the world's best sides but Montemurro is determined to change that. This was visible in the two Slovenia games with players like Remy Siemsen, Amy Sayer and Winona Heatley impressing with their passing and ball use. 'It's just a natural psyche for footballers that they want to have the ball, they want to keep possession and keep a proactive mentality with the ball,' Montemurro says. 'That part is the easy sell. The next phase is to identify the moments that you may not have the ball and you've got to control the game without the ball.' The Matildas players are spread across Europe, the United States, Asia and back home in the A-League so building a cohesive unit that can withstand the pressure of the Asian Cup and win the tournament will take something special. Loading 'The big thing to me is consistent messaging,' Montemurro says. 'You don't have much time with players so you hope that they go away with a few things stuck in their heads whether [it's] about positioning or principles they can work on with their clubs.' Montemurro is confident his players will rise to the occasion and that his blend of overseas-based people like Hall and Australian-based coaches like himself can keep all players on the same page. There will be some huge moments to come, including the long-awaited return of Kerr, while several players led by Lyon star Ellie Carpenter have looked perfectly suited to this style of play during the Slovenia friendlies. 'There is an energy and a belief that we are ready to do something special in March,' Montemurro says. 'We're already preparing for that.'
