Selena Gomez defends Justin Bieber fans after Sofia Richie backlash | People NOW | People
Selena has also been posting several photos of her fans something she"s done throughout the "Revival" tour. FYI, comments for a handful of her latest photos have been disabled la Kylie Jenner.
My entire heart
A photo posted by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Aug 15, 2016 at 3:50am PDT
@revivaltour
A photo posted by Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) on Aug 15, 2016 at 5:40am PDT
Of course, folks can"t help but recall Justin"s proclamation from May, when he said fan photos made him feel like a "zoo animal." Hence, Justin"s no-photo policy was born.
Finally, to make things even more confusing, it looks like Justin briefly unfollowed Selena on Instagram before changing his mind. If you must know, Selena is not following Justin. Can someone tell me what"s going on? Scooter? Taylor? Anyone?
Rio Olympics: Lalita Babar qualifies for final in women"s 3000m steeplechase
Shaun Botterill/Getty
The second week of the Olympics are underway in Rio, meaning swimming and gymnastics have given way to track and field ("athletics" to most non-Americans). And while most track and field eventsare fairly straightforward run this distance as fast as you can; throw this object as far as you can one event in particular stands out for its sheerweirdness. Thiswould be the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The casual fan of the Olympics may, understandably, wonder what"s going onwith the steeplechase: what are these massive barriers doing on the track, and why are the runners jumping over them? Why is there a water pit? And why, really, is this sillyrace called thesteeplechase?
Allow us to explain.
Like many track and field events, the steeplechase"s origins can be traced back to United Kingdom. Runners, as they were apparently wont to do,would often race each other from one town"s church steeple to the next. The steeples were chosen because they were easy to see from long distances,leading to the name "steeplechase."
The countryside would also require runners to jump over various barriers over the course of their race. These included stone walls and small rivers. When the race was modernized, the walls were simulated with hurdles and the rivers and creeks were simulated with the water pit.
According to the IAAF,the modern 3,000-meter steeplechase track event with the barriers and the water pit first originated at Oxford University in the mid-19th century.It was then included in the EnglishChampionship in 1879. In the Olympics, men have raced the steeplechase since 1920, while the women, somewhat shockingly, only first raced it at the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing.
Today, the race features five barriers: four hurdles plus the barrierbefore the water pit. For the men, those barriers are 36 inches, and for the women they are 30 inches. The water pit, meanwhile, is 12 feet long for both.
Often you"ll see runners land one foot on the top of the barrier to propel themselves over it, though many elite runners just clear the whole thing altogether.Wipeouts are all too common, especially in or around the water.
Here"s an example of what can happen if you don"t properly traverse the water pit:
Kai Pfaffenbach/Reuters
It"s a quirky race, to be sure, but it"s also a sneakily fun one.
Devon Allen Oregon Ducks Highlights | "Untouchable" ᴴᴰ Devon Allen cleared his first hurdle toward winning a 110-meter medal. (David J. Phillip/Associated Press)
A trio of U.S. athletes Devon Allen, Jeff Porter and Ronnie Ash made it safely through the 110-meter hurdle qualifying heats Monday and will compete in Tuesdays semifinals. Americans have won 19 of the 27 gold medals handed out in the mens event since the modern Olympics began in 1896, including in 2012, when Aries Merritt stood atop the podium.
Merritt also won bronze at the world championships last year, but he underwent a kidney transplant shortly thereafter and failed to make the U.S. team for Rio. Allen, who finished second in his heat with a time of 13.41,has many excited that he can be the next big thing in the 110 meters.
A football star as well as a track star at Oregon, the 21-year-oldAllenhas aspirations of making it to the NFL as a wide receiver. He had to sit out the 2015 track season after suffering a knee injury in the Rose Bowl at the start of the year, but he bounced back to win at the U.S. Olympictrials in June with a time of 13.03, second fastest in the world this year.
The fastest time this year, 12.98, was posted by JamaicasOmar McLeod, the favorite to take gold in Rio. Other strong medal contenders include SpainsOrlando Ortega and FrancesDimitri Bascou.
McLeod won his heat Monday in 13.27, the fastest time in qualifying. Porter was second in that heat with a time of 13.50, while Ash won his heat in13.31.
The Philadelphia Eagles acquired 2015 second-round receiver Dorial Green-Beckham from the Tennessee Titans in a trade Tuesday morning.
The Eagles sent offensive lineman Dennis Kelly to Tennessee to complete the deal.
A message has been sent to the rest of the Titans. If you don"t operate at full speed, you shouldn"t feel safe.
Green-Beckham was the 40th pick overall out of Oklahoma in 2015. He never played for the Sooners, practicing for them but not suiting up in the year after he was thrown out of Missouri. At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds he can be a difficult target to defend.
He caught 32 passes for 549 yards as a rookie with four touchdowns. But in his second training camp, he remained maddeningly inconsistent with the Titans.
"Obviously, he"s made mistakes," Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said. "He"s a kind-hearted kid and he has the right intentions. And that if you get a chance to really spend some time with him, you"ll see that. He"s not a locker-room cancer at all.
"He comes in with an opportunity, no promises have been made. We felt comfortable to bring him in here to compete. He"s physically gifted. He"s 6-5, he"s 240, he runs a 4.4. He"s got a rare skill set. Now, there"s a reason that he"s available at this time. He"s got to get more consistent. But for us and where we are in development, we thought it was a risk worth taking."
The Eagles" best receiver, Jordan Matthews, is injured. They signed former Giants second-round pick Rueben Randle in the offseason to add depth and also have 2015 first-round pick Nelson Agholor and 2014 third-round pick Josh Huff.
Dorial Green-Beckham caught 32 passes for 549 yards and four touchdowns during his rookie season with the Titans.AP Photo/Mark Humphrey
In addition to signing Andre Johnson at the start of camp, the Titans added two receivers -- Miami free agent Rishard Matthews and fifth-round pick Tajae Sharpe -- under new general manager Jon Robinson.
They are precise route runners who rarely drop passes, a stark contrast to what they saw from Green-Beckham.
Green-Beckham is raw, but the Eagles clearly think he was worth the trade and will work to develop him in a way the Titans couldn"t.
"They thought it was a good opportunity for (Green-Beckham), and we thought adding Dennis would be good for our football team," Robinson said. "We are moving on. I appreciate everything Dorial did when he was here. He bought in to what we were trying to do. But in the end we felt like this was the best decision for the team."
SECUESTRO MASIVO EN PUERTO VALLARTA... Y LAS BOTELLAS COSTOSAS DE VINO
Officials in the Mexican resort city of Puerto Vallarta moved to reassure tourists Tuesday after up to 16 customers were abducted by gunmen from an upscale restaurant.
The mass kidnapping from the La Leche restaurant, located on the main drag of the city"s hotel district, happened around 1 a.m. local time Monday, authorities said.
However, the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Board said no tourists were involved and described the incident as "isolated."
"As an immediate safety measure, security has been reinforced in Puerto Vallarta to ensure that residents as well as tourists can continue with their normal activities," it said in a statement.
"Early findings from the investigation led by the State Attorney of Jalisco, Eduardo Almaguer, stated that in a first examination, the victims and perpetrators belong to criminal groups from another region of the country, confirming the likelihood of this being an isolated case."
Mexican media said as many as 16 people were abducted, but authorities did not immediately confirm that number, the Associated Press reported.
"According to witnesses from the place, several gunmen arrived to the place aboard a Toyota Tacoma and Chevrolet Suburban, who deprived the freedom of a group of people who were at the site," Jalisco Attorney General Eduardo Almaguer said in statement translated by NBC News.
When police arrived, they found a Dodge Challenger, a Jeep Limited, a Land Rover, a Cadillac Escalade, and Honda CRV that may belong to the abducted patrons, the statement said.
FILE - An aerial view shows Puerto Vallarta, a resort town on Mexico"s Pacific coast, in Mexico Dec. 31, 2015. ?(C) Henry Romero / Reuters / REUTERS
Olympic Track And Field Trials | 16-Year-Old Sydney McLaughlin Qualifies To Go To Rio
The Olympics were always on Sydney McLaughlin"s radar except the games the 16-year-old runner had in mind were those happening in 2020, or even 2024. When she placed third at the Team USA Track and Field Trials a few weeks ago, though, it became clear she wouldn"t need to wait that long. That day, she qualified for Rio and set a world junior record simultaneously, NBD. Sydney is a ridiculously gifted athlete, but track doesn"t always come first for the teenager: She knows when to prioritize her friends and family, in addition to her other hobbies.
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1. Sydney is the youngest U.S. Olympian to compete for track and field in the Olympics since Carol Lewis in 1980. She turns 17 on Aug. 7, was born in 1999, and is a rising senior in high school. She doesn"t even have her driving license yet!
2. But she"ll miss the opening ceremonies, because she wants to celebrate her 17th birthday with her friends at home. She will fly out to Rio on Aug. 9. Priorities, people.
3. She set a junior world record in the 400-meter hurdles at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, breaking a record that had been held for over 30 years.
4. Even at 16, she knows that the way her body looks is irrelevant. When Yahoo Celebrity asked her if she thought she"d "sacrificed the ideal body type to be athletic" (Seriously, that"s the first question you want to ask the youngest Olympic runner in 30 years?), Sydney had the most perfect response. "I don"t care," she said. "I don"t have abs, but I don"t think any of that matters when you"re running a race, as long as you"re doing what you have to do. And the same thing for looks. People take how they look very seriously when it comes to sports. But at the end of the day, if you"re not crossing the line with a certain time, I don"t think those things really matter."
5. She comes from a family of track stars. Her brother, Taylor, is a hurdler at the University of Michigan, and her father, Willie, ran in the 1984 Olympic trials, when he made it to semifinals.
6. But her dad had to "bait" her into trying out the sport. He"d offer Sydney a chocolate and almond candy bar every time she finished a race, the Washington Post reports.
7. It took her high school coach 15 minutes to know Sydney was special. Since then, she has never lost a hurdle race at the high school level, so it"s safe to say her coach was onto something.
8. She has a lucky Minions blanket, which she will bring with her to Rio. She actually had a bit of a scare at the trials when she thought she had lost it. Here"s to hoping that doesn"t happen again.
9. Sydney also always wears a twist in her hair when competing. That"s another good luck charm of hers.
10. According to her coach, she"s sometimes too humble. In fact, she doubted herself so much at the trials that she had a bit of a breakdown. "I saw the atmosphere," Sydney told the Washington Post. "It was just like any other meet, but at the same time it was on TV, [and] I was getting texts from all my friends. There was just so much more work put into it than a regular high school meet that it became overwhelming at one point." Her dad and brother cheered her on, and she is ready to take the Olympics by storm.
11. She volunteers for her local chapter of Hope Worldwide, a charity organization that distributes fire safety and disaster relief information to New Jersey families. She also helps with the Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.
12. And she started the juggling club at her New Jersey high school. Sydney is passionate about throwing b***s and bowling pins in the air, and she can even do it on a unicycle! Her goal after the Olympics is to focus her attention on juggling so her club can perform at the Union Catholic pep rally. Is there anything this girl can"t do?!
Walsh Jennings will be returning for her fifth Olympic games, but the first in over ten years without Misty May-Treanor. Can she still win gold against the Brazilians home court advantage?
The London 2012 Games were the end of an era. Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor went together like peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, chocolate and vanilla, the Rio Olympics and every possible misfortune. Winning three gold medals together in the 2004, 2008, and 2012 summer Olympics, Walsh Jennings and May-Treanor have been described as the greatest beach volleyball team of all time.
The two first found each otheralright, they were paired together for the FIVB international tourin 2001 after narrowly missing Olympic medals in Sydney in 2000 (May-Treanor and her partner came in 5th in the beach volleyball tournament, Walsh Jennings came in fourth in the indoor volleyball competition).
Since 2001, the two had been known as a pair on the international and national beach volleyball circuit. They competed together in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Olympics, becoming a household name even to non-beach volleyball fans.
Thats not to say things were always smooth sailing. The duo suffered losses, difficult matches, and even a brief retirement by May-Treanor, who decided in 2010 that she would take a break from competition. Walsh Jennings partnered with fellow Americanand 2008 Olympic teammateNicole Branagh, but after a change of heart, May-Treanor soon joined her partner back on the court. The two won a third consecutive gold in the 2012 London Games.
But it seems that May-Treanor really means it this time when she says shes not coming back to compete. Walsh Jennings will be competing in the 2016 Rio Olympics with April Ross, who earned second place in the London Olympics.
While Ross is no May-Treanor, the almond-butter and jelly pairing will still be a force to reckon with in Rio.
Ross can certainly hold her own on the court. She has eight AVP (Association of Volleyball Professionals) and nine FIVB (Fdration Internationale de Volleyball) first-place finishes overall. She was named the Most Outstanding Player in the 2008 Phuket Thailand Open and, together with Jennifer Kessy, beat World Champion couple May-Treanor and Walsh Jennings in the AVP tournament in California. Kessy and Ross also beat Brazilians Juliana Silva and Larissa Frana way back in 2009 before trouncing them again in the semifinals of the 2012 London Olympics.
While Ross and Walsh Jennings are favorites to medal in Rio, they have quite a few challenges ahead. In addition to rebranding, Ross and Walsh Jennings must face Brazilian all-star Larissa Frana on her home turf. On top of that, Walsh Jennings underwent shoulder surgery in the fall.
Heres hoping the 37-year-old can be just as dominant in her 5th Olympics with Ross as she was in three Olympics with May-Treanor.
The team takes on Australia in their first Olympic match together, Saturday, August 6 at 11pm EST.
How to Live Stream the 2016 Rio Olympics:
NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app will be live streaming coverage of the Games for pay TV subscribers via TV Everywhere. You can download the NBC Sports app to your Android TV, Apple TV, Xbox or Roku or use the iOS, Android or Windows Phone apps.
You can also live stream Olympic matches from NBC here.
