Tag: athletes

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Meta Launches Updated Safety Guide for Athletes Ahead of Major Sporting Events

Meta Launches Updated Safety Guide for Athletes Ahead of Major Sporting Events

With several major sporting events coming up, including the Commonwealth Games and the 2022 World Cup, Meta has launched an updated version of its safety guide for athletes, which provides a range of notes on how to manage your Facebook and Instagram experience to avoid spam, scams, abuse and more.

The 39-page guide is a handy reference guide to all of the various safety tools in both apps, which is not only relevant for athletes, but could also be of value to anyone looking to get a better understanding of their protection and moderation options in each.   

As per Meta:

“This guide is designed to help you prevent, protect, moderate, and escalate on both Facebook and Instagram. We will run through how to protect your password, set up two-factor authentication, understand Page access and take action when you’ve been hacked. We will also walk through how to moderate your Pages, and how to escalate when you experience bullying and harassment.”

The guide includes helpful overviews of each key element, including how to create a strong password:

Meta Safety Guide for Athletes

How to set up two-factor authentication (a key step for account security):

Meta Safety Guide for Athletes

There are also notes on the various moderation and safety tools available on Facebook:

Meta Safety Guide for Athletes

And more specific explainers on things like how to report a profile for impersonation:

Meta Safety Guide for Athletes

As noted, the focus is professional athletes, so some aspects will be of more relevance to those in the spotlight. But it’s a handy overview of the various options and controls on offer, while Meta also includes some pointers on how to maximize fan engagement on your Page:

  • Respond to comments on Facebook – When you engage in the comments section on your own posts (responding to comments or simply contributing to the conversation), the posts may be shown again in your followers’ Feeds, which increases reach and engagement. Responding to comments on your posts also elevates them to the top of your discussion thread.
  • Start with the “Most Relevant” view on Facebook – When looking at the comments section on your post or video, confirm you are looking at the “Most Relevant” view to ensure high quality comments from fans, and comments from other public figures, creators and verified accounts are at the top. This will make it easier and more efficient for you to engage.
  • Pin comments on Instagram – Consider pinning a few comments to the top of your post. By highlighting positive comments, you can better manage the tone of the conversation.

Nothing groundbreaking, as such, but some good reminders of the value of such engagement to help maximize post reach and engagement.

It’s a handy guide, which could be valuable for your process.

You can download Meta’s ‘Facebook and Instagram Safety Guide for Athletes’ here.

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Commonwealth Games: Australia athletes barred from attending events other than their own

Commonwealth Games: Australia athletes barred from attending events other than their own

Australian athletes will be banned from supporting their team mates at other Commonwealth Games events at Birmingham due to the risk of COVID-19 transmission, team chef de mission Petria Thomas said.

They will also have to wear face masks when not in their rooms or exercising at the July 28 – Aug. 8 Games as part of team health protocols.

“Our primary focus is that we can get our athletes to the starting line and they are performance ready,” Thomas told News Corp media on Wednesday.

“We have to put these measures in place to minimise the transmission of COVID and other diseases as well.”

COVID continues to disrupt global sport, with a number of swimmers forced to pull out of the recent swimming world championships in Budapest after testing positive.

Around 5,000 athletes from 72 nations and territories are due to compete at Birmingham.

The Office for National Statistics estimated 3.95% of people in England, or one in 25, were COVID positive during the week ending June 29.

Athletes were subject to strict COVID protocols while in a “closed loop” at the Beijing Winter Olympics and also at last year’s summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Unlike the Olympics, athletes will not have to leave Birmingham soon after their events finish.

Thomas said Australia’s athletes would be permitted to stay and support team mates but not at their competition venues.

“There won’t be an opportunity to go and watch other events because unfortunately those seats will be in public spectating areas, which presents a very high risk of COVID-19 transmission,” she added.

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Hokies advance 12 athletes in 7 events to NCAA Championships – Virginia Tech Athletics

Hokies advance 12 athletes in 7 events to NCAA Championships - Virginia Tech Athletics
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On the final day of the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, Hokies track & field punched one final ticket to Hayward Field after an incredible four days of competition.
 
Securing her second straight qualification to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Essence Henderson had clinched her spot after two rounds before unleashing a massive throw in the discus on her third attempt. Henderson heaved the implement 58.83m (193′ 0″) in the last throw of the competition to finish as the No. 1 overall qualifier and shatter her own school record. Henderson’s mark ranks as the No. 6 throw in the NCAA this season as she looks to challenge for the title in Oregon.
 
In Tech’s other two events of Saturday, Chase Kappeler and Hailey Huston Myles both capped excellent seasons for the Hokies. Kappeler’s breakout year ended just short of advancing to Eugene in the 3,000m steeplechase, as Kappeler recovered from an early stumble in the race and fought back through the pack at Indiana’s Billy Hayes Track. In the triple jump, Huston Myles delivered a wind-legal personal best as she leaped 12.74m (41′ 9.75″). The graduate transfer closed out her career having left her mark on both the indoor and outdoor triple jump top lists for the Hokies.
 

With the East Prelims now complete, Tech track & field moves its attention to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, set to run June 8-11 at the historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. With 12 athletes ready to compete across the Hokies’ nine entries, the national finals look to be a thrill across the board.
 
WOMEN’S ENTRIES
Rachel Baxter (Pole Vault)
Julia Fixsen (Pole Vault)
Essence Henderson (Discus)
Sara Killinen (Hammer)
 
MEN’S ENTRIES
Khalil Bedoui (Hammer)
Chauncey Chambers (Triple Jump)
Ben Fleming (3,000m Steeplechase)
Ben Nibbelink (3,000m Steeplechase)
4x100m Relay (Cole Beck, Kennedy Harrison, Kahleje “KJ” Tillmon, Torrence Walker)
 

Gallery: (5-28-2022) T&F: 2022 NCAA East Preliminary Rounds Day 4

 

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OCA promises series of events for athletes after Hangzhou 2022 postponement

The Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games were postponed earlier this month ©Getty Images

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Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit. 

The remainder of 2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We had the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we sent a team of four reporters, and coming up are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

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Maple Ridge athletes win at SFU track and field event – Maple Ridge News

Maple Ridge athletes win at SFU track and field event - Maple Ridge News

A pair of Maple Ridge leapers had podium finishes for the Simon Fraser University track and field team on Saturday.

The SFU track and field program hosted its High Performance No. 2 meet its final home event of the NCAA season, at the SFU Stadium at Terry Fox Field.

Sophomore Zackary Kuzyk of Maple Ridge won both the high jump and triple jump. He made his collegiate debut in the triple jump, and had a leap of 13.43 meters in his best attempt, ahead of his brother freshman Nickolas Kuzyk (11.35m), who was second.

In the high jump, Zackary Kuzyk cleared 1.82m.

Reid Muller of Pitt Meadows, running for the Sole Experience Running Club, won the mile in a field of 11 runners. He ran a time of 4:07.58

“I wasn’t completely sure I wanted to do this meet but I’m really happy that I did,” said SFU head coach Brit Townsend. “We had so many personal-best performances, especially in the middle-distance, and some of the sprint races. The weather cooperated, I kept pushing it back further and further because I kept looking at the forecast, so we got the best part of the day.”

She said the meet will be a great tune-up for coming events in Oregon and California. The conference championships are also coming, on May 13 and 14 in Ellensburgh, Washington.

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Local athletes set to dominate individual events at Penn Relays

Local athletes set to dominate individual events at Penn Relays

Performances in the relays have received the lion’s share of the spotlight, but Jamaican high schools have also done very well in individual events at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia in the United States.

This trend should continue this week as several of these athletes are highly ranked on the World Athletics Under-20 Top List.

After a magnificent season so far in both the triple and long jump events, where he has won the double at both the ISSA/GraceKennedy Boys and Girls’ Athletics Championships (Champs) and the Carifta Games, Kingston College’s (KC) Jaydon Hibbert looks set to end his high school career on a high when he competes in the Championships of America High School Boys triple jump. The unbeaten Hibbert, who is ranked number one in both events among all juniors, will only contest the triple jump at the Penn Relays as both events take place simultaneously.

Hibbert, who won silver in the triple jump a year ago at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi, Kenya, has a leading mark of 16.66 metres and the University of Tennessee-bound athlete is expected to take top spot at the Penn Relays. Rajaun Ricketts of Jamaica College (JC) who finished second at Champs with 15.11m, is also down to contest the event.

JC’s Uroy Ryan, who was second to Hibbert in the Class One long jump at Champs, with 7.75m to Hibbert’s 7.87m, will be hoping to give Jamaica back-to-back wins in the event following Wayne Pinnock’s success in 2019. Petersfield High’s Rayon Walters and Demario Prince of St Jago High, with 7.32m and 7.28m, respectively, will also compete in the long jump.

EXPECTED TO BRING SUCCESS

Aaron McKenzie is expected to give KC their second individual success in the high jump. The Champs Class Two winner with 2.11m, topped his teammate, Verol Sam, who won in Class One with 2.05m. McKenzie will be eager to make up for his loss at the Carifta Games, where he ended third in the Under-17 category.

Edwin Allen High’s Christopher Young and Calabar High’s Kobe Lawrence, who finished first and second, respectively, in the Class One Boys’ Shot Put, look set to dominate in this event, where Young is the top seed with 19.37m and Lawrence, the second seed, with 18.86m. Young’s teammate at Edwin Allen, Trevor Gunzell, the Champs Class One discus winner, should complete a double success for the school. His season’s best 61.65m should make him hard to beat.

Following her disappointment at Champs in the Class One discus, where she was the overwhelming favourite to win but could only manage seventh, Holmwood Technical’s Cedricka Williams should shine in the event at the Penn Relays. Williams, who is ranked number two on the World Under-20 Top list with 53.91m, showed her pedigree at the Carifta Games with an impressive win in the under-20 event. She should ensure that the title remains in Jamaica following the win by Excelsior High’s Adrianne Adams in 2019. St Jago’s Abigail Marston and Camperdown High’s pair of Britannia Johnson and Victoria Christie are also in this event.

St Jago’s Anishka McDonald, the Carifta under-20 high jump champion, is expected to have a battle royal in the event with Toria Caven. Vere Technical’s Caven won in Class Two at Champs and has a season’s best of 1.78m, just behind McDonald, whose season’s best is 1.79m. McDonald did not compete at Champs.

Edwin Allen’s Serena Cole should close out a good meet for Jamaica when she contests the long jump. Ranked number two on the World Under-20 Top list with a best of 6.36m, Cole won in the Class One event at Champs and at the under-20 level at the Carifta Games.

Athletes will not get the chance to go for glory in the 400m hurdles, an event that Jamaica has dominated over the years. The organisers have removed it from the schedule for this year’s meet.

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Commonwealth Games – Birmingham 2022: When is it, host city, events, Aussie athletes, how to watch in Australia

Commonwealth Games - Birmingham 2022: When is it, host city, events, Aussie athletes, how to watch in Australia

The Commonwealth Games are fast approaching, with Team Australia gearing up for the first edition of the event since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the 2022 Games.

When are the Commonwealth Games 2022?

The upcoming edition of the Commonwealth Games will take place from July 28 – August 8, 2022, bookmarked by the opening and closing ceremonies.

Due to the rescheduling of other major sporting events such as the UEFA European Women’s Championship, the entire schedule of the Games has been moved by a day from its original dates to avoid any clashes.

Where are the Commonwealth Games 2022?

Birmingham is the host city for the Commonwealth Games in 2022.

Based in the West Midlands region of England, the city will host the Games for the first time ever.

The event will take place in summer, with comfortable temperature highs of 21 degrees Celcius. 

Durban was originally named as the host for the 2022 Games but was forced to withdraw in 2017 due to financial problems.

By the end of the year, Birmingham was eventually named the replacement host city.

Commonwealth Games 2022 events

Five new sports will be added this year to the existing 10 core sports from the 2018 Games.

Road cycling, judo, triathlon, table tennis, and wrestling will now feature in Birmingham as part of the latest edition of the Commonwealth Games Charter.

A full breakdown of the events is available here.

Which Aussie athletes are taking part in the Commonwealth Games 2022?

A record 474 Australian athletes participated in 2018, with the size of this year’s team unconfirmed.

Stars from the recent Olympic Games in Tokyo are expected to compete, including Ariarne Titmus (swimming), Nicola McDermott (high jump), and Peter Bol (running). 

The Australian contingent will join a pool of approximately 4,500 athletes in Birmingham, stemming from 72 nations. 

How to watch the Commonwealth Games in Australia

Channel 7 will broadcast all the action from Birmingham across their free-to-air channels and streaming service 7Plus.

The broadcaster has an exclusive deal with the Commonwealth Games Federation that covers broadcast, digital, radio, social media, and subscription television rights. 

Specific details and timings will be announced closer to the event.

Upcoming Commonwealth Games host venues

The Commonwealth Games will return to Australia after 2022, with Victoria officially announced as the host for the 2026 edition. 

It marks the first time the Games will not be held exclusively in one city, with a number of regional Victorian cities combing to host various events. 

The city of Hamilton in Canada is the likely 2030 host, although this is yet to be confirmed.

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Athletes compete at Kelowna event aimed at identifying future Olympians – Okanagan | Globalnews.ca

Athletes compete at Kelowna event aimed at identifying future Olympians - Okanagan | Globalnews.ca

Dozens of young athletes gathered at UBC Okanagan on Sunday to compete in a series of events designed to test their athletic abilities.

They were there to see how they stack up against other athletes, and if they might have the potential to represent Canada.

The Kelowna event is part of the RBC Training Ground program. It aims to identify young Canadians who have the potential to reach the highest levels of sport.

Read more:

Salmon Arm, B.C. wrestler makes name for herself, trains for nationals

The Training Ground program travels across the country putting athletes through their paces in tests of endurance, speed, and strength.

“We are able to take these scores that these athletes do today and match them up against benchmarks. That information is passed on to our nine partner sports that are involved in RBC [Training Ground]. If anyone gets close to the scores that we are looking for, the sports will then connect with them and try to bring them into their programs,” explained Andrew Latham, who works for Canadian Sport Institute Pacific, which helps run the RBC Training Ground program.

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Click to play video: 'RBC program helps find Olympic athletic talent'







RBC program helps find Olympic athletic talent
RBC program helps find Olympic athletic talent – Jan 18, 2022

The testing can act as a bridge between young athletes and lesser-known sports. It can help identify athletes who might excel at a particular discipline even if they’ve never competed in that sport.

“Kids may be in the right sport. But they may not be in the right sport and part of this program is to try to find what might be a better fit for them,” Latham said.

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With Olympics in mind, Saskatoon track and field athlete shifts gears to cycling

Among those looking for athletes who show potential, was Wes Hammer of Canoe Kayak BC whose sport requires good aerobic capacity and strength.

Hammer said the Training Ground program is a good way to direct athletes competing in more high-profile sports to other sports where they have more potential.

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“We are really trying to redirect athletes who have maybe started in a different sport such as swimming or even hockey, who won’t make the Olympics or high levels in those sports but they could in our sport,” Hammer said.

Read more:

Whitby’s Kya Gordon gears up for national Olympic talent search

Latham said five athletes who went through the RBC Training Ground program competed at the Beijing Olympics and three won medals.

Track athlete Avery Willis said the testing also helped with her personal training.

“I think it is a great opportunity to kind of get a feel of where my skill set is at the moment and look at what I need to train and work on in the future,” Willis said.


Click to play video: 'With Olympics in mind, Saskatoon track and field athlete shifts gears to cycling'







With Olympics in mind, Saskatoon track and field athlete shifts gears to cycling
With Olympics in mind, Saskatoon track and field athlete shifts gears to cycling – Apr 22, 2021

Others were there looking for athletic direction.

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Bradley Spurge recently wrapped up a college volleyball career and was at the event looking for new challenges.

“Myself, I came here really looking for the jump test and the sprint test and hoping that those can take me in a direction because…I just finished my years at the college, so that career is done, but I don’t think my body is done. So hopefully these results go out to a few of the coaches and maybe I get chatting with them to see if we can go somewhere,” Spurge said.

“I am so open to jumping into anything if they tell me I’m going to fit in there. I sure know I’m going to give it my all and hope I can prove them right.”

Spurge said when he was a kid he searched online for “How to be in the Olympics” and still dreams of representing Canada.

© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

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Ukrainian athletes call for nations to boycott FIL events until Russia banned

Ukrainian lugers have called for athletes to boycott events until Russia is banned ©Getty Images

Keep Olympic News Free

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For nearly 15 years now, insidethegames.biz has been at the forefront of reporting fearlessly on what happens in the Olympic Movement. As the first website not to be placed behind a paywall, we have made news about the International Olympic Committee, the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Commonwealth Games and other major events more accessible than ever to everybody. 

insidethegames.biz has established a global reputation for the excellence of its reporting and breadth of its coverage. For many of our readers from more than 200 countries and territories around the world the website is a vital part of their daily lives. The ping of our free daily email alert, sent every morning at 6.30am UK time 365 days a year, landing in their inbox, is as a familiar part of their day as their first cup of coffee.

Even during the worst times of the COVID-19 pandemic, insidethegames.biz maintained its high standard of reporting on all the news from around the globe on a daily basis. We were the first publication in the world to signal the threat that the Olympic Movement faced from the coronavirus and have provided unparalleled coverage of the pandemic since. 

As the world begins to emerge from the COVID crisis, insidethegames.biz would like to invite you to help us on our journey by funding our independent journalism. Your vital support would mean we can continue to report so comprehensively on the Olympic Movement and the events that shape it. It would mean we can keep our website open for everyone. Last year, nearly 25 million people read insidethegames.biz, making us by far the biggest source of independent news on what is happening in world sport. 

Every contribution, however big or small, will help maintain and improve our worldwide coverage in the year ahead. Our small and dedicated team were extremely busy last year covering the re-arranged Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo, an unprecedented logistical challenge that stretched our tight resources to the limit. 

2022 is not going to be any less busy, or less challenging. We have the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing, where we are sending a team of four reporters, the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, the Summer World University and Asian Games in China, the World Games in Alabama and multiple World Championships. Plus, of course, there is the FIFA World Cup in Qatar. 

Unlike many others, insidethegames.biz is available for everyone to read, regardless of what they can afford to pay. We do this because we believe that sport belongs to everybody, and everybody should be able to read information regardless of their financial situation. While others try to benefit financially from information, we are committed to sharing it with as many people as possible. The greater the number of people that can keep up to date with global events, and understand their impact, the more sport will be forced to be transparent.

Support insidethegames.biz for as little as £10 – it only takes a minute. If you can, please consider supporting us with a regular amount each month. Thank you.

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