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Sunday 10 June 2012

London 2012: Jumper Mike Mason sets bar high - Toronto Star

London 2012: Jumper Mike Mason sets bar high - Toronto Star

It was in elementary school that Mike Mason grew tired of the earth’s surly bonds.

And today, he’s breaking them under his own power with the best high jumpers on the planet.

Mason, who will almost certainly compete for Canada at this summer’s London Olympics, fell for the sport on his first leap.

“When I started jumping it was just natural to me,” says Mason, now 26. “From the first practice I had, one of the kids was showing me how to arch over the bar and my body was able to do that right from the start.”

Indeed, his body was so attuned to the sport that he’s long been able to tell if he’ll be successful in a leap as soon as he’s launched it.

But natural ability can only take a jumper so high. Raising the bar requires countless training leaps, where the concentration is on the last three steps.

“In high jump the last three steps are just so important,” he says. “And once that’s automatic, that’s what you’re working on.”

Once technique has been mastered, higher jumps are powered by the athlete’s ability to do more of them without thinking.

“When it becomes second nature, your muscles can just get a little sharper, move a little faster,” he says.

Mason, who competed at the 2008 Beijing Games, says there’s a bond between jumpers that’s missing in many track sports. A common adversary — gravity — and the lack of one-on-one competition has allowed jumpers to form a close-knit community.

“You’re competing against yourself in a sense. You have your three attempts and it really doesn’t matter what anybody else does,” Mason says.

“So you can enjoy yourself, you can joke with the other guys. It really is a good atmosphere and there are not a lot of guys that are out there to get in your head or play games out there.”

This lack of psychological harassment allows Mason to completely to empty his mind of distractions before his competition leaps.

“When it’s automatic, I clear my head and I just go, and it doesn’t really matter where the bar is at,” says Mason, who’s ranked No. 1 in Canada.

He’s been ranked as high as second in the world this year, having cleared the Olympic standard of 2.31 metres in May.

That height and rank should make Mason a legitimate podium contender in London, though he’s reluctant to look that far ahead.

“It’s hard for me to think about that right now because this season has been so amazing so far, but maybe a little bit of a surprise too,” he says. “Just getting the standard was one of my goals. I’m just focused on one step at a time.”

Mason moved to Abbotsford, B.C., this year to work under a new coach, the Polish-trained Zbigniew Szelagowicz.

The relationship is so new that Mason has yet to master his coach’s name.

“I actually can’t pronounce his first and last name. He’s just Ziggy,” he says.

Mason credits Szelagowicz with turning him around after a disappointing 2011 season, when a foot injury hampered his performances.

Mason has had few pursuits outside of higher leaps in recent years.

“Anytime I’m not at the track, I’m thinking about recovery,” he says. “If my wife wants to go shopping or into town or something, sometimes I just have to pass.”

Luckily, wife Janessa was a high-performance athlete at the University of British Columbia and can understand her husband’s focus.

“She’s very, very understanding and is very supportive,” he says.

Mason graduated in human kinetics from UBC in 2010, but is leaning towards a career in computer graphic design when his athletic career is done.

While Mason and fellow Canadian Derek Drouin have both met the Olympic qualifying mark this year, each must post a top-three showing at the national championships in June to make the Canadian team — something both are expected to easily do.


Source: www.thestar.com

East London: Right On Track - BBC News

Synopsis

BBC 2012's Community Reporters showcase the emerging talents of East London. From break dancers and fashion designers, to chefs and authors, the Community Reporters shine a light on just some of the many creative young people beginning to make waves in the area. At the same time they discuss what it is about East London that's made it such a fertile breeding ground for new talent in so many different areas; and look at the challenges people face in trying to make a name from themselves.

This documentary is one of two programmes produced by a group of 14 young people from East London on the BBC 2012 Community Reporters Scheme. Over seven weeks they were trained in all aspects of journalism, before working with the Radio 1 and 1Xtra Stories team to produce two 60 minute programmes. From generating the initial ideas and developing a structure, to recording the interviews and editing the finished content, this is all their own work.


Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Summertime Ball sees Jessie J and Katy Perry wow Wembley Stadium - Metro.co.uk

Bieber, Perry and Cole played the same stage as Ed Sheeran amd Coldplay at Capital FM's annual event, which attracted fans in their droves

And although Cheryl stole the show in terms of her costume, some of her fellow female pop stars were the ones who garnered the most attention for their performances.

Katy, who was last seen cosying up to Cheryl on The Graham Norton Show on Friday, took to the stage to close the ball and was a hit with the crowd as she performed some of her famous hits.

The American star later headed out with Florence + The Machine guitarist Robert Ackroyd, with whom she appears to be beginning a relationship.

BLOG: Why should it matter if Cheryl Cole mimes on stage?

Jessie, who fell while rehearsing for last year's Summertime Ball, admitted on stage that she was nervous that she might suffer a repeat of the accident, which left her on crutches and in a 'moon boot' for several months.

She told the crowd: 'A small part of me is just praying I don't fall over or fall off anything, because it's amazing to be at the Summertime Ball and be able to run around in front of you guys. 

'There are stairs, though. They might scare me; they're a little slippery.'

She later reassured the crowd with a small speech about ignoring insecurities and staying strong, telling them: 'I see a lot of young people in here, but sometimes it needs somebody to tell them that its going to be alright.


'I've been there when you don't always fit in, but don't dilute yourself. Every single day, just reach for your dreams. I know it's cheesy but it's the truth.'

Meanwhile, Cheryl performed her new single Call My Name in a luminous jumpsuit that was orange, pink, green, gold and yellow - an eye-catching combination by anyone's standards.

There was cause for celebration later on in the evening, as Cole learned that the song had gone straight to number one on the iTunes chart, despite only becoming available to download at midnight.

PICTURES: For a full gallery of the Summertime Ball, click here


Source: www.metro.co.uk

London set for mobile coverage on Underground trains - Daily Telegraph

Mr Verwaayen declined to comment on the timing or cost of the roll-out, but indicated that an Alcatel-Lucent deal was “not a hypothetical, it is coming”.

The boost in productivity, as workers to check their emails and make calls on the move, would be worth around £1.1bn to the British economy, Alcatel-Lucent claimed.

It would also draw a line under a series of failed attempts to introduce mobile coverage to the Underground. In 2011, the Chinese network Huawei offered to make the £50m upgrade as a gift to the British government. However, the deal fell apart in the face of public scepticism about the Chinese company’s motives. The company is routinely accused of being able to use its network for spying, a charge which it denies.

The Alcatel-Lucent roll-out follows plans to install wireless broadband access at tube stations, announced earlier this year. The service, which will be paid for by Virgin Media and also uses Alcatel-Lucent technology, will launch at 80 London stations by July, starting with Oxford Circus, Stratford, Liverpool Street, Leicester Square and King’s Cross.


Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Essex and Suffolk links to international coaches - East Anglian Daily Times

THE appointment of former Suffolk cricketer Richard Pybus as coach of Bangladesh has re-affirmed the rich seam of coaching talent with Suffolk and Essex links.

Former Sudbury and Halstead pace bowler Pybus, 47, who has been living and coaching in South Africa for several years now, worked with Pakistan at two World Cups.

He was appointed coach of Pakistan in 1999 but sacked just a month into the job after losing three Tests in Australia, and returning to work in South Africa, where he has led Border and Titans to ten championship finals, winning six of them and twice doing the double.

Pybus, who turned to coaching after his playing career was cut short by injury, has now taken on the challenge of coaching Bangladesh on a two-year contract.

Below is a list of cricketers with Suffolk and Essex links who have made their mark in recent years in the coaching world at international level.

Stuart Law: Pybus replaces the former Essex batsman as coach of Bangladesh. Law stood down less than a year into his two-year contract for family reasons. The Australian was a popular player at Chelmsford between 1996 and 2001 before a falling out saw him move to Lancashire.

Andy Flower: The former Zimbabwe wicket-keeper and batsman played for Essex from 2002 until 2006, before being assistant coach of the England team in 2007. Following the departure of Peter Moores in 2009, Flower became the full-time England team director.

Graham Gooch: The former Essex and England captain took over as head coach of Essex from 2001 until 2005. He remained as the county’s batting coach and in 2009 he was appointed as England’s ‘temporary’ batting coach, which subsequently became a permanent role. He stepped down as Essex’s batting coach after he was appointed full-time to the England role earlier this year.

Keith Fletcher: The ex-Essex and England captain was England team manager from 1993-1995. He subsequently returned to Essex as first-team coach before stepping down in 2001.

Alan Butcher: The former Surrey and Glamorgan batsman was coach of Essex in 1993 and later coached Surrey from 2005 until 2008. Butcher, who won one Test cap for England, was appointed coach of Zimbabwe in 2011 and has overseen their return to Test cricket.

Grant Flower: Following his retirement from Test cricket in 2004, Grant followed his brother Andy to Essex, where he played for six seasons, combining playing with being batting coach in 2010 before retiring to take up the role as Zimbabwe’s batting coach. He made a surprise, but brief return to the national side, before retiring in January last year to concentrate on his role as batting coach.

Ian Pont: The ex-Essex fast bowler was named as Bangladesh bowling coach in September 2010, but decided not to extend his contract beyond the World Cup early last year when they had a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals after beating England. In March this year he was head coach of the Dhaka Gladiators side that won the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League.

Don Topley: The former Essex bowler, who is now a cricket coach at the Royal Hospital School at Holbrook, just outside Ipswich, coached Zimbabwe between 1990 and 1992, famously leading the minnows to victory over England, captained by Gooch, by nine runs at the 1992 World Cup in Australia.


Source: www.eadt.co.uk

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