Latest news with #nationalteam
Yahoo
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Canadian beauty queen Siera Bearchell says she was bullied for her weight during Miss Universe pageant: 'The world called me fat'
"My dream of standing on the Miss Universe stage was achieved because I had more to offer to the world than a number on a scale," wrote Bearchell in a recent social media post. Siera Bearchell is opening up about the journey to rebuild her confidence during her time as Miss Universe Canada. In an Instagram post on Monday, Bearchell said she faced intense scrutiny and bullying for her weight while representing Canada at the Miss Universe pageant in 2017. On Monday, Bearchell shared a series of images to Instagram from her time as Miss Universe Canada, including a photo of herself in a swimsuit that included the text, 'The world called me fat and this is what I did…' Throughout the carousel, Bearchell said that her excitement was tainted by hurtful comments when she arrived at the Miss Universe competition in Manila. 'I showed up and people started calling me 'fat,' 'Miss Piggy Universe' and 'whale,'' she wrote. 'I was labelled the plus-sized contestant. People even accused me of gaining weight on purpose to 'stand out.'' According to Bearchell, she had 'minimal support' from the national team. 'I could feel they didn't believe in me, and I started to lose confidence in myself,' she added. 'Until I remembered that I got to this point because I wasn't afraid to show up as me. I came this far because I knew that beauty and confidence was beyond size. My dream of standing on the Miss Universe stage was achieved because I had more to offer to the world than a number on a scale.' Bearchell, who ultimately finished in the top nine, said she spent the days before the pageant working to repair her confidence so that she could 'stand tall' and 'proud.' 'I quite literally coached myself into having the confidence to step on that stage … even when the world was making memes of me that were making fun of me for not being as thin as the other contestants,' she continued. The now 32-year-old married mother-of-two said she's been using the 'confidence tips and tricks' to help her 'show up' in her life. 'I have realized people will doubt you and it's up to you to show up anyways,' she said. The post earned praise from followers who applauded Bearchell for weathering the storm of negativity. 'I am so amazed with the way you expressed yourself and how you owned the stage with so much confidence and that's the purpose of Miss Universe,' a follower wrote. 'Beauty competitions or pageantries supersede just having a beautiful body…' 'And you were literally a size 6/8,' wrote former Miss Universe contestant Jill Lavertu. 'I will say, I'm so glad I lost to you because you won with confidence, integrity and grace. Beautiful then, beautiful now.' In 2023, Berachell posted a clip of herself giving a talk to students at Rundle College in Calgary, Alta., discussing the importance of self worth. 'No matter what, people are going to judge me," she said. "As long as I'm happy with who I am and I'm exuding that confidence myself, that's what really matters. "The relationship we have with ourselves, really sets the tone for many things in our lives," she continued. 'Really having that strong sense of inner worth and how we see ourselves. The inner dialogue is way more important than a lot of us believe. How we speak to ourselves — 'cause we would never speak to friends the way we speak to ourselves right?"
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Czechia Putting Olympic Pieces In Place At National Team Camp
Czechia's national team gathered this week in Prague to begin the selection process for their 2026 women's hockey Olympic roster. 46 players participated as the nation looks to win their first ever medal in women's ice hockey at the Olympics after winning their first two bronze medals at the World Championship during this Olympic cycle.
BBC News
5 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
'Everything was about getting back in a Scotland shirt'
Emma Wassell says she was "really proud" to represent Scotland again after she completed her test return for the first time since having a benign tumour 30-year-old described her return to national team action as a "whirlwind journey", adding that everything in her 15-month recovery was focused on pulling on a Scotland shirt once hundred and fifty-four days after her last appearance, the 67-time capped second row made her return in the side's 34-29 defeat to Italy. "I'm just incredibly grateful," she said."People have supported me that I didn't even realise they were following the absolute crazy whirlwind journey that this has been."I have kind of lived and breathed this team, playing for this country, ever since I stopped playing. "[Since] my last opportunity in the shirt, everything has kind of been about getting back in the shirt."I am really proud to be able to represent Scotland again and represent the people who have kind of supported me through these last 15 months."
Arab News
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Arab News
Is it a bird, is it a plane? No — it's a Saudi aviation athlete
RIYADH: Most people live their lives on the ground, but Faisal Al-Olayan chose the sky. The Saudi aviation athlete, this week's guest on The Mayman Show, is an aerospace engineer, pilot, skydiver and a member of the Kingdom's national paragliding team. Most of us travel, but he chases storms, soars above mountains and dives into clouds in ways most of us only dream about. From experiencing rain that 'almost stops the heart' mid-flight to emotional moments when he completed his wingsuit training in Russia, Al-Olayan lives life one adrenaline rush at a time. His story is not so much about escaping gravity, as about finding freedom within it. 'I started having fun in flying because my mom, when I was young, she was telling me (I was) half bird. And when I started with this mentality, I started to do all of my activities in the sky. I started from graduating with sports until I am here with the national team,' said Al-Olayan. He began paramotoring in 2019, a form of ultralight aviation using a paraglider wing and a motor worn as a backpack. 'I started to train (in) paramotoring here in Riyadh,' he recalled. 'A paramotor is basically a parachute, but you have an engine (on) your back and you can foot-launch from anywhere.' He then planned to do his pilot training in the US, but the global pandemic and resulting lockdowns put paid to that. Al-Olayan loves to travel and has visited 67 countries to date. 'I started to take my paraglider with me to fly from mountains, I was getting more experience with this sport as a paraglider. And this is what makes me continue in all of those aerial sports,' he said. His role as an aerospace engineer also plays a big part in his experiences in the air. 'If you want to start to fly, you have to know aerodynamics … you have to know how the wind (is) flying and all of those things,' he explained. It also helped him become a fast learner and understand what was happening when he flew. 'There are two kinds of pilots. There is an experienced one and there is (an) experience and no physics one … it's like driving … you know how to drive the car, but you don't know anything about the car, you don't know about the engine,' he said. Al-Olayan added that was what made him fall in love with paramotoring and other sports. 'I even built my own paramotor. I was designing it, everything with my specifications and things like that,' he said. 'And all of that happened when I studied at KFUPM (King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals) in Dhahran.' For five years, he did nothing but study until he obtained his degree in aerospace engineering. After that, he started taking part in competitions, doing well enough to earn his place in Saudi Arabia's national paragliding team, run by the Saudi Paragliding Federation. 'Shaheen (is) the name of the paragliding organization. And that was like … a new chapter for me because to compete is something — you're holding your name — but now you compete with the Saudi name … bringing your flag and your clothes, and everyone is seeing you as a Saudi athlete,' he explained. 'It's not like Faisal, the old one, is coming to compete. In the competitions that I was in, (I) was less nervous and less pressured. But when I was going with the national team, it was much, much more pressure. But for me, I enjoyed it a lot because it was more exciting.'
Yahoo
24-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
🗞️Today's headlines: Spain one step from glory
The victory of the national team over Germany and their qualification for the Euro Cup final takes center stage in the newspapers. Aitana Bonmatí's goal in extra time sends Spain to their first ever Euro Cup final. An achievement that the national sports press has featured, as expected, on their front MARCA Diario AS Mundo Deportivo Diario SPORT Superdeporte Estadio Deportivo Sphera Sports L'Esportiu This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. 📸 Alexander Hassenstein - 2025 Getty Images
