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sports Diabierna 30 Juli 2021

American gymnast Sunisa Lee takes Olympic gold

(AP) — Sunisa Lee wanted day of the U.S. Olympic Tri- sota just days before the 2019
to quit during quarantine. als last month, but that was national championships —
an anomaly, right? before the meet, just like al-
It all had become too much. ways. He told her to relax. So
The lingering pain from a Then Biles opted out of the she did. Or at least, she tried.
broken foot. The deaths of all-around competition to fo-
two family members from cus on her mental health fol- Lee admitted she was getting
COVID-19. Her father’s lowing an eight-year run atop “in her head” a little bit while
slow recovery from an acci- the sport. prepping for her bar routine,
dent that left him paralyzed. the one that’s currently the
Everything was on the table. hardest in the world. She
The urge eventually passed. Gold included. Lee took it didn’t exactly look nervous.
It always does. Still, less than with a brilliant set on uneven The 15.300 the judges re-
two months ago the 18-year- bars, a nervy performance warded her for a series of
old gymnast hobbled around on beam and a floor exercise intricate connections and
the podium at the U.S. cham- that made up for in execution releases tied Andrade’s near-
pionships, getting by more what it might have lacked in perfect Cheng vault for the
on grit than anything else. aggression. highest score of the night.
Tokyo seemed far away. The Her total of 57.433 points was Yet it wasn’t Lee’s brilliance ko) cans. Lee’s victory marked
top of the Olympic podium, just enough to top Andrade, that made the difference but The 21-year-old Brazilian, the fifth straight by a U.S.
even further. who earned the first gym- her guts. She nearly came off two years removed from a woman, with the past three
nastics all-around medal by the balance beam while ex- third surgery to repair a torn Olympic champions all being
Then suddenly, there she was a Latin American athlete but ecuting a wolf turn — basi- ACL in her knee, had the best women of color.
on Thursday night as a tinny missed out on gold when she cally a seated spin — needed floor score of the contend-
version of “The Star-Span- stepped out of bounds twice to suction cup her toes to ers during qualifying. Yet Biles and 2012 gold medal-
gled Banner” echoed across during her floor routine. the 4-inch slab of wood to she bounded out of bounds ist Gabby Douglas are Black.
Ariake Gymnastics Centre. stay on. Her score of 13.833 with both feet at the end of Lee’s parents are Hmong, an
Gold medal around her neck. Russian gymnast Angelina moved her in front of An- her first tumbling pass. And ethnic group who have his-
A watch party back home Melnikova added bronze to drade heading into the floor her right foot stepped off the torically lived in the moun-
among the Hmong-Ameri- the gold she won in the team exercise. white mat and onto the sur- tains of Southeast Asia. Lee’s
can community in her native final. American Jade Carey, rounding blue carpet. parents emigrated from Laos
Minnesota raging. A victory who joined the competition Going first, Lee opted for a to Minnesota, which has
she never envisioned not yet after Biles pulled out, fin- routine with three tumbling Needing a 13.802 to win, the largest concentration of
sinking in. ished eighth. passes instead of four, hoping Andrade received a 13.666 Hmong in the U.S. A large
better execution would over- instead. Not that she particu- group of friends and family
“It’s crazy,” Lee said after Biles’ decision to sit out led to ride any potential tenths she larly cared. She wasn’t even gathered in Minneapolis to
winning the Olympic all- the jarring sight of the gym- surrendered by not doing a sure she would make it to watch her make history. She
around title following a tight nast considered the greatest fourth pass. Her 13.700 was Tokyo until she won the all- hopes the image of a Hmong
duel with Brazil’s Rebeca of all time cheering on Lee steady, but it left an opening around at the Pan American standing in front of the world
Andrade. “It doesn’t seem and the rest of the 24-woman for Andrade. Championships two months and on top of her sport reso-
like real life.” field from the stands with the ago. She was in tears as she nates in a community she
gold that’s been hers for so Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil, watched her country’s flag sometimes feels can be too
Even though the pain in Lee’s long now in play for every- performs on the floor dur- raised during an Olympic restrictive.
foot eased — funny how it one else. ing the artistic gymnastics gymnastics ceremony for the
seemed to get better the more women's all-around final at first time. “I want people to know that
she trained — she arrived in Still, Lee did her best to not the 2020 Summer Olympics, you can reach your dreams
Japan figuring her best shot think about the stakes. She Thursday, July 29, 2021, in “This medal represents all and you can just do what you
was at a silver medal. Sure, FaceTimed with her father Tokyo. (AP Photo/Natacha Brazil,” she said. want to do,” she said. “Be-
she’d beaten good friend and John — who was paralyzed Pisarenko) cause you never know what’s
reigning Olympic champion from the chest down during Rebeca Andrade, of Brazil. The gold, however, remains going to happen in the end.”
Simone Biles during the final a freak accident in Minne- (AP Photo/Natacha Pisaren- in possession of the Ameri-

NFLPA President criticizes league on vaccine wristbands

(AP) — Browns center vaccinated and unvacci- cal.” entiator,” Tretter said. “The protocol compliance at the
and NFLPA President JC nated players to wear dif- unvaccinated players need to facility, particularly given the
Tretter feels the NFL is ferent colored wristbands. Tretter, who took office last wear masks. No other sports protocol modifications for
trying to shame players by year as the COVID-19 pan- leagues use any sort of scarlet fully vaccinated individuals.
urging teams to require He called the idea “nonsensi- demic was in its early stages, marking or helmet decal or
said Thursday he’s thank- wristband because they know “Please note that beginning
ful the Browns didn’t adopt it’s not necessary and the at the start of training camp,”
the wristband policy and he teams know who’s vaccinated the memo said, “clubs will be
blasted the league for some and not vaccinated.” required to develop a meth-
other measures. od to visually identify fully
But the NFL explains the vaccinated Tier 1 and Tier 2
Tretter said it’s easy to iden- wristband policy is designed individuals. We recommend
tify who isn’t vaccinated be- to help the club or the league utilizing color coded wrist-
cause those choosing not to more easily identify if a play- bands or credentials, how-
get the shots are required er who is not vaccinated was ever, clubs are free to imple-
masks and follow other pro- not wearing a mask. ment other methods.”
tocols.
In a memo sent earlier this Tier 1 and Tier 2 covers team
“They say they need a dif- month to the 32 franchises, personnel who have direct
ferentiator between unvac- the league noted that several contact with players.
cinated and vaccinated play- teams had inquired about
ers, we already have a differ- best practices for monitoring