Who were the Americans freed in a prisoner swap?
Simone Biles, 19, won the individual all-around gold medal in the vault at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, after losing control of her body in mid-air
PARIS — For the second time in her remarkable career, the peerless gymnast Simone Biles won the Olympic individual all-around final title, only two days after leading the U.S. women’s team back to the gold medal in the team event.
The first to win her second eight was Biles, who did it four years after her first. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, the gymnast withdrew from the individual all-around after she lost her ability to control her body in mid-air. The intense pressure had led to problems with her mental health and she took a two-year hiatus from the sport altogether.
Andrade ended with silver. The bronze medal went to the U.S. gymnast Suni Lee, who won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
After beginning on vault, she opened the competition in the lead. The 19-year-old gymnast scored a 15.766 and jumped out by two-thirds of a point over her opponent.
Her lead was gone on the next rotation. On the uneven bars, Biles turned in an unusually poor performance in which her momentum slowed during a swing from high bar to low bar, causing her knees to almost brush the floor. Her routine earned a 13.733, which is half a point lower than her two previous scores on the bars. That moved her up to third place behind Andrade and Kaylia Nemour.
This was not easy, unlike other medals she’s won over the years. Her gold required overcoming an unusually poor performance on the uneven bars that briefly put her into third place behind two strong competitors, including Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade, the gymnast widely considered to be the world’s second best.
What it means to be a hack to win? A quizze for the gold in Marseille and the interview with Simone Biles is GOAT
❓Quiz: If you’re more into sports than politics, you’re in luck with this week’s quiz. Go for the gold by testing your Olympics knowledge with an unusual amount of sports questions. How well do you think you’ll do?
🥘 Food: Vérane Frédiani’s Taste the World in Marseille leads readers through France’s oldest city and its diverse neighborhoods. The new French cookbook contains recipes from a native of Marseille.
🎵 Music: For more than 50 years, Meredith Monk has been a musician, performer, educator, film director, dancer and recording artist. She reflects on her journey to become a musician.
Jessica Anthony’s novel, The Most, takes place over a day and allows readers to get to know a couple’s differing points of view.
📺 TV: Hacks, a show exploring what it means to be a comedy hack, blossomed from an idea conceived during a 2015 road trip. Paul W. Downs co-created the show with his wife, Lucia Aniello, and plays Jimmy. He tells NPR about what the series, which just wrapped its third season, means to him.
Photojournalist and Environmental Advocate: “Who are the Americans free in a Russian prisoner swap? And, Simone Biles is GOAT”
A renowned photographer was intending to document the changing climate from a young age. He did that when he started photographing floods. Scientists in the U.S. know that floods are becoming more frequent and severe due to extreme precipitation and sea level rise from climate change. The storms and rain leave trauma behind. He meets and engages with the people who live in impacted communities and, if they agree, photographs them and their reality at that moment. He describes his photography style as a shift away from documentation to art and activism.
After the killing of top Hezbollah and Hamas leaders in Israel, Israel and Lebanon are bracing for even stronger attacks. Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah’s leader, made it clear the group would retaliate in a speech at yesterday’s funeral for their second in command, Fuad Shukr. He said Hezbollah would pause attacks in respect for Shukr’s death. Israel claimed to have killed the Hamas military wing’s leader, Mohammad Daif, in an attack in Gaza. This morning, Israel also said it had killed a senior commander in Islamic Jihad, another militant group, in Rafah.
Source: Who are the Americans freed in a Russian prisoner swap? And, Simone Biles is GOAT
A Good Morning with an American-Russian Prisoner Exchange: The Up First E-Newsletter at 1:59 a.m.
President Biden and Vice President Harris welcomed home a group of Americans imprisoned by Russia last night in what was the largest prisoner exchange between the West and Russia since the end of the Cold War. The Wall Street Journal reporter was among those who arrived in Maryland to be with their families. The exchange was months in the making and depended on several American allies, including Germany, Slovenia, Norway and Poland. Three U.S. citizens, one legal resident and 13 German nationals were included in the swap. So far, we know little about them.
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