What I wrote yesterday in my updated blog needs yet another update today.
The reason is that the Swedish pole vaulter Armand “Mondo” Duplantis has made it again. My latest post about him was in April, when he had just set yet another world record, 6,24 m, see 121’2024 (2024-04-30). And today, he raised that mark to an even higher level, 6,25 m, when he won the gold medal in the Paris Olympics 2024. Here is a picture of the exact moment when he surpasses the bar:
Armand Duplantis raises his own world record in pole vault to 6,25 m on 218’2024 (2024-08-05) to win the gold medal at Paris Olympics 2024. Photo taken by Martin Meissner/AP.
Armand and Sarah Sjöström were recently elected to be this years’s Swede of the Year by the organization Svenskar i världen (Swedes in the world) for their incredible performance over the years. How assertive they were when choosing this couple in an olympic year such as 2024. See also reference #1 below.
This month there will be interesting updates to earlier blog posts. In the previous post, 91’2024 (2024-03-31), I wrote about the fantastic pole vaulter, Armand Duplantis. In the first Diamond League competition for 2024, on 111’2024 (2024-04-20) in Xiamen, China, he continued his routine of raising the world record with yet another centimeter, to 6,24 m. The photo below shows that remarkable event. See the jump in reference #1 below.
One centimeter at the time! Mondo ajusted his own world record to 6,24 m during Diamond League in Xiamen, China on 111’2024 (2024-04-20).
And also in last month’s post, I wrote about how Lucas Braathen now will use his alpine skills to try and bring an Olympic medal also to Brazil. But he may have to fight for it with another skier who also is changing the country for which he competes. I am talking about Marcel Hirscher, who already had won various Olympic and World Championship medals for Austria before retiring in 2019. Now, he intends to return to challenge Lucas and others, but this time competing for the Netherlands. His mother is Dutch and now he also has acquired that citizenship. More about Marcel Hirscher can be found in reference #2 below.
Finally, in my posts about modularity, I only mentioned hardware and software items, but what about the necessary documentation, can it also be modular? Yes, it can, next month I will explain how!
It is so interesting when something that earlier was the privilege of a few countries is suddenly spread out also to those who you cannot think about in that context. One good example is the Swedish pole-vaulter Armand Duplantis, currently the world’s undisputed champion, who has raised the world record in 1 cm increments from 6,17 to 6,23 m, with more to come. He was born in the USA, but thanks to his Swedish mother, he also has a Swedish citizenship. More about him can be found here: 212’2022 (2022-07-29).
Earlier this month, CBDN (Brazilian Confederation of Snow Sport) had the pleasure of presenting to the world its newest affiliate, the Norwegian slalom skier Lucas Braathen, who also has a Brazilian mother and thus also a Brazilian citizenship. He spent much of his youth in Brazil, where he learned how to love sports and, among other things, support the São Paulo FC football team! He has already won both Olympic gold medals and the World Cup in alpine skiing, and now the Brazilians are hopeful that he will repeat it for his “new” country. More about Lucas can be found in the following photo and in reference #1 below.
In last month’s post, I wrote about something that I would present now. My friend Neide visited recently the South West corner of Brazil, where there is an amazing water fall. Far from being so well known as the Iguaçu falls, but not very far away, there lies Salto do Yucumã (Yucumã falls), Derrubadas, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. In these water falls, water from one side of Rio Uruguay falls into the other side of the river. However, this can only be seen when the water level in the main river is low, if not it will be hidden under the surface. You have to be lucky to see the falls because the water level depends on what is liberated from the hydroelectric plant in Chapecó, state of Santa Catarina, Brazil, that is located upstream. These falls are considered to be the widest longitudional falls in the world, 1800 m wide. More about this can be found in reference #2 below.
Here are some nice pictures from Salto do Yucumã:
These photos were taken on 57’2024 (2024-02-26) at Salto do Yucumã (Yucumã falls), Derrubadas, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, by Neide Martins de Aguiar.
The World Athletics Championships, held in Eugene, OR, USA, just ended last Sunday after 10 interesting days full of exciting competitions. And as a Swede, once more I had to admit that “Patience is a virtue”. After two bronze medals in the race walk 20 km and 35 km by Perseus Karlström, we had to wait to the final competition, the male pole vault, to see a Swede (albeit dual American and Swedish citizen), Armand Duplantis, finish on top of the podium. And what a fantastic result, 6,21 m, new world record! As you can see from the screenshots below, if the bar had been placed on 6,29 m, in principle he would have made it at that height, as well!
Here it is, the new world record in male pole vault. Armand Duplantis closed the World Athletic Championships in Eugene in the best possible way. If he had continued, would he have made it even higher, such as 6,29 m ??? I think he will show that to us later on.
And there was another thing, that few people noticed, that also made me very content. You may remember that in my post of 212’2021 (2021-07-31) , I complained about the distorted names for all competitors who did not conform to the basic ASCII code, but had their names made almost illegible. Well, the organizers of the World Athletics Championships must have read that post, because they made a fantastic job in writing all names the way nature created them. As you can see below, the aformementioned medallist, race walker Perseus Karlström, finally obtained what he deserves.
This is only one example of all the correct spellings of the athletes participating in the World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
But there was one, tiny detail that failed in that context. The German heptathlon athlete Sophie Weißenberg got a dual personality!
In German, there is an old letter ß, which nowadays often is spelled ss. As you can see in this sequence of screenshots, the pentathlon athlete Sophie Weißenberg seems to be treated by the organizers as a transition between the old and the new style way of writing. Even though the old style is really the most correct way, the new style is normally accepted now. However, may we ask that next time Sophie appears in the World Athletics Championships, only one way would be used in all writing of her name? If you want to know more about these fantastic sports and their athletes, see reference # 1 below.
And, finally, here are some pictures from my tour in Minas Gerais. All of them below are from the town of Tiradentes.
Photos taken in the town of Tiradentes, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, on 143-144’2022 (2022-05-23–24). This is one of the historical places in this state that is being conserved to look like in the 18th century, when Brazil was a Portuguese colony. The name Tiradentes literally means a person who withdraws teeth, which in many cases were what the dentists then had to do. And Tiradentes is mainly connected with such person, whose real name was Joaquim José da Silva Xavier and who was leading a rebellion against the Portuguese reign over Brazil. He was condemned and hanged on April 21, 1792. April 21 is now a national holiday in Brazil, Tiradentes Day. The object in the middle of the lower row is a speciality of the town of Tiradentes. It is a hearth in which alcohol is burnt to produce a warm and cosy atmosphere, the same principle as the one used in the rechaud of a fondue equipment. More about Tiradentes can be found in reference #2 below.
And one more thing, I took today’s header photo, an ordinary street view with an extraordinary sunset, yesterday 211’2022 (2022-07-30) in Paranavaí, PR, Brazil:
An amazing sunset in Paranavaí, PR, Brazil, a photo I took on 211’2022 (2022-07-30).
What did you learn in School today? 