Shorts: Birmingham 2022, Beijing 2022, Shesports Cup, Therabody
Katie Sadleir (pictured), CEO of the Commonwealth Games Federation, has opened to the idea of LGBTQ+ medallists taking the rainbow flag on to the podium at next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
In an interview to mark the launch of the Commonwealth Sport Pride Network, Sadleir also stated that she wanted to hear athletes’ views on whether future Games should be held in countries with laws that discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community.
The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will see around 4,500 athletes from 72 nations and territories compete in 19 sports and eight para-sports across 14 competition venues from 28 July until 8 August 2022.
Australia has confirmed that it will join the US in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the decision was in response to human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang province and many other issues that Australia has consistently raised.
Australian athletes will still be in attendance, but no government officials will make the trip to Beijing. The Winter Olympic are due to start on 4 February 2022.
The ShEsports Cup celebrated its inaugural Christmas Special tournament, the third event in the series, bringing women from across the sport and entertainment industries together for the all-female FIFA gaming event.
Taking place at the Gfinity arena in London, event Co-Founder, Rachel Stringer, was joined by England striker and Lionesses fastest ever hattrick scorer Alessia Russo, alongside a host of professional footballers, gamers and influencers including Lirian Santos, Olivia Weedall, Maz Pacheco, Lisa Manley, Rosie Kamita, Mollie Kmita and Becky James.
The ShEsports Cup launched in 2020 and is a revolutionary all-female series of gaming events that aims to inspire women to follow their dreams and bridge the equality gap. It is streamed on EA SPORTS FIFA Twitch channel, the leading publisher of sports video games, and it is produced by international esports company Gfinity, the fastest-growing community in competitive gaming.
Manchester City player Kevin De Bruyne has been unveiled as Therabody’s newest athlete, having previously invested in the wellness brand in February of this year alongside more than 100 names across sports, business, culture and entertainment.
Through this partnership, the Belgian midfielder is using Theragun percussive therapy before and after training to help accelerate recovery during a relentless schedule, especially over the Christmas period, and to keep him as fresh as possible for the upcoming games.
Therabody are also the Official Recovery Partner of Manchester City and the partnership has seen Manchester City use Therabody products to optimise and enhance warm up and recovery strategies.
