Sports
The Kentucky Derby Is Turning 150 Years Old. It’s Survived World Wars And Controversies Of All Kinds
Louisville, Kentucky – As a huge crowd cheered, American Pharoah came from behind to aim his final two challengers in the stretch. In the 2015 Kentucky Derby, the bay colt and jockey Victor Espinoza raced to the lead with a furlong to go and finished a length ahead of the field.
“There’s nothing like winning the Kentucky Derby,” recalled Espinoza, who has won three times. “To me it’s the most important thing in horse racing.”
This Saturday, America’s longest-running sports event will celebrate its 150th anniversary. It is two years older than the Westminster Dog Show. The Derby has weathered two world wars, the Depression, and pandemics, including COVID-19 in 2020, when it was run in virtual quiet without the customary 150,000 spectators.
Derby Day is celebrated on the first Saturday in May. It features beautiful hats, supporters dressed in their Sunday best, mint juleps served in souvenir glasses, the audience chanting “My Old Kentucky Home,” and the winner receiving a hand-sewn garland of red roses. The Derby was the second-most-watched sporting event in 2023, trailing the Super Bowl.
kentucky derby
The Kentucky Derby Is Turning 150 Years Old. It’s Survived World Wars And Controversies Of All Kinds
“I’ve heard a lot of people say it’s on their bucket list to attend and the one horse race they watch every year,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, a two-time Derby champion with Fierceness as this year’s early favorite.
The fact that only 3-year-olds are eligible for the Derby adds to its uniqueness. It is also the only race in America with a field of 20 horses. Since 2013, horses must accumulate points in qualifying events to gain entry. Previously, the money won in graded stakes races determined the field.
“It’s very difficult to keep them on track to get to the Derby, get into the Derby, and then, hopefully, everything goes well and you get a good, clean trip,” said trainer Brad Cox, a Louisville native who will saddle Catching Freedom, Encino, and Just a Touch on Saturday.
Louisvillians take pride in their city’s 1875 history, preparing at-home versions of high-calorie treats such as Benedictine dip (grated cucumber, cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo), Derby pie (chocolate chips and almonds) and cocktails when they aren’t at the track.
Thirteen of the fifteen jockeys in the first Kentucky Derby were black, including Oliver Lewis, who led Aristides to victory in front of 10,000 applauding fans in 1875.
Black riders won 15 of the first 28 Kentucky Derbys, and there were none from 1920 to 2000. As Jim Crow laws were implemented, segregation extended throughout the country, including horse racing, where Black riders found it practically impossible to obtain a license.
In 2021, Kendrick Carmouche became the final Black jockey to compete in the event.
Black trainers also dominated the Kentucky Derby’s early years, winning seven of the first seventeen from 1875 to 1891. Larry Demeritte will saddle long shot West Saratoga on Saturday, becoming only the second since 1951 and the 17th overall.
AP – VOR News Image
The Kentucky Derby Is Turning 150 Years Old. It’s Survived World Wars And Controversies Of All Kinds
Following the death of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT, by police during a botched narcotics raid at her Louisville home, protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police violence gathered at Churchill Downs in 2020 and 2021.
Women have had an intermittent presence in the Kentucky Derby. Only six riders have competed in the race, the last being Rosie Napravnik in 2014. Seven women have trained Derby runners, with Vicki Oliver last doing so in 2021.
“It’s an incredibly hard race just to get into, let alone win,” he remarked.
Cox was named the winner of the 2021 race nine months after Medina Spirit was disqualified for failing a drug test — only the second such DQ in race history — and Mandaloun was promoted to first.
“We’re all trying to win this race to experience the thrill of victory,” Cox said, “and we’ve yet to do that.”
Last year, 12 horses died at Churchill Downs in the weeks leading up to the Derby, damaging the race’s image. An independent investigation ruled out any faults and found no single cause. The track continued to train but relocated the remainder of its spring racing event to western Kentucky.
The trainer who won a record-tying six races for the third consecutive year will not be in Louisville. Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Bob Baffert after Medina Spirit failed a drug test, upsetting the 2021 results.
Baffert challenged his original two-year suspension in court but lost a year ago. Last August, the track announced extending the suspension until 2024. It said there were “continued concerns regarding the threat to the safety and integrity of racing he poses.”
Churchill Downs Inc., the track’s publicly traded parent corporation with shareholders to satisfy, has spent $500 million on renovations and modernizations during the last decade. Its newest attraction is the $200 million paddock, where visitors willing to spend up to $12,000 may dine and watch the horses being saddled before the races.
AP – VOR News Image
The Kentucky Derby Is Turning 150 Years Old. It’s Survived World Wars And Controversies Of All Kinds
In its 150th year, the Kentucky Derby purse has been increased to a record $5 million, with the winning owner receiving $3.1 million.
Despite modifications to the race and the track over the years and the incorporation of current events, the first Saturday in May remains.
“The one thing that hasn’t changed is that you have 20 of the best 3-year-olds from all over the world,” said trainer Doug O’Neill, who has won the Kentucky Derby twice.
Pletcher continued, “It seems like the one mainstay that we can really rely on.”
SOURCE – (AP)
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics promises to be unlike any other.
In a novelty for the Games, the show will be held on Paris’ famed River Seine rather than in a stadium.
Here is everything you need know about the ceremony…
What to expect from the spectacular opening ceremony.
The eye-catching celebration will take place over a 6km stretch of the Seine. It will start at Austerlitz Bridge and culminate among the gardens, fountains, and palaces in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at Trocadero.
Almost 100 boats will carry over 10,000 athletes and dignitaries as they cruise past Paris’ prominent monuments such as Notre Dame Cathedral and Pont Neuf.
The boats will transport the parade’s participants as well as the artistic portion of the celebration, which will highlight Paris and France’s history and culture.
The performers’ identities, however, have been kept a mystery.
Thousands of people are still expected to line the river and streets, with millions more watching on television all over the world.
“I’d like to show France in all its diversity,” said Thomas Jolly, the French actor and theatre director appointed as the ceremony’s creative director, a post previously played by Danny Boyle in London 2012.
“Illustrate the richness and plurality shaped by its history, which has been influenced and inspired by the diverse cultures that have passed through it, while itself serving as a source of inspiration.”
The ceremony will also involve the ceremonial opening of the Games, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
Many of the finer elements have been maintained as a surprise.
What is the date and time of the opening ceremony?
The ceremony will commence at 19:30 local time (18:30 BST) on Friday, July 26.
It is scheduled to take little under four hours, with the last parts taking place as the sun sets over the French city.
Fortunately, the Paris weather forecast for Friday evening is positive.
In what sequence will the nations be introduced?
In accordance with tradition, Greece will be the first nation introduced during the ceremony.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, an NBA star, is one of their flagbearers for the games.
Greece will be followed by the Refugee Olympic Team, with hosts France being the last to be unveiled.
Because of their countries’ involvement in the Ukrainian conflict, Russian and Belarussian athletes participating as individuals will not participate.
How to follow the opening ceremony on BBC.
The opening ceremony will begin live at 17:45 BST on BBC One, BBC iPlayer, and the BBC Sport website and app.
BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds will provide radio coverage beginning at 19:00 BST.
There will also be live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app, bringing you all the action from Paris.
Source: BBC
Sports
Coco Gauff To Be Female Flag Bearer For US Team At Olympic Opening Ceremony, Joining LeBron James
PARIS — Coco Gauff, a tennis player, will join LeBron James as a flag bearer for the United States Olympic team at Friday’s opening ceremony.
Coco, the reigning US Open winner, is ready to make her Olympic debut at the Paris Games, becoming the first tennis player to carry the American flag. Team USA athletes selected her and James.
“I believe the Olympics are the priority. It’s equal to the Grand Slams. I wouldn’t put it above or below because I’d never played before. “This is my first time,” Gauff explained earlier this year. “I always want to do well and get a medal.”
Coco Gauff | AP News Image
Coco Gauff To Be Female Flag Bearer For US Team At Olympic Opening Ceremony, Joining LeBron James
Coco and James, the 39-year-old NBA’s all-time top scorer, engage in sports outside the traditional Olympic realm and receive media attention year-round rather than every four years.
Coco, 20, joined the American team for the Tokyo Olympics as a youngster three years ago but had to withdraw because she tested positive for COVID-19 just before flying to Japan.
Coco, who now lives in Florida, has won Grand Slam titles in both singles and doubles. She earned her first major triumph in New York in September, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the singles final of the U.S. Open, and then won her first Grand Slam doubles title at the French Open in June with Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova.
The Paris Olympics will be played on the same clay courts at Roland Garros used for the French Open. The bracket draw will take place on Thursday, and play will begin on Saturday.
Coco is seeded second in singles, matching her current WTA ranking behind Poland’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek, and will be one of the medal favorites.
Coco Gauff | AP news Image
Coco Gauff To Be Female Flag Bearer For US Team At Olympic Opening Ceremony, Joining LeBron James
She and her normal doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, are seeded first in the women’s doubles. Gauff may also compete in mixed doubles; however, those pairs have yet to be determined.
“I’m not putting too much pressure on it, because I want to fully enjoy the experience,” Gauff said of her Olympic debut. “Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime, (but) I’ll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
SOURCE | AP
When LeBron James was chosen for his first Olympics in 2004, he was unsure what the opening ceremony entailed.
This time, he’ll be a star of the show.
His fellow American Olympians chose James to be the male flagbearer for the United States at the opening ceremony of the Paris Games on Friday night. He is the third basketball player — and the first men’s player — to carry the United States flag at the start of an Olympics, following Dawn Staley in 2004 and Sue Bird in 2021.
“It’s an incredible honor to represent the United States on this global stage, especially in a moment that can bring the whole world together,” James told reporters. “As a kid from Akron, this responsibility means everything to not only me, but to my family, all the kids in my community, my teammates, other Olympians, and so many more people throughout the country with huge dreams. Sports have the capacity to unite us all, and I’m honored to be a part of this historic occasion.”
The 39-year-old James learned of the distinction Monday in London, just hours before the United States men’s team was supposed to play its final pre-Olympics exhibition game against World Cup champion Germany.
“We understand how much of an honor it is to be in that position and I think Bron’s entire career, on and off the court, speaks for itself as him being worthy of that honor,” Curry said on the video announcing his nomination.
“He has represented what it means to be excellent both on and off the court in his commitment to service and to uplifting the community in all ways that he knows how has been a lifelong passion,” Curry pointed out. “And the work speaks for itself.”
LeBron James Selected As Team USA Male Flagbearer For Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
The female U.S. flagbearer is anticipated to be revealed on Tuesday. In 2020, the International Olympic Committee announced that country delegations would have two flagbearers at the Olympics’ opening ceremony, one male and one female, to encourage gender equality. The United States is set to send around 600 competitors to the Paris Games, with approximately 53% women.
“Being chosen by your teammates to carry the flag is a tremendous honor—and a testament to LeBron’s passion for Team USA and dedication to his sport,” U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said.
James, a global icon, four-time NBA champion, and the league’s all-time leading scorer about to begin his record-tying 22nd NBA season, is set to compete in the Olympics for the fourth time, having previously won bronze in 2004, gold in Beijing in 2008, and gold again in London in 2012. He participated in the opening ceremony at his previous three Olympics.
This will be an unprecedented Olympic opening ceremony, with thousands of participants sailing along the River Seine at nightfall toward the Eiffel Tower. According to Olympic officials, the route is a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) one, with some 320,000 spectators expected to watch from the river bank and an estimated 1 billion more watching on televisions around the world.
LeBron James Selected As Team USA Male Flagbearer For Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
Not all Olympic athletes attend the opening ceremony; many miss it for logistical reasons, such as having to compete the next day. James and the four-time defending gold champion U.S. men shall begin Olympic competition on Sunday, when they face Serbia in Lille, France.
James and the American Olympians will have to wait longer than virtually any other nation for their voyage on the Seine. According to IOC protocol, Greece will lead the march, with NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo serving as one of its two flagbearers. The Refugee Olympic Team and over 200 more national delegations will follow. The United States is slated to be next-to-last in the procession because Los Angeles will host the next Summer Olympics in 2028.
As the host, France will be the last nation to participate in the opening ceremony procession. Its men’s basketball team, which includes reigning NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama, begins Olympic competition on Saturday and is not scheduled to attend the opening ceremony.
SOURCE | AP
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