Saturday, August 13, 2016

5 Things to Know About 4-Time Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Ledecky


Katie Ledecky Wins Gold 800m World Record Rio Olympics 2016
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The Olympian has already won three gold medals at the Summer Games (added to her one gold in London) and she"s broken 12 world records throughout her career.

Before she competes in the women"s 800-meter freestyle later tonight, here are five things to know about Ledecky:

1. She"s rooming with fellow gold-medalist Simone Manuel.

While in Rio, Ledecky"s Olympic Village roommate is none other than Simone Manuel, who tied for gold in last night"s 100-meter freestyle. The proud roomie shared her excitement on Twitter:

2. She was the youngest American at the London Games in 2012.

Ledecky was just 15 at the Summer Games four years ago, making her the youngest member of Team USA at the time. Regardless, she managed to take home a gold medal for the 800-meter freestyle.

3. Swimming is a family thing.

Chlorinated water runs in her veins.

Ledecky"s mother swam at the University of New Mexico and her older brother, Michael, was also a swimmer. In fact, Ledecky began swimming at age 6 to follow in her big bother"s footsteps.

4. She"s off to college.

Though Ledecky deferred a year to train for the Olympics, the 19-year-old has committed to Stanford University. After this not-so-relaxing summer, she"ll be heading there in the fall.

5. If she takes the gold tonight, she will be the second swimmer ever to win gold in the 200-, 400- and 800-meter freestyle races at the same Games.

Only one has been able to do it before her. In the 1968 Olympics, Debbie Meyer managed to place first in all three events. Now that Ledecky has taken the gold in the only race she was not overwhelmingly favored to win (the 200-meter freestyle), it seems more likely than not that she will match Meyer"s trifecta.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/things-time-olympic-gold-medalist-katie-ledecky/story?id%3D41331201

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See the Bronx in the Days of The Get Down


Hoje é dia...de The Get Down - Ogi e Jamés feat. Tássia Reis
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Source: http://time.com/4431300/see-the-bronx-in-the-days-of-the-get-down/

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2016 Olympic swimming results: Katie Ledecky rules again, Michael Phelps adds a silver medal to his haul


Katie Ledecky Wins Gold 800m World Record Rio Olympics 2016

Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports

Ledecky set another world record en route to her fourth gold medal, and Phelps won medal No. 27.

Katie Ledecky owns the Rio pool, and there"s nothing anyone can do about it. She dominated once again to win the gold medal in the women"s 800m freestyle in world record time,finishing in 8:04.79. She won by a ludicrous 11 seconds over silver, stealing the show one more time in Rio on a thrilling night in the water as swimming capped its eighth day.

The 800m freestyle is Ledecky"s best event, and she totally owns it. Ledecky has had the world record in the race since Aug. 3, 2013, and has reset the record four times since, going from 8:13.86 to her nearly 10-second improvement on Friday.

Watching her compete in the 800m was nearly comical, as there was absolutely no competition even halfway through the race. When Ledecky finished the race, there was barely a single swimmer even in sight of the 19-year-old phenom.

The only race was Ledecky against the world record line superimposed on the pool by NBC -- her own record, mind you. She broke it by nearly two seconds.

The medal is Ledecky"s fifth of the Games, with four golds plus a silver medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. She"s incredible, clearly one of the greatest swimmers ever, and scariest of all, she can keep doing this for years to come.

Michael Phelps has first non-gold finish

Phelps had gold medal finishes in his first four races, butcame up a little short in the men"s 100m butterfly on Friday. Singapore"s Joseph Schooling, who had also beaten him in the heat, topped Phelps and set an Olympic record while he was at it. The 21-year-old Schooling has come a long way since this photo he took with Phelps in 2008.

Phelps finished in a three-way tie for second place at exactly 51.14 seconds, sharing the silver medal withSouth Africa"s Chad le Clos and Hungary"s Lszl Cseh. Here"s what the slightly awkward medal ceremony looked like.

Phelps has one final race on Saturday, the 4x100m medley relay. And Schooling can now forever say he beat the greatest swimmer and the best Olympian of all time for a medal.

Ervin wins his second 50-meter gold ... 16 years later

At 35, American Anthony Ervin became theoldest male swimmer to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Ervin had won the gold in the 2000 Sydney Olympics in the men"s 50-meter freestyle, and 16 years later he once again won the same event at Rio on Friday.

Ervin finished with a time of 21.40 seconds, topping silver medalist Florent Manaudou of France by literally a hundredth of a second. Ervin"s United States co-captain Nathan Adrian finished with bronze with a time of 21.49 seconds.

Dirado"s late surge wins her gold

Madeline Dirado"s winning performance inthe women"s 200-meter backstroke was the race that began a dominant night for the United States in the pool. Dirado"s win somehow might have been the most miraculous of them all, too.

Trailing until the very last stroke, Dirado"s last-second surge saw her beat gold medal favorite Katinka Hossz of Hungary with a time of2:05.99, just 0.06 seconds ahead of Hossz.

In total, the United States took three of the four gold medals on Friday, plus a silver and a bronze. For the swimming tournament, American swimmers have won 14 of the 29 available gold medals, nearly half, and 29 of the 86 total medals, more than a third.

Phelps dominates the pool, Ledecky is carrying on his tradition and the rest of the United States is racking up hardware too.

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/2016/8/12/12463056/olympics-2016-swimming-results-katie-ledecky-michael-phelps-melanie-dirado-anthony-ervin

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Friday, August 12, 2016

Simone Biles Scores a "Pretty Little Liars" Set Invite After Winning Olympic Gold


Simone Biles finishes floor routine with gold wrapped up

Best week ever! Pretty Little Liars fan Simone Biles has been invited to visit the set of the hit Freeform show by creator I. Marlene King. The showrunner tweeted at the Olympic gymnast after she scored the gold during the womens individual all-around on Thursday, August 11.

PHOTOS: Meet Team USA"s Gymnasts!

Hey @Simone_Biles! @imarleneking wants you & the #FinalFive to come to PLL set when you get back - are you in? the shows Twitter account read on Thursday, along with a video of King, 54, personally asking the medalist to come by.

Gold medalist Simone Biles of the United States celebrates on the podium at the medal ceremony for the women"s individual all-around on day 6 of the Olympics at Olympic Arena on Aug. 11, 2016, in Rio de Janeiro. Amin Mohammad Jamali/Getty Images

Hey Simone! I heard youre a big PLL fan, King says in the video. Well, we are huge fans of yours and everybody there. Were so proud of what youre doing in Rio come see us as soon as you get home and bring your friends!

Simone Biles Made Sure to Take Her Gold Medal With Her on Fire Drill 2016 Rio Womens Gymnastics Individual Final: Everything That Happened Simone Biles Responds to NBC Sportscaster"s Comment About Parents

The athlete didnt hesitate to accept the invitation.

YES X27238833, Biles responded.

The 19-year-old gold medalist, who gained a bevy of new fans (including Zac Efron!) after she declared on Twitter, Im not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. Im the first Simone Biles, also got a shout-out from PLL star Shay Mitchell.

You go girly, the actress tweeted at her on Thursday. Biles, along with her fab final five teammates, captain Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Madison Kocian and Laurie Hernandez,also secured the gold during the team all-around competition on Tuesday, August 9.

PHOTOS: TV"s 10 Most Shocking Deaths of the 2015-2016 Season Shay Mitchell, Ashley Benson, Troian Bellisario and Lucy Hale (from left) on "Pretty Little Liars." ABC Family/Eric McCandless

Watch the video above for a recap of Biles megawin, as well as Team USAs other big moments from the Summer Games.

PHOTOS: Olympic Athletes: Where Are They Now?

Sign up now for the Us Weekly newsletter to get breaking celebrity news, hot pics and more delivered straight to your inbox!

Source: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/simone-biles-scores-a-pretty-little-liars-set-invite-after-winning-olympic-gold-w434235

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New England Patriots QB Jimmy Garoppolo starts slow, ends fast in first preseason game


Jimmy Garoppolo Highlights | Saints vs. Patriots | NFL

Tom Bradywill sit out theNew England Patriots first four games of the regular season while serving a four-game suspension. Backup Jimmy Garoppolo is preparing for his time in the spotlight.

Garoppolo"s performance in the Patriots 34-22 win against New Orleans Thursday in their preseason opener gave Patriots fans a reason to be excited, and concerned.

Playing the entire first half, Garoppolo completed 11-of-18 passes for 168 yards, and he was sacked twice for 20 yards. Garoppolo completed two of his first five passes and the Patriots offense had three-and-outs on their first two offensive series.

Garoppolo seemed to find a rhythm on the Patriots third series and then completed nine of his final 11 passes, including a 56-yard, catch-and-run touchdown pass to running back James White and a drive that ended with a field goal on the next series.

"It wasn"t our best start, no question," Garoppolo told reporters after the game. "You"re not going to always start the right way and it"s just how you react to that. It was a good experience tonight just being put in a difficult situation...I think we reacted in the right way."

Garoppolo escaped a couple of potentially costly mistakes. He dove - instead of sliding - for a first down after scrambling, taking a hit that could have resulted in an injury. He seemed to panic a bit on a third-and-12 play from the Saints 20, throwing a pass to no one that could"ve been intercepted.

"I think I"m working in the right direction," Garoppolo said. "There"s plenty of things I could work on, little things here and there. That"s just part of being a quarterback."

-- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/nfl/index.ssf/2016/08/new_england_patriots_qb_jimmy.html

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Simone Biles Wins Women"s Gymnastics All-Around Gold in Rio


US Women"s Gymnastics Team Wins Gold in Rio
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Source: http://time.com/4449366/simone-biles-wins-womens-gymnastics-all-around-gold-in-rio/

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Mohenjo Daro: Tries the audience"s patience


Mohenjo Daro Movie Public Talk, Review, Response and Reaction | #MohenjoDaroPublicTalkResponseReview

If you go looking for history in Mohenjo Daro (set in 2016 BC mind you) you might just find little specks of it here and there: in the set of the city, perhaps; in the way it appears to have been laid out and planned. May be in the barter system in operation amongst the traders. But come closer in to the marketplace and the foreign businessmen there make you feel like you are in the ancient Egypt section at Universal Studios.

You wont find history in the mumbo-jumbo of a lingo which quickly mutates into something reminiscent of K.P. Saxenas mix of dialects in Lagaan. Sample: Chidiya ka bachcha bada hone se pehle ghar chhod de to ud nahin pata (If the baby bird leaves home before its old enough it wont be able to fly); Hawa mein khot ki boo aa rahi hai (There is the smell of wrongdoing in the air); Os ki boond hai uska gussa, pal mein hawa ho jaayega (His anger is like dew drop, it will vanish in the air).

You wont find the past staring back at you in the song-and-dance either a curious mix of whirling dervishes and belly dancing. And you certainly wont find history in the weird headgear or the strappy Greek sandals or the elegant cotton-handloom-khadi weaves, the open stitching and indigo-dyed fabric worn by the Mohenjo Daro inhabitants that could well inspire FabIndia to launch a brand new range.

In fact, right at the start, the disclaimer makes it quite clear that the Indus Valley civilisation has been open to radically different interpretations by the historians themselves. So how can director Ashutosh Gowariker claim any authenticity?

Director: Ashutosh GowarikerCast: Hrithik Roshan, Pooja Hegde, Kabir Bedi, Arunoday SinghRun time: 155 minutes

The very straight, simple and oft-repeated tale of foster parents, mistaken identity, good vs evil is just another fantasy, a mishmash of many such larger-than-life epics from The Ten Commandments to Gladiator via Troy and Baahubali. Gowariker puts in all the hard work and sincerity in the canvas and the mounting, in the seals and the statues but refuses to take the necessary leap of imagination to give us something fresh, something worth taking note of. Mohenjo Daro is a case of seen it all, many a times before.

Hrithik Roshan plays Sarman, a simple indigo farmer in Amri but his entry in the film the camera drooling over his rippling muscles and then gently gliding over the light eyes and pretty face slots him more in the league of some Grecian hero. As always. In another scene you again find him lovingly framed, like a beautiful steed, with some real horses for company.

He does a quick fight with a crocodile in the river to establish his heroism, then goes on to dream of a unicorn (the civilisation"s purest animal apparently). He wants to travel to Mohenjo Daro but the uncle wont let him. For him its a cesspool of greed which the untainted young boy should stay away from. But he goes there, finds love in Chaani (Pooja Hegde, perpetually pouty, pleased and baffled) and his true calling as well. He defeats the evil villain and his son and embraces the role he was destined to play that of the ruler, nay the sewak. Before that there are some gladiatorial contests with two man-eating cavemen and killings galore.

Cut through the claptrap and you find Gowariker desperately trying to attempt a political allegory. He tries to pitch political ideas in an elemental, primordial context: be it the anti-dam stance or the take down of taxation which is ostensibly for the welfare of the poor and the downtrodden but actually fills up the Mahams (evil ruler, Kabir Bedi) coffers and facilitates arms trade. Does that ring a bell?

Gowarikers primal call is for a culture of protest and for the might of one to take on the whole rotten system. In both Lagaan and Swades the hero is the leader figure who gets the community together for a cause and shows it the way ahead. He helps people win a match in one and generate electricity in another; here Hrithik helps overthrow a despot and build a bridge across a river in fury. Yes, noble ideas all, but the kind that try the audiences patience than engage them meaningfully.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/cinema-reviews/mohenjo-daro-review-tries-the-audiences-patience/article8980093.ece

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