Day: August 1, 2021

 

TOKYO – The Italian high jumper leaped into his rival’s arms, then belly-flopped onto the hard track, rolled around a few times and screamed.

Gianmarco Tamberi was just getting warmed up, too.

It’s not every day you tie your good friend for gold.

Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar agreed to the tie Sunday at the Tokyo Games in a competition settled not by clearing the top height but through a subtle nod.

Edge definitely to Tamberi, though, for the degree of difficulty in celebrations. That’s not even counting all the hugs and kisses he delivered — or all of the people he jumped into the arms of.

He was just that excited. This was that crazy of an ending.

“I still can’t believe it happened,” Tamberi said. “Sharing with a friend is even more beautiful. … It was just magical.”

In a huddle with track officials, the athletes were given the option to settle the tie with a jump-off.

Barshim had a better idea: How about two golds?

The official said that was possible.

Barshim nodded and Tamberi instantly accepted, slapping Barshim’s hand and jumping into his arms. It would be far from his last celebration.

“For me, coming here, I know for a fact that for the performance I did, I deserve that gold,” Barshim said. “He did the same thing, so I know he deserved that gold.”

It stressed sportsmanship, too — or so they hope. It also adds to Barshim’s Olympic medal collection, pairing nicely with silver in Rio and another medal at the 2012 London Games.

“This is beyond sport,” Barshim said. “This is the message we deliver to the young generation.”

Both high jumpers were perfect until the bar was set to the Olympic-record height of 2.39 meters (7 feet, 10 inches). Each missed three times.

Funny, they actually talked about this sort of situation before. Not in great detail, though.

“We just said, ‘Imagine,'” Barshim recalled. “Today, it happened.”

When Italian sprinter Marcell Jacobs surprisingly won the 100 meters a few minutes later, there was Tamberi to greet him. Not so much as greet him as celebrate by jumping into the sprinter’s arms and curling his own arm around Jacobs’ bald head.

“I was in ecstasy. My heart was exploding,” Tamberi said. “I was just full of emotions and I just screamed at him before he got in the blocks, and I just supported him. I’m the captain of the national team so I just felt to do something.”

Tamberi has kept a cast for five years — a reminder of his broken ankle just before Rio. He was in his best shape, too, which forced him to watch the Rio Games. When it came off, he wrote on it “Road to Tokyo 2020.” Then, he crossed out 2020 after the pandemic led to a postponement and wrote in red, “2021.”

“I said to myself that day, ‘I want to be back in Tokyo and I want to fight for the gold medal,'” Tamberi said.

They appeared to have all sorts of fun during a competition in which Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus earned bronze. Tamberi launched an imaginary jump shot after clearing a height.

Swish.

Barshim was the epitome of cool in shades that kept falling off after his jumps. One time, he even swatted them away after a successful leap.

They broke.

“I’ve got 50 pairs,” Barshim said.

Now, one gold.

Another for his buddy, too.

“He’s one of my best friends. Not only on the track but outside of the track,” Barshim said. “We’re always together almost. True spirit, sportsmen spirit, coming here and delivering this message.

“Appreciate what he’s done, he appreciates what I’ve done. This is amazing.”

 

 

Source: Voice of America

 

Britain will begin offering a booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine to 32 million Britons starting in early September, The Telegraph reported Sunday. The shots will be available in as many as 2,000 pharmacies with the goal of getting them into arms by early December.

The government has been preparing since at least June, when the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (JCVI) called for a plan to offer the third shot to people 70 years old or older, care home residents and those who are vulnerable for health reasons.

At least 90% of British adults have received at least one shot, but that rate falls to 60% for those 18-30 years old, government figures show.

To encourage younger adults to get vaccinated before colder weather prompts people to spend more time indoors, the Department of Health and Social Care said that restaurants, food delivery services and ride-hailing apps are offering discounts to persuade people to be vaccinated.

“The lifesaving vaccines not only protect you, your loved ones and your community, but they are helping to bring us back together by allowing you to get back to doing the things you’ve missed,” Health Secretary Sajid Javid said, according to the Associated Press.

British Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton, who tested positive for COVID-19 in December, said he may be suffering its effects after appearing unwell Sunday after finishing second at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

“I’ve been fighting all year really with staying healthy after what happened at the end of last year and it’s still, it’s a battle,” the 36-year-old said after seeing a doctor after the race. “I haven’t spoken to anyone about it but I think (the effects of COVID are) lingering. I remember the effects of when I had it and training has been different since then.”

In Berlin, thousands marched Sunday to protest pandemic restrictions and about 600 protesters were detained after clashes with police, the AP reported.

While Germany eased many of its restrictions in May, large gatherings remain banned. The number of new cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, remain low but are rising. Germany, with a population of 83 million, reported 2,100 new cases Sunday, more than 500 above last Sunday’s number.

Since the pandemic began, it has reported 3.8 million cases and 92,000 deaths.

More than 200 employees at two major hospitals in San Francisco, in the western U.S. state of California, have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a report Saturday in The New York Times.

Most of the staff members at Zuckerberg San Francisco General and the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center Hospital were fully vaccinated and most of them tested positive for the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus, according to the newspaper.

Only two cases required hospitalization. The hospitalization rate would have been higher without vaccinations, said Dr. Lukejohn Day, Zuckerberg’s chief medical officer.

Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center said Sunday evening there are 198 million cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and 4.2 million deaths globally. The U.S. leads the world in the number of COVID-19 cases, with 35 million, and 613,174 deaths, according to the university.

 

Source: Voice of America

Luanda – Angolan cultural agents expressed, in Luanda, saddeness with the death of the leader of the Antillean band Kassava, Jacob Desvarieux, victim of disease.

In reaction to the death of the artist, who has been to Angola for several occasions , the cultural agents considered his death to be an irreparable loss in the world of music.

Speaking to Angop, the head of Nova Energia, Yuri Simão, said that Jacob was a figure of world music, of Zouk in particular, and that his legacy should be followed.

Yuri Simão said he believes that without Jacob, Kassav will not be the same.

Jacob Desvarieux had been hospitalized on July 12, after contracting Covid-19.

The group Kassav, which have toured extensively in Africa, reached their peak of popularity in the late 1980s.

Kassav’s first contact with the Angolan public dates back to 1984, in a concert that gathered more than 20,000 people at Luanda’s Coqueiros Stadium.

Five years later they returned for a concert at the Cidadela Stadium. In 2006, the band returned to animate the 2nd edition of the Super Bock Super Rock Festival, held at the Cidadela Sports Stadium, still with Patrick St. Eloi, who passed away in September 2010.

This was followed by concerts in 2010, 2012 and many others years later.

Throughout their career, they have been awarded several gold and platinum disks. They have been to many countries, such as Angola, Algeria, DRC, Niger, Burkina Faso, Togo, Benin, Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, Portugal, France, Russia, Seychelles, Mayotte, Comoros, Canada, and the United States.

One of the characteristics of the group is the “independence” of their members to release solo records, but with the participation of the whole collective.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

 

Malanje – Malanje roller hockey association received on Saturday, sticks, wheels, gloves, packs, skates and gloves from the Angola Roller Hockey Federation with the aim to aid dissemination of the practice of this sport in the region.

Roller hockey is being spread throughout the provinces of Cuando Cubango, Cabinda, Moxico, Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul as part of a project of the Angolan Roller Hockey Federation for 2020/24.

On the occasion, Orlando Graça, vice – president of the Federation, reiterated the need of increasing the number of practitioners in the identified provinces, stressing the importance of the contribution of the local government and businessmen, mainly in terms of infrastructures.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – The President of the Republic, Joao Lourenço, arrived mid-afternoon this Sunday in Accra, for a two-day state visit at the invitation of his Ghanaian counterpart, Nana Akufo Addo.

Coming from Guinea, the Angolan Head of State was received at Kotoka international airport by the Minister of Defence, Dominic Nitwul of the West Africa nation.

The Angolan Head of State, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation, has an official agenda starting Monday, which includes, among other activities, a private meeting with President Nana Akufo Addo, with whom he will address issues related to bilateral cooperation.

Angola and Ghana, who share a common history in the struggle for national independence, signed the first legal and cooperation instruments in 1976.

To strengthen exchanges and strategic partnerships, the two governments signed in 2019 in Angola, on the occasion of the visit of the President of Ghana, a memorandum in the field of Education, aimed at the mobility of teachers and researchers from higher education institutions and scientific research centres.

They also signed an agreement on the operation of the Bilateral Cooperation Commission, created under Article 7 of the General Agreement on Economic, Scientific, Technical and Cultural Cooperation, with the aim of establishing a framework to enable its implementation.

The two countries also initialled an agreement to abolish visas on diplomatic and service passports, which aims to facilitate migratory mobility.

The idea of the authorities is to strengthen the exchange of information and exchange of experiences, to which is added the plan to strengthen the promotion of mobility for teachers and researchers.

In the current global political and economic scenario, marked by the strong retraction of economies due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the two States are looking forward to a closer collaboration in the areas of energy, oil and hydrocarbons.

It is expected that, during the visit, they will focus their approach on agricultural research for agro-processing and agribusiness and the exchange of technical knowledge and information on good agricultural practices.

Market access, trade facilitation, industrial processing, trade information exchange and participation in various fairs and exhibitions are also expected to be discussed.

Ghana, one of the most diversified economies in Africa, exports at least 78 products, with India, China, Switzerland, South Africa and the Netherlands as its main destinations.

With this potential, it becomes a potential partner to support Angola in the process of diversifying the economy, increasing exports and reducing imports, some of the challenges of the Government of Angola coming out of the 2017 general elections.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency

 

Luanda – The President of the Republic, João Lourenço, Sunday congratulated the management of the Lunda Norte club Sagrada Esperança for their victory on Saturday of the National Football Championship (Girabola2021).

The Angolan Head of State wrote on his Twitter page: “Great are those who work hard to deserve the victory,” referring to Sagrada Esperança’s achievement.

The green and white team won the title thanks to a 1-0 victory over Petro de Luanda, for the 30th and final round match of the competition, played at the 11 de Novembro Stadium, in Luanda.

It is the second title won by the group in the biggest competition of national football, after the triumph obtained in 2005, over the same opponents and with the same score.

The message comes at a time when President Joao Lourenço is in Accra (Ghana), on a two-day state visit at the invitation of his West African country’s counterpart, Nana Akufo Addo.

The president, who is accompanied by a high-level delegation, is due to start an official agenda that includes, among other activities, a private meeting with his Ghanaian counterpart, with whom he will discuss issues related to bilateral cooperation.

 

 

Source: Angola Press News Agency