'Coaches gave me my life back'
Posted: August 31, 2012 at 11:13 pm
31 August 2012 Last updated at 06:18 ET
Paralympic cyclist Mark Colbourne has explained how sport and his coaches gave him back his life, after securing Britain's first medal at the Games on Thursday.
Colbourne, 42, from Tredegar, south Wales, secured a silver in the C1-3 1km sprint on Thursday and he is aiming for another medal when he competes later in his favourite event, the C1 3km individual pursuit.
Colbourne was badly injured in the Gower, Swansea, in a paragliding accident in May 2009.
His medal came on his Paralympic Games debut, and the first people he thanked were the coaching staff from Disability Sport Wales (DSW) who helped him on the road to recovery.
When I'm on the bike I do feel able-bodied again, so it's a great feeling that I look forward to every day
He underwent five months of gruelling physiotherapy just to learn to walk again.
Colbourne was left with a broken back and lower leg paralysis after his paraglider fell to the ground from around 40ft (12m).
With a natural passion for sport, as part of his treatment and rehabilitation he went on to compete in the Welsh indoor adaptive rowing championships.
In September 2009 he set himself a target of competing in his first Para-cycling event and went on to win two gold medals at the Wales Grand Prix in Newport.
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'Coaches gave me my life back'
#1 Health and Fitness/Weight Loss Challenge in North America! – Video
Posted: at 11:13 pm
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#1 Health and Fitness/Weight Loss Challenge in North America! - Video
CHRIST-EL 101: Health and Fitness with Mike Delice, CPT – Video
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CHRIST-EL 101: Health and Fitness with Mike Delice, CPT - Video
Weston hoping for unanimous support for fitness bill
Posted: at 11:13 pm
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Coast residents Bob Stanhope, left and Ron Pashkewych, right are pictured with West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP John Weston who was in Sechelt Aug. 22 riding the riding and promoting his National Health and Fitness Day bill.
Ben Ingram/Staff Writer
Member of Parliament John Weston is hoping his National Health and Fitness Day bill will receive unanimous support when it hits the House of Commons on Sept. 24.
The West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast - Sea to Sky MP said he has planned a walk from the steps of Parliament Hill to Ottawas city hall for that day, a symbol of the co-operation needed between different levels of government in order to improve the health of Canadians.
On a personal level I just saw when I reached Ottawa how unhealthy was the lifestyle that MPs lead so much time on airplanes and in committees and sitting in Parliament, Weston said, explaining the inspiration for his second piece of non-partisan legislation. I just resolved that if I was going to remain productive and useful to the people who voted me in, I needed to work at staying healthy.
Weston hopes that one day Canadian calendars will mark National Health and Fitness Day on the first Saturday of June. The bill encourages local governments to open the doors to their recreational facilities, something Weston hopes will help combat the sedentary lifestyle of Canadians.
He pointed to data released by Statistics Canada and public health agencies as indicators that the health of Canadians has declined since 1981 in terms of obesity, a risk factor for heart disease and even cancer.
Its not a silver bullet, he said, but the hope is that by filling recreation facilities across the country, more people will be encouraged to live a healthier lifestyle. There could also be economic benefits, Weston argued.
Were looking at a direct financial hit of $4.3 billion to our healthcare system relating to over-weightness and obesity, he said.
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Weston hoping for unanimous support for fitness bill
US Open 2012 Roddick Retirement Reaction – Video
Posted: at 11:13 pm
Will turmoil overseas hurt my retirement portfolio?
Posted: at 11:12 pm
My $200,000 retirement fund is sitting in cash because the political situation in the Middle East has me very concerned about the future of the stock and bond markets. How do you think I should be invested if I plan to retire in 30 years M.N., West Boylston, Mass.
I don't think the turmoil in the Middle East should play much of a role, if any, in developing an investing strategy for your retirement savings, especially since you probably won't even tap that stash for another 30 years.
That's not to say that the political upheaval and violence there isn't upsetting. Or that unrest in that part of the world can't influence the price of all sorts of assets in the short run, oil being an obvious example.
But as far as your retirement nest egg is concerned, the issue is whether problems there are likely to depress your returns over the long-term. A quick look at long-term returns in the wake of past flare-ups in the region suggests that's not the case.
Over the 30-year span following the 1956 Suez Canal crisis, for example, U.S. stocks returned an annualized 10%. After two other major incidents -- the 1967 Six Day War and the 1973 Yom Kippur War -- U.S. stocks managed 30-year annualized gains of roughly 12%. Those figures are pretty much in line with the stock market's annualized return of 10% or so since 1926.
Besides, even if it became apparent that problems in that part of the world were so severe that they'd affect the financial markets for decades to come, I'm not sure what you could do about it.
Asset values adjust instantaneously as millions of investors worldwide react to new information. Even if you were able to figure out which investments were going to be the winners and losers in the years ahead, by the time you scoop them up chances are their prices will already reflect the new reality. Any advantage you hoped to gain would be blunted.
So while I certainly wouldn't discourage you from following events in the Middle East -- or Europe, Asia, Latin America or anywhere else -- I also wouldn't recommend you overhaul your investing strategy every time tensions build in that region or any other.
How, then, should you divvy up your dough in a world where political turmoil or the threat of it is pretty much a constant?
Clearly, going to cash is the wrong move. Cash equivalent investments like money market funds and FDIC-insured accounts provide security, but the returns are too low to create a large enough nest egg to maintain your standard of living once the paychecks stop rolling in.
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Will turmoil overseas hurt my retirement portfolio?
Personal bests and qualification for finals were common after this morning's events in London
Posted: at 11:12 pm
Updated: Friday, 31 Aug 2012 21:35 Colin Lynch has finished fourth in the individual pursuit C2 Sen Baldwin has three more events
PARA-CYCLING
Colin Lynch has finished fourth in theindividual pursuit C2bronze medal ride off.
Catherine Walsh and Fran Meehan set a new Irish record of 1:12.864 to finish fifth in the individual 1km time trial B final in the Velodrome.
Katie-George Dunlevy and Sandra Fitzgerald, competing in the same event, also set a new PB and finished in seventh position in a time of 1:14.315.
Enda Smyth set his second PB of the games clocking 3:47.542 in the individual pursuit C3 qualifiers. Smyth knocked five seconds off his previous national record and finished seventh overall.
SWIMMING
Bethany Firth, swimming in the 100m backstroke S14 heats in the Aquatic Centre, finished second in her heat - .01 behind Great Britains Jessica-Jane Applegate. Firth was the fourth fastest in the heats this morning and advances as a serious medal contender in tonights final at 7.38pm.
Laurence McGivern posted a new PB time of 1:05.35 to finish fourth in the 100m backstroke S9 heats and qualify for tonights final at 6.32pm. The 19-year-old shaved two seconds off his previous best time and qualified just ahead of world and Paralympic champion Matthew Cowdry.
McGivern said: I came here and wanted to do a PB and Im delighted that it was enough to get me into the final, Im up against the worlds best here so thats what motivated me the most.
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Personal bests and qualification for finals were common after this morning's events in London
Franklin leads UCLA past Rice; BYU spoils Leach’s WSU debut
Posted: at 11:12 pm
HOUSTON (AP) Johnathan Franklin didnt care about his personal performance or the numbers that UCLA put up against Rice on Thursday night.
He was just happy to get the win.
Franklin rushed for 214 yards and three touchdowns as the Bruins racked up 348 yards on the ground en route to a 49-24 season-opening victory.
Brett Hundley, a redshirt freshman, was 21 of 28 for 202 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 68 yards and a touchdown. Joseph Fauria caught three passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.
All praise to God and my offensive line, Franklin said. They opened up a lot of holes. You could have driven a bulldozer through those holes.
Rices Taylor McHargue threw for 172 yards and two touchdowns on 17 of 28 passing and rushed for 95 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. Sam McGuffie caught eight passes for 63 yards and a touchdown.
McHargue said he felt the Owls showed they could play with anyone.
There is a lot of good to take from this, and the mistakes we made offensively, especially in the second half, are mistakes that are easy to correct, McHargue said. It was just mistakes a couple mental busts here and there.
UCLA finished with 651 total yards in Jim Mora Jr.s first game as coach, compared to 347 for Rice.
Its a win, and you take a win anytime you can get a win, Mora Jr. said. I thought we had some unnecessary penalties that we will clean up, but we made some big plays. I thought our defense... after having 55 defensive plays in the first half, came back to play well in the second half with some adjustments. Its a good start.
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Franklin leads UCLA past Rice; BYU spoils Leach’s WSU debut
Angels' firing of scout Bane looks bad with success of Trout, Weaver, Trumbo
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Angels' firing of scout Bane looks bad with success of Trout, Weaver, Trumbo
Nigeria: Tension in SSS Over Leakage of Staff Data
Posted: at 11:11 pm
Abuja There were indications, yesterday, that the State Security Service, SSS, might have embarked on a secret probe of those behind leakage of the personal data of over 60 current and former staff of the spy organization.
The leakage of the employees' records, including that of the head of the agency, Mr. Ita Ekpenyong, was reported by a foreign news agency yesterday, which claimed that the development had embarrassed the organisation.
The records of the affected staff and their immediate family members were reportedly posted on a website suspected to have links with the Boko Haram sect, raising fears as to whether the information was given out by insiders or through hackers bent on using it for pecuniary purposes.
The SSS spokesperson, Marilyn Ogar, could not be reached for comments on the development as calls to her phone were not answered.
However, a competent source acknowledged that the agency was aware of the development and had begun investigations into it.
The security source, who described the development as strange and embarrassing to the agency, said that those behind the act would be apprehended and made to account for their misdeeds.
Another source familiar with the agency, said they were suspicious that the staff data were sourced from the data submitted by the affected personnel to a federal government pension agency, which the SSS recently broke away from.
It was learnt that the pension agency might have taken offence and thrown away the data from its archive following an approval by the Presidency that the spy body should set up and run its own pension scheme due to the peculiar nature of its assignment.
"We have a strong suspicion that this information leaked to the website in question was taken directly from the pension agency.
"A cursory examination of the information including the staff records and their family members bear semblance to that which we filled with our former pension managers.
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Nigeria: Tension in SSS Over Leakage of Staff Data