The Joy of Six: unlikely Winter Olympics stars
From a cult hero ski jumper, to African bobsleigh pioneers and more, here are half a dozen unexpected heroesMichael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards, was the antithesis of the Olympic high-flyer.Heavily disadvantaged by his 82kg (181lb) weight – far heavier than his rivals – poor eyesight and the small matter of being entirely self-funded, he became Great Britain’s first Olympic ski jumper.He finished 67th and last at the 1987 world championships but managed to hit the qualifying standard to secure the sole British spot for Calgary.At the Games, he finished last in the normal hill (70m) and large hill (90m) events.In the normal hill, he scored 69.
2 points from two jumps of 55m, while the winner Matti Nykänen scored 229.1 points from 89.5m jumps.Despite the last-place finishes, his enthusiasm captured global media attention but also lead to the “Eddie the Eagle Rule” which was introduced to tighten entry requirements and prevent similar “Olympic tourists”.Ester Ledecka made headlines in her native Czech Republic not once, but twice, after becoming the first athlete to win gold in two different sports at the same Winter Games.
Known primarily for snowboarding, she entered the Super-G Alpine skiing event and, starting with the late bib number 26, snatched the gold medal by 0.01sec over the defending champion Anna Veith.Before the upset, Ledecka’s highest World Cup finish in the Super-G had been 19th.A week later, Ledecka returned to her primary sport to comfortably win gold in the parallel giant slalom snowboarding.History was made in Pyeongchang by the four women who formed Nigeria’s first Winter Olympics delegation.
The two-woman bobsleigh squad of Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuoma Omeoga finished 19th out of 20 sleds after four runs (the Russian team was disqualified for doping).Joining them to represent Nigeria at the Games was the skeleton racer Simidele Adeagbo, who finished 20th in her event over four runs.The three bobsledders, former track and field athletes, crowdfunded their journey and trained using a makeshift wooden sled built in Texas, United States.Their participation marked the first time any African country had been represented in the sport of bobsleigh at the Winter Games.Debuting at Nagano 1998 at just 16 years old, India’s Shiva Keshavan became the youngest luger in the history of the Winter Olympics.
Over two decades, he represented his country in luge at six consecutive Games,In 2002, the Italian luge team offered their resources in exchange for competing under their flag, which he refused,That same year he was forced to hitchhike to the Games in Salt Lake City from Montreal,While a medal remained predictably elusive – his best finish was 25th in Turin 2006 – his perseverance was remarkable given the lack of infrastructure in India, often necessitating training on dangerous, makeshift Himalayan tracks and self-funding his costs,Keshavan did achieve regional success, however, setting an Asian speed record of 134.
3km/h and winning two Asian Luge Cup gold medals in 2011 and 2012.He retired after Pyeongchang 2018, finishing 34th out of 40 in his final men’s singles event.Steven Bradbury’s gold medal in the men’s 1000m short-track speed skating remains one of the greatest flukes in Olympic history and Australia’s first Winter Olympic gold.In the chaotic five-man final, Bradbury stayed far back and at the last bend watched as all four leading skaters – Li Jiajun, Apolo Ohno, Ahn Hyun-soo and Mathieu Turcotte – collided.While they slid on to the ice, Bradbury, the only man left standing, glided over the finish line with a time of 1min 29.
109sec,The then 28-year-old instantly became an Australian icon (and meme),He is now a motivational speaker who teaches others – unsurprisingly – the benefits of persistence and resilience,In the 10km classical cross-country skiing event at Nagano 1998, Philip Boit made history as Kenya’s first Winter Olympian,The former middle-distance runner, who had switched to skiing only two years prior, finished in 92nd, the last man over the line.
His finishing time was nearly eight minutes behind the second-to-last finisher, and nearly double the time of the winner Bjorn Dæhlie’s 27min 24,5sec,Despite the vast difference in performance, the Norwegian gold medallist waited at the finish line to greet Boit with an embrace,This act moved Boit so much that he later named his first son, Dæhlie Boit, in honour of the champion,“All my friends and family said he had to be a very good-hearted man because he waited for me in Nagano, and that I should keep his name in my family,” said Boit.
‘Mother of all deals’: EU and India sign free trade agreement
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First of its kind ‘high-density’ hydro system begins generating electricity in Devon
A hillside “battery” outside Plymouth in Devon has begun generating electricity using a first of a kind hydropower system embedded underground.The pioneering technology means one of the oldest forms of energy storage, hydropower, can be used to store and release renewable energy using even gentle slopes rather than the steep dam walls and mountains that are usually required.The design means the principles of hydropower could be used as a form of “long duration energy storage” in many more locations across the UK, and the world, than traditional hydropower dams. The projects could be quicker and cheaper to build too.Engineers at RheEnergise built the project to mimic the UK’s traditional hydropower plants, which have powered the grid for decades by using electricity to pump water uphill when power supplies are abundant, and later releasing the water back down through turbines to generate electricity when supplies are short
Scotland-France ferry could relaunch amid £35bn Dunkirk regeneration plan
A new cargo and passenger ferry service directly linking Scotland and France could launch later this year as the port of Dunkirk embarks on a €40bn (£35bn) regeneration programme it claims will mirror the second world war resilience for which it is famed.The plans could include a new service between Rosyth in Fife and Dunkirk, eight years after the last freight ferries linked Scotland to mainland Europe, and 16 years after passenger services stopped.Political and industrial leaders have laid out their Dunkirk plans, already backed by about €4bn (£3.5bn) in private and public investment, that will lead to the 60-year-old port area being transformed into a vast hub including low-carbon energy projects, battery factories and maritime logistics to cater for the new industrial era.“We are betting on the energy and ecological transition to redevelop an industrial region,” the former transport minister and second-time mayor of Dunkirk, Patrice Vergriete, said on launching a plan for the area over the next four years
National insurance hike and energy bills behind food price rise, say UK retailers
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Bank of Scotland fined £160,000 over account for sanctioned Putin ally
The UK’s sanctions watchdog has fined Bank of Scotland £160,000 for opening a bank account and processing payments for an ally of Vladimir Putin.Dmitrii Ovsiannikov, who became the first person to be prosecuted for circumventing UK sanctions last year, made 24 payments totalling £77,383 to or from a personal current account during February 2023.The Russian has held senior positions in Russian government and is a former governor of Sevastopol, in Russian-occupied Crimea.The EU made Ovsiannikov a designated person under its sanctions legislation in November 2017, saying his work had compromised or threatened the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. This restricted him from entering or accessing funds in member states including the UK, then still an EU member
Gold price jumps above $5,000 an ounce for first time amid Trump turmoil
The price of gold has jumped above $5,000 an ounce for the first time as Donald Trump’s chaotic policies and proclamations drive more investors to seek safe harbour in the precious metal.Gold reached a record high of $5,100 (£3,723) on Monday morning, before easing back to settle up 2.2% at $5,091.The moment came after Trump threatened Canada with 100% tariffs if Ottawa made “a deal with China”, and after the US president’s showdown with Europe over the future of Greenland.With global financial markets already jittery, there are also rising fears of another US shutdown after Democrats threatened funding for the Department of Homeland Security after federal immigration agents killed a man in Minneapolis on Saturday
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