Aly Raisman shouts out ‘to the boys who made fun of me’

By OlympicTalkNov 10, 2016, 12:23 PM EST

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Olympic champion gymnast Aly Raisman delivered a powerful social media post about body image, shouting out “to all the boys from 5th-9th grade who made fun of me for being ‘too strong'” on Wednesday.

The post appeared to be part of a Reebok campaign, given a hashtag — #PerfectNever — that Olympic bronze medalist judoka and UFC fighter Ronda Rousey also used with a similar message last week.

Raisman has long been comfortable with the body-image platform.

She appeared in ESPN the Magazine’s “Body Issue” in 2015.

“I feel like a couple years ago, the ESPN Body Issue was something that I would have never thought about doing, but I think at the age of 21 I feel confident in myself and I feel confident in the way that I look,” Raisman said, according to NBCOlympics.com. “I work really, really hard for my body and I eat healthy and, I don’t know, I just thought it would be a cool thing to try. It’s an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity but it was – I felt more comfortable doing the ESPN ‘Body Issue’ than I do like dancing in here by myself, which is weird, but I’m serious.”

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Shoutout to all the boys from 5th-9th grade who made fun of me for being "too strong". Thanks for forcing me to learn to love myself and my body. My muscular arms that were considered weird and gross when I was younger have made me one of the best gymnasts on the planet. Don't ever let anyone tell you how you should or shouldn't look. There is no such thing as a perfect body type. I love being a part of the #PerfectNever campaign. #GirlPower #Supporteachother

A post shared by Alexandra Raisman (@alyraisman) on Nov 9, 2016 at 12:30pm PST

Fred Kerley wins 100m at Rabat Diamond League in early showdown

By OlympicTalkMay 28, 2023, 3:29 PM EDT

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World champion Fred Kerley won the 100m in an early season showdown at a Diamond League meet in Rabat, Morocco, on Sunday.

Kerley clocked 9.94 seconds, beating a field that included Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala, who remains the world’s fastest man this year (9.84 from May 13) and world bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell. Omanyala was third in 10.05 on Sunday, while Bromell was fifth in 10.10.

Kerley has run three 100m races this year and broke 9.95 in all of them, a promising start as he bids to repeat as world champion in Budapest in August.

Full meet results are here.

The Diamond League season continues with a meet in Florence, Italy, on Friday, live on Peacock. The headline event is the men’s 100m including Kerley and Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs of Italy. Kerley and Jacobs were due to go head to head in Rabat, but Jacobs withdrew last Thursday due to nerve pain.

Earlier, Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway comfortably took the 1500m in 3:32.59. American Yared Nuguse surged to place second in a personal best 3:33.02 in his Diamond League debut after running the world’s second-fastest indoor mile in history in February.

Jamaican Rasheed Broadbell ran down world champion Grant Holloway in the 110m hurdles, prevailing 13.08 to 13.12 into a headwind. Holloway remains fastest in the world this year at 13.03.

Kenyan Emmanuel Korir, the Olympic and world champion, finished eighth in the 800m won by countryman Emmanuel Wanyonyi. Wanyonyi, 18, is the world’s fastest in 2023.

American Shamier Little won the 400m hurdles in 53.95, becoming second-fastest in the world this year behind countrywoman Britton Wilson. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, the Olympic and world champion and world record holder, has yet to compete this outdoor season and so far has strictly committed to flat 400m races in future meets. McLaughlin-Levrone has a bye into the world championships 400m hurdles but may run the flat 400m there instead.

In the 400m, Olympic champion Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas won in 44.70, while world bronze medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith of Great Britain pulled up about 50 meters into the race.

Also Sunday, world bronze medalist Anna Hall improved from No. 3 to No. 2 on the U.S. all-time heptathlon list with 6,988 points to win the Hypo Meeting in Götzis, Austria. Only Jackie Joyner-Kersee, the world record holder at 7,291, has scored higher among Americans.

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Fred Kerley doing Fred Kerley things! 😤#RabatDL 📺: @CNBC and @peacock pic.twitter.com/gMJFoWtVGu

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) May 28, 2023

2023 French Open women’s singles draw, bracket

By OlympicTalkMay 28, 2023, 2:50 PM EDT

At the French Open, Iga Swiatek of Poland eyes a third title at Roland Garros and a fourth Grand Slam singles crown overall.

Main draw play began Sunday, live on Peacock.

Swiatek, the No. 1 seed from Poland, can join Serena Williams and Justine Henin as the lone women to win three or more French Opens since 2000.

Turning 22 during the tournament, she can become the youngest woman to win three French Opens since Monica Seles in 1992 and the youngest woman to win four Slams overall since Williams in 2002.

FRENCH OPEN: Broadcast Schedule | Men’s Draw

But Swiatek is not as dominant as in 2022, when she went 16-0 in the spring clay season during an overall 37-match win streak.

She retired from her most recent match with a right thigh injury last week and said it wasn’t serious. Before that, she lost the final of another clay-court tournament to Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, the No. 4 seed and Wimbledon champion, are the top challengers in Paris.

No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 6 Coco Gauff, runner-up to Swiatek last year, are the best hopes to become the first American to win a Grand Slam singles title since Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open. The 11-major drought is the longest for U.S. women since Seles won the 1996 Australian Open.

MORE: All you need to know for 2023 French Open

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2023 French Open Women’s Singles Draw

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