Allgemeines » n is, what is going to be done to fix the problem an

RIO DE JANEIRO -- If you strapped weights to Usain Bolts chest, replaced his six-pack stomach with abs stretched out of shape, de-tuned his muscular frame and explosive power by jellifying his joints, and forced him to take the best part of nine months off, how amazed would we all be if the worlds fastest man fully recovered from that fitness-shredding assault to once again vie for medals at the Olympic Games?Short answer: stunned. Likely adoring.Yet, across the Rio Games, amazing women are doing exactly this without the celebrate-this-from-rooftops full fanfare they deserve.Were talking, of course, about Olympic moms.By competing post-pregnancy, the likes of self-declared Momma on a Mission Dana Vollmer, a swimmer, are showing that having children and a continuing career in elite sport need not be mutually exclusive. That freedom to not have to choose either one or the other is important in encouraging women to compete for longer and later into their lives.On the most fundamental level, if nationalism and the race for medals are stripped away, the Olympics showcase what an astounding piece of machinery the human body is: malleable, adaptable, capable of absorbing and recovering from great punishment.Olympians who have put their bodies through motherhood and then willed and beaten them back into world-conquering shape are the purest embodiment of this.They are also something of a scientific mystery.Kari Bo, a Norwegian School of Sport Sciences researcher working on IOC-backed studies in this field, notes big holes in the scientific communitys understanding of how pregnancy affects elite athletes bodies. One common yet not fully understood impact is on joints.In pregnancy, the body produces a hormone, relaxin, that helps loosen up ligaments and the pelvic area for birth.Once back in the Olympic business of aiming faster, higher and stronger, looser joints arent necessarily a plus.British 10,000-meter runner Jo Pavey, competing at her fifth Olympics, blames relaxin for collapsing the arch of her left foot during pregnancy. She had to wear a bigger shoe on her left foot than on her right and stress-fractured her big toe, with a diagonal crack through a bone.Vollmer, who has an individual bronze and relay silver so far in Rio, says looser ligaments were a big thing for me in her post-pregnancy comeback. Having battled injuries in the past, she worried about over-extending her newly more flexible joints.I played it really cautious, she says. Just trying to make sure that everything was really stable before I really cranked on my strokes.And what of her post-pregnancy abs, so vital in her stroke, the butterfly?There were none, she says matter of factly.After seven weeks of enforced bed rest and having gained 50 pounds (22 kilograms), the triple gold medalist at the 2012 London Games was probably 10 percent of the athlete she used to be when she started working out again following her son Arlens birth in March 2015, says her coach, Teri McKeever.Gains and shifts in weight from pregnancy and breastfeeding also disrupt balance and change your relationship with the water, McKeever says.She still had a nice stroke but you go 100 meters and you have to stop, the coach says. Its amazing how quickly you lose it.Defending Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill also became a mother between London and Rio. To stop her from comparing herself to the athlete she was before son Reggies birth in July 2014, her coach, Toni Minichiello, wiped the slate clean, using what he calls post-pregnancy personal bests to measure Ennis-Hills progress since.Physically she wasnt the same person, Minichiello says on a blog chronicling their Rio journey. It was really tough mentally. Her body was changing month to month.Weakened ankles were a post-pregnancy problem for U.S. high jumper Chaunte Lowe, competing at her fourth games, because I had been waddling for so many months.It felt like it was impossible, she says of resuming jumping. You have that question of whether you have lost it forever.Second and third pregnancies broadened out what had been slim, boyish hips, giving Lowe less ideal new curves to squeeze over the high bar.By the third time, I felt like I had it down, she says. But then I was sleep deprived.So why start a column about amazing women with an amazing man, Bolt?Because if men were capable of all this, you can be sure more fuss would be made.Theres a school of thought which holds that it demeans women to make a big deal of pregnancy. After all, the argument goes, women have babies all the time.But few of them, too few, come back to compete at the Olympics. Just 10 of the 298 U.S. women are also moms.I was told that you can never get your body back, Vollmer says. I wanted to show that you can. I think it will keep women in sports much longer, that you can have family and you can make it work.They deserve our applause.---John Leicester is an international sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jleicester(at)ap.org or follow him at http://twitter.com/johnleicester Swell Wood Bottle Sale . Hey!" The lower tier of the School End of Queens Park Rangers Loftus Road was packed solid with a very festive-sounding Chelsea choral section in this particular part of South Africa Road London, W12. Swell Bottle Sale 17 Oz .C. -- Chris Thorburn thinks one of the reasons the Winnipeg Jets have been successful under new coach Paul Maurice is that theyre playing together as a team. http://www.swellbottlesaleclearance.com/swell-water-bottle-marble-wholesale.html . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Swell Bottle Black Canada . The Clippers were angry about blowing a big lead; the Kings didnt like being in that kind of hole and nearly digging themselves out only to lose. Swell Wood Bottle Canada .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. Andrew Bogut grew up in a richly diverse area of Melbourne, Australia, and has estimated that he went to school with people from nearly 100 different nationalities.He has fondly referred to his home as a tolerant and inclusive community, one largely devoid of racial tension that many of his NBA teammates faced growing up in the United States. But Bogut and other international players have been on the periphery, if not part of, discussions in locker rooms as their teammates address social issues like police brutality and racial profiling, concerns that prompted Colin Kaepernick to begin kneeling during the nation anthem in September.When Bogut reported to training camp with the Dallas Mavericks and the subject of anthem protests started to surface, he said he couldnt really identify with the plight of some of his African-American teammates who were considering joining the San Francisco 49ers quarterback and others in the demonstrations.I think its a country that prides itself on free speech, Bogut said of the U.S. And if ... they want to do that its more than their right. On a personal level, I know theres a lot of history here that goes centuries back that I dont really relate to too much growing up in Australia.Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic, who is from Slovenia, doesnt fully grasp it either.Its kind of hard for me to understand, since Im coming from a different country, Dragic said. But if those things were happening in my country, of course I would have something to say -- while being true to the country, because thats where I grew up and they gave me everything.Officials in teams front offices and at league headquarters have had ongoing discussions with the players union about what do. Both sides appear to be more focused on developing programs to address social injustices rather than demonstrations like Kaepernicks public displays during the anthem.But that doesnt mean there wont be protests as the league tips off its latest season on Tuesday night. The NBA has long embraced a reputation for being the most socially conscious league in the United States, but there is a rule in the collective bargaining agreement that requires players to stand respectfully for the anthem.Many of the roughly 22 percent of the leagues players who come from outside the U.S. are white Europeans or Australians and do not have the same perspectives that their African-American teammates had growing up here even though racial inequality is a problem that exists throughout the world.Dragic had conversations with several of his black teammates before the Heat decided to lock arms during the anthem in the preseason in a show of unity. It is sensitive, complex ground to navigate and requires a deep understanding of the issues before teammates feel comfortable enough to put themselves out there.I understand that were putting a message out there for society to be better, Dragic said. But at the same time, we dont disrespect the flag or the national anthem and I think thats good.dddddddddddd We dont want to be too aggressive but at the same time we want to let people know that something wrong is happening out there and we want to correct those things.LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul and Dwyane Wade got things started with a call for action at the ESPY awards in July, and Anthony organized a town hall forum later that month. There have been many other efforts, including the Chicago Bulls hosting their second annual basketball tournament geared toward creating dialogue between the police and the community and new Memphis Grizzlies coach David Fizdale helping revive the citys Police Athletic League, which helps mentor law enforcement on how to become coaches in youth leagues.Ive thought a lot about this, and (NBPA executive director) Michele Roberts and I have talked a lot about these issues, that there may be no organization in our society better positioned than the NBA and its players to try to have an impact on these difficult issues plaguing many of our cities, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said last week.It isnt just foreign players and African-Americans in the NBA who are engaging.For me, I cant personally understand what some other players go through, said Minnesota Timberwolves center Cole Aldrich, who grew up in the predominantly white Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. I grew up differently than (Serbian Nemanja Bjelica) or (African-American) Karl-Anthony Towns or whoever. I personally love ... trying to broaden my (horizons) on that.Golden State Warriors center Zaza Pachulia, a Turkish citizen born in Georgia, said he has spoken to his new teammates about the current climate.Draymond (Green) said it the best. We can show as much about this as we want but question is, what is going to be done to fix the problem and fix the issues? Pachulia said. Thats the message already sent by individuals and by groups. Now what? Whatever we do, we do as a team.Several foreign players remain conflicted. Many left their native countries and have found great success and wealth in the NBA. But they also understand that the path some of their teammates took to get to the same place came with difficulties -- and still deal with issues -- that they could never imagine.I understand from an African-Americans point of view or a teammates point of view if they didnt want to stand and be part of that kind of protest, Bogut said. But at the same time, Im thankful Americas provided a lot for myself and my family. Its a tough one. Im very supportive of my teammates. But at the same time, the country, much like Australia, is built on free speech. Everybody has an opinion on different types of things.---AP Basketball Writers Tim Reynolds in Miami and Brian Mahoney in New York and AP Sports Writers Schuyler Dixon in Dallas and Janie McCauley in Oakland, California, contributed to this story. ' ' '