Connect with us

Celebrity

The buzz Around Simone Biles’ 2023 Return Is Papable.

Published

on

biles

HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill. – If you exclude the wedding band, Simone Biles could have been born in 2019. Or 2016. Or 2014.

Many years before Tokyo. Many years before the “twisties.” close before her two-year hiatus, the gymnastics star took a step back, looked closely at her record-breaking career, and concluded she wasn’t done. Still.

On the eve of the U.S. Classic, she stepped onto the floor at NOW Arena, her first competition since winning bronze on the balance beam at the postponed 2020 Olympics, a medal she described as “among the sweetest she’s ever earned.”

She was giggling with her teammates. There she was, jogging, stretching, flipping, and occasionally twisting, with the effortless elegance that the seven-time Olympic medalist possessed when she was at her best.

Those heady days may be coming to an end. Biles is now 26 and in a different stage of her life. In April, she married Green Bay Packers defensive back Jonathan Owens. Her Instagram page mostly comprises pictures of the house they’re building, her dogs, her friends, and very little of the sport she’s helped to redefine.

The specifics of her return following an eventful two weeks at the Tokyo Games, where she removed herself from various competitions while battling a mental block (“the twisties”), have been kept under wraps. The announcement that she would compete on Saturday came from USA Gymnastics, not one of her social media platforms or a T.V. network.

There was no film team following her around. There will be no opening up the gym her family owns north of Houston to the public. There’s a sense that this is more personal for Biles than the build-up to Tokyo.

biles

If you excluded the wedding band, Simone Biles could have been born in 2019. Or 2016. Or 2014.

Nonetheless, the excitement around her comeback is evident. A few hundred fans paid $25 each to watch Biles practice, which is unusual for a modestly attended competition. As of Friday afternoon, the average secondary market ticket price for Saturday night’s evening session featuring Biles and 2020 Olympic champion Suni Lee went up to $400 because whatever seats were available when Biles officially entered the meet vanished within hours.

When she finished an act, yells of “Simone!” rang out around the arena. When she landed her third attempt at a double-pike vault — effectively two backflips with her hands clasped just above her knees — there was a burst of applause, even though she over-rotated a little and went off the back of the mat.

Following that, she approached a sea of cameras and announced, “Welcome to our vlog,” as she walked into the World Championships Centre with several teammates. Rather than pausing to converse, she chuckled and continued on her way, determined to let her actions — at least at this stage in her return — speak louder than her words.

And those actions indicate she is determined to reclaim her position atop the sport but with some changes to accommodate the new point system and to make her as comfortable as possible, both psychologically and physically.

While her coach, Cecile Landi, emphasized that Biles can perform “everything” she’s done before, the Amanar vault, which needs her to twist 2 1/2 times in midair — the same vault that went sideways in Tokyo, forcing her to withdraw — is gone. She’s also not completing her famous double-twisting double backflip beam dismount right now, though it could be because the risk isn’t worth it under the current code.

And to think that Biles didn’t commit to gymnastics until after her wedding in late April. Her workouts have become more efficient, emphasizing quality rather than quantity.

biles

Simone Biles could have been born in 2019 if you excluded the wedding band. Or 2016. Or 2014.

“We wouldn’t be here if we had seen any hesitation (from her),” Landi explained. “It is her desire to be here. We were there for her. We can see it. So long as she says she’s fine, we’re going to keep going.”

Biles dazzled in an internal competition at a U.S. national team training last month, but things will be different under the lights on Saturday.

The landings will be difficult. The results will be recorded. Ratings are expected to rise as admirers and the curious tune in to witness how Biles reacts to being in the spotlight, which she had masterfully commanded until that bizarre night at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre two summers ago.

While the rest of the world may wonder if Biles will be thinking about Tokyo as she stands atop the vault runway, it’s more likely that she’ll think about the next 10 seconds rather than the last couple of years.

Alicia Sacramone Quinn is the strategy lead for the United States’ top women’s program. She was an Olympian fifteen years ago, though errors in two events in the team final contributed to the Americans winning silver rather than gold.

It didn’t deter her. She competed for four more years, making the 2011 world championship team before withdrawing due to injury.

Quinn understands the story of a gymnast regarded as the greatest of all time. She’s also not concerned that it will consume Biles when she salutes the judges and leaps onto the uneven bars on Saturday night.

“You have to kind of train yourself to get out of that mindset,” Quinn explained. “You’re like, ‘I can’t change what happened in the past, so I’m just going to look to the future and try to do my best.'”

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Justin Timberlake Reaches Plea Deal To Resolve Drunken Driving Case

Published

on

timberlake

NEW YORK — Justin Timberlake is set to submit a new plea on Friday in his drunken driving case in New York’s Hamptons, according to prosecutors. The details of the plea were not published, but a person familiar with the situation said Timberlake agreed to plead guilty to a less serious offense than the original accusation of driving while intoxicated.

The individual talked with The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Edward Burke, Timberlake’s attorney, declined to comment.

timberlake

Vox Image

Justin Timberlake Reaches Plea Deal To Resolve Drunken Driving Case

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office said Wednesday that the pop singer will appear in person in Sag Harbour Village Court on Friday to enter a plea.

Timberlake was detained on June 18 in the village of Sag Harbour, on Long Island’s eastern coast, when police claimed he ran a stop sign in the village center, drifted out of his lane, and exited his BMW smelling of alcohol. The 43-year-old Tennessee native has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor drunk driving allegation.

Last month, a judge suspended Timberlake’s license to drive in New York.

Burke, Timberlake’s lawyer, has argued that he was not inebriated and that the prosecution should be dismissed.

Timberlake was stopped after leaving a Sag Harbour hotel at 12:30 a.m., according to authorities.

“His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odour of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot and he performed poorly on all standardised field sobriety tests,” police told the court.

Justin informed the officer he had one martini and was on his way home with some buddies, according to police. He was arrested and spent the night at the police station.

The boy band singer-turned-solo star and actor’s agency and other representatives did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Wednesday.

timberlake

Billboard Image

Justin Timberlake Reaches Plea Deal To Resolve Drunken Driving Case

Justin, a ten-time Grammy winner, began performing as a young Disney Mouseketeer, rose to prominence as a member of the boy band NSYNC, and launched his solo recording career in the early 2000s.

Sag Harbour is a former whaling community featured in Herman Melville’s famous novel “Moby-Dick” which is located in the Hamptons, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.

SOURCE | AP

Continue Reading

Celebrity

Harvey Weinstein Indicted On Additional Sex Crimes Charges Ahead Of New York Retrial

Published

on

weinstein
Weinstein | AP News Image

NEW YORK — Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced movie mogul, has been indicted on fresh sex offense charges ahead of his trials in New York, Manhattan prosecutors announced at a hearing Thursday.

The indictment will remain sealed until Weinstein’s arraignment on September 18.

Harvey, 72, was unable to attend Thursday’s hearing because he was recovering from emergency heart surgery on Monday in a Manhattan hospital.

weinstein

Harvey Weinstein Indicted On Additional Sex Crimes Charges Ahead Of New York Retrial

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office revealed at a recent court hearing that prosecutors have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury of up to three new complaints against Weinstein dating back to the mid-2000s.

Harvey’s 2020 conviction on rape and sexual assault charges was overturned by an appeals court earlier this year, prompting prosecutors to seek retrial. It is unclear if the new charges will be included in the retrial, as prosecutors seek, or if the court will treat them separately.

The latest charges come after British prosecutors declared last week that they would no longer pursue indecent assault charges against Weinstein, who was the most visible villain of the #MeToo movement in 2017 when women began to speak up about his behavior.

weinstein

Harvey Weinstein Indicted On Additional Sex Crimes Charges Ahead Of New York Retrial

The 72-year-old Miramax co-founder has long claimed that all sexual activity was consensual.

He is scheduled to appear in Manhattan court for a hearing on the case on September 12. His retrial is tentatively scheduled for November.

SOURCE | AP

Continue Reading

Celebrity

Renowned Actor James Earl Jones Dies at 93

Published

on

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones, an imposing figure on stage and screen, passed away on Monday at the age of 93. He became famous around the world as Darth Vader, a cosmic evil, after overcoming a childhood stammer and developing a stentorian voice.

According to Jones’s representative Barry McPherson, James Earl Jones passed away at home with his family by his side.

Despite his commanding stage presence, Jones’s voice carried him far in his career; he would have been famous even if no one ever saw his face. Depending on the scene, the deep bass might either inspire reverence (as it did for the wise father Mufasa in “The Lion King” and other Shakespearean parts) or terror (as it did for the rasping Vader in the “Star Wars” movies).

In response to a question from a Reuters interviewer about whether he disliked being so strongly associated with Darth Vader, Jones burst out laughing. The job only called for his voice for a few lines, while another actor wore the mask and performed the onscreen action.

“I love being part of that whole myth, of that whole cult,” he remarked, also expressing his pleasure to satisfy fans who wanted him to repeat his “I am your father” line to Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker.

James Earl Jones Oscar

On Monday, alongside a sad heart emoji, Hamill commented on X, “#RIP dad,” under a news article about Jones’s passing.

Jones claimed he earned barely $9,000 for the original film’s Darth Vader role and treated it as nothing more than a special effects gig. In fact, he never even asked to be named in the credits of the first “Star Wars” films.

On Broadway, he won Tonys for “The Great White Hope” in 1969 and “Fences” in 1987, and in 1991, he won Emmys for “Gabriel’s Fire” and “Heat Wave” on television. His collection of accolades is extensive. Grammys for best spoken word album and “Great American Documents” were both bestowed upon him in 1977.

Although he never took home an actual Oscar, he did receive an honorary nomination for his performance in 2011’s “The Great White Hope” and was considered for best actor in the film adaptation.

One of his earliest film roles James Earl Jones was as Lieutenant Luther Zogg in Stanley Kubrick’s 1964 masterpiece “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learnt to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

Among his subsequent critically lauded film performances were those of South African Reverend Stephen Kumalo in 1995’s “Cry, the Beloved Country” and novelist Terence Mann in 1989’s “Field of Dreams.” He has been in numerous films, including “Field of Dreams,” “The Sandlot,” “Matewan,” “The Hunt for Red October,” “Conan the Barbarian,” “Coming to America,” and so on.

In addition to his appearances in scores of ads, Jones provided the authoritative voice-over for CNN’s newscast introductions for a number of years.

Irish, African, and Cherokee ancestry

A member of a mixed-race family sprung from Irish, African, and Cherokee ancestry, James Earl Jones came into this world on January 17, 1931, in the little Mississippi town of Arkabutla.

Not long after that, Robert Earl Jones Sr., who had been a prizefighter and was now an actor, abandoned the family. It wasn’t until James relocated to New York in the 1950s that he was able to reconcile with his father, as his maternal grandparents had forbidden him to see him while he was growing up. In due time, they shared the stage in other productions.

When Jones’s grandparents uprooted the family from Mississippi and settled on a farm in Michigan when he was around five years old, he began to stutter and eventually stopped speaking altogether.

His high school English teacher used a trick to get him to speak up after he remained mute for ten years. Jones claimed to have written a poem, which the teacher then had him repeat to the class as evidence that he was the real author.

Jones got over his stammer and developed an interest in acting, but he later admitted that he still had to be careful with his words.

Moving to New York after completing his drama degree at Michigan, he began to receive more and more praise for his stage performances.

He played the role of Black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in “The Great White Hope,” his breakout Broadway performance. Reviewers gushed over Jones’s portrayal of the racist boxer in the critically acclaimed play.

His starring performances as Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello in Shakespeare’s plays kept audiences captivated for decades. Paul Robeson, a singer, actor, and activist, was one of his memorable 1977 Broadway roles, and he played Alex Haley, an author, in the TV miniseries “Roots: The Next Generation.”

According to a 1987 review of “Fences” in the Washington Post, he could “move in seconds from boyish ingenuousness to near-biblical rage and somehow suggesting all the gradations in between.”

One of Jones’s co-stars in “Othello,” Julienne Marie Hendricks, was his first wife. Flynn Earl Jones was born to Earl and his second wife, the late actress Cecilia Hart. Cecilia passed away in 2016.

Jones won major roles in politically charged films and plays, paving the way for other Black actors to follow in his footsteps.

Jones rose to prominence during the height of the civil rights movement in the ’60s and ’70s, but he avoided taking a stand on racial issues.

Jones told the Toronto Star in 2013 that he thought many people thought he was weak for not being a stronger advocate for the cause while he was famous. According to the actor, though, he would rather have his work speak for itself.

Related News:

Julian Ortega, Actor In Netflix’s ‘Elite’ Series, Dies Aged 41

Julian Ortega, Actor In Netflix’s ‘Elite’ Series, Dies Aged 41

Continue Reading

Download Our App

vornews app

Advertise Here

Volunteering at Soi Dog

Soi Dog

Trending