Daily News Roundup

July 26, 2021

 

NEWSDESK

MONDAY, JULY 26 

Australia’s Ariarne Titmus has upstaged American swimming legend Katie Ledecky in emphatic fashion, winning a gold medal in the 400m freestyle.

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NSW recorded 145 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases in the 24 hours to 8:00pm yesterday.

Fifty-one of the cases were in the community while infectious.

Another 25 cases were in the community for part of their infectious period while the isolation status of 11 cases are still under investigation. 

There are 156 COVID-19 patient being treated in hospital, with 44 people in intensive care, 18 of whom are on ventilators. 

More than 98,000 people were tested in the reporting period.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said it was important for people not to mingle.

“Can I stress again, it is really important for people not to leave home unless they absolutely have to?

“And, in particular, do not mingle.”

Health authorities have revealed that they are investigating the case of a health worker at Liverpool Hospital who has tested positive and was working while they were infectious. 

More than 98,000 people were tested in the reporting period.

Anti-lockdown protesters are being tracked down by police as health authorities and political leaders condemn the weekend gatherings for potentially setting back efforts to bring COVID-19 cases down.

Among those tracked down and fined today were glamorous WAG Taylor Winterstein and her husband, former Manly NRL star Frank Winterstein, who  prominently participated in the anti-lockdown protest in the Sydney CBD.

Winterstein took to Instagram to post video of detectives knocking at her home today to serve her and her footballer husband two $1000 Covid protest fines.

In the video, posted to her Instagram account with 70,000 followers, the fanatical anti-vaxxer demanded the two plain clothes officers show “evidence” they were police.

She also accuses them of “trespassing on my private property”.

When one detective held up his badge, she said it wasn’t enough and demanded more “evidence”.

Ms Winterstein was photographed with her husband, former Manly NRL star Frank Winterstein, prominently participating in Saturday’s unauthorised anti-lockdown protest in the Sydney CBD.

Victoria has recorded 11 new locally acquired COVID-19 cases, all of which were quarantined throughout their infectious period.

The new cases were detected from among 25,404 test results processed on Sunday.

Yesterday, Premier Daniel Andrews said the state was “well placed” to see its fifth lockdown ease early this week.

He described Sunday’s figures, where all new cases had been quarantined for their entire infectious period, as “essentially a zero day”.

“It is my hope that we can, well ahead of Tuesday hopefully, make announcements for the whole state and have settings that apply to the whole state,” Mr Andrews said.

The Premier said masks were likely to remain in use until the “maximum number” of people were vaccinated.

Queensland has recorded one new community case of COVID-19 overnight — a man who tested positive to the virus after undergoing 14 days of quarantine.

The man in his 40s had returned from China and was fully vaccinated.

Health Minster Yvette D’Ath said the man tested negative on his exit test from hotel quarantine.

“His immediate household members are now in quarantine and have also been tested and I’m pleased to say so far tested negat

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Australian triathlete Jake Birtwhistle was kicked in the face in a chaotic false start and raced the entire triathlon with a broken nose.

Birtwhistle who finished 16th – told the Sydney Morning Herald he copped one in the nose – during a dramatic start to the race.

A mix-up involving a boat saw about half the field diving into the water in a false start.

Half the field still had a broadcasting boat floating directly in front of them when the majority of swimmers dived into the pool after the ‘take your marks’ order.

Birtwhistle was the best placed of the three Australians with Matt Hauser finishing 24th and Aaron Royle 26th.

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The team’s outfits looked similar to the others in the room as the arena lights gleamed off crystals crisscrossing their chests and down their crimson and white sleeves.

But the German gymnastics team’s new Olympic suits didn’t stop at their hips,  reports international newsagency AP and the ABC.

For decades, female gymnasts have worn bikini-cut leotards.

In qualifying on Sunday, however, the German team instead wore unitards that stretched to their ankles, intending to push back against what the country’s sport federation DTB has called “sexualisation in gymnastics”.

The Tokyo Olympics are the first Summer Games since Larry Nassar, a former USA Gymnastics national team doctor, was sent to prison for 176 years for sexually abusing hundreds of gymnasts, including some of the sport’s greatest stars.

At his sentencing, athletes — some of them Olympians — described how the sport’s culture allowed for abuse and objectification of young women and girls.

Male gymnasts wear comparatively body-covering clothes: singlets, with loose shorts for their floor exercise and vault, and long pants on bar and pommel horse routines.

The German team first wore unitards at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in April.

Sarah Voss, a 21-year-old German, said they weren’t sure they would decide to wear them again during Olympic competition until they got together before the meet.

“We sat together today and said, OK, we want to have a big competition,” Voss said.

“We want to feel amazing, we want to show everyone that we look amazing.”

Their wardrobe revolution, while widely championed, has not so far started a trend.

Leotards that leave the legs bare were worn by every other female gymnast during qualifying at the Tokyo Games.

At 142 centimetres, American superstar Simone Biles said in June that she preferred leotards because they lengthened the leg and made her appear taller.

“But I stand with their decision to wear whatever they please and whatever makes them feel comfortable,” Biles said.

“So if anyone out there wants to wear a unitard or leotard, it’s totally up to you.”

Matt Cowan, the chief commercial officer for GK Elite, the US’s premier leotard manufacturer, said most requests for unitards now came from countries that required modesty for cultural and religious reasons. They have otherwise seen no rush toward catsuits.

“Would we do it? Absolutely. We have the capabilities of designing it and doing it, and we have done it,” Mr Cowan said.

“But from a consumer demand perspective, we are not there yet.”

Gymnastics is often viewed as a sport best performed by very young women and girls.

Biles, at 24, often jokes about being old; she recently called herself a grandma on social media.

But other nations have defied that emphasis on youth, including the Germans: Elisabeth Seitz is 27, Kim Bui is 32, Pauline Schafer is 24, and Voss is 21. Their average age of 26.

Voss said that gymnastics customs should leave room for female bodies as they aged and changed.

Their outfits comply with the wardrobe rules of the International Gymnastics Federation. But that doesn’t mean female athletes are generally free to cover their bodies as they choose.

Just days before the Games began, the Norwegian women’s beach handball team refused to play in bikini bottoms during European tournaments, opting instead for skin-tight shorts. For that, they received a fine for violating a wardrobe requirement.

The Norwegian players were fined for wearing “improper clothing”.(Supplied: Norwegian Beach Handball Federation)

But at gymnastics qualifying Sunday, the announcer over the loudspeaker called the outfits “very nice indeed”.

The German team did not qualify for the finals, but the announcer pondered if their team debut on the Olympic stage might increase unitards’ popularity.

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