Sports
USA Water Polo Goalkeeper Ashleigh Johnson Finds Joy in Her Trailblazing Journey
PARIS — These Olympics may very well be described because the Games of ladies’s empowerment, especially the empowerment of black women. There’s the historic dominance of the U.S. women’s basketball team, the seismic impact of gymnast Simone Biles and sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson’s quest to win the gold medal she felt was denied her in 2020.
Then there’s Ashleigh Johnson, a two-time Olympic champion who is taken into account top-of-the-line goalkeepers in women’s water polo — In 2021, she saved 80 shots on the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, greater than another goalkeeper in either the lads’s or women’s tournamentsJohnson is a pillar of the dominant U.S. women’s Olympic water polo team, which is searching for its fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Johnson helped lead Team USA to gold on the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and the delayed 2020 Tokyo Games. Her team opened its title defense Saturday with a dominant 15-6 victory over Greece. Johnson recorded 10 saves in three or more quarters. Team USA lost 13-11 to Spain in pool play on Monday.
Johnson, who played water polo for 4 years at Princeton, made her first Olympic team at age 21. Now, at 29, Johnson has grow to be a sage, a keeper of the flame, and has warned the Olympic team that it must write its own history.
“The legacy of this team is so strong — the U.S. women’s water polo team has won three consecutive gold medals, and this is an opportunity to win a fourth,” she said. “But this particular team, this group of women, hasn’t done anything yet. We haven’t won a gold medal, we haven’t been to the Olympics. This is our first opportunity to prove ourselves. We’re making our own way and writing our own stories.”
That’s how Johnson described her journey, from swimming lessons to winning three consecutive Florida state championships at Miami High School to playing intercollegiate water polo at an Ivy League school to becoming a dominant force in a sport where there have been no black players.
Tom Pennington/Getty Images
In 2016, Johnson became the primary African-American woman to affix the U.S. Olympic women’s water polo team. For all of the talk of progress and the misguided backlash against diversity, Johnson is proof of the effectiveness of diversity and the ability of inclusivity.
Just ask the opposition. Johnson played 4 years at Princeton and have become the all-time saves leader. Johnson’s journey was a difficult and lonely learning experience that gave her a brand new perspective on what other trailblazers endured to interrupt through previously segregated sports.
The biggest challenge was an internal one, testing her self-confidence. The first was selecting a university.
“I played the sport in high school, and deciding to go to college to play water polo wasn’t easy,” she said. “I chose Princeton, which was a very unusual path for a water polo player, but I was going to play water polo there, which I did for four years.”
After her sophomore 12 months, Johnson made the difficult decision to depart college and train to make the U.S. Women’s Olympic Water Polo Team. “That decision was tough because I never saw anyone on that team that looked like me. I never imagined that I could do that. I always wanted to balance my life with my sport, and I felt like the decision to move from New Jersey to California was a huge decision to give up that balance and take it out of my life.”
She had to beat her doubts, but eventually she found the positive energy of family and friends who encouraged her to take the leap. “I thought, ‘OK, here are all these people who believe in me, who believe I can do this. Let me take a chance and believe I can do it, believe in myself and just do it.’ So I did. I worked hard for two years and eventually made my first Olympic team.”
In some ways, Johnson’s journey defines the journey of any athlete who makes the Olympic team in any sport. She was stretched and pushed in ways she could never have imagined. Even the isolation of being a trailblazer became empowering.
“We trained twice a day, lifted weights four times a week. It was a lot more than I’ve ever done,” Johnson said. “I’m glad I took the risk, but it was weird.”
As an East Coast transplant to the West Coast, Johnson was a fish out of water. “Water polo is West Coast-based, so coming from the East Coast and taking what I knew about water polo, how I played, to the national team was a very difficult transition. And then, being the only person who looked like me, I thought, ‘OK, how do I fit in when nobody looks like me, nobody has my background, and what do I want to take from them? What do I want to give? How open, how vulnerable am I going to be on this team?’”
What if she did all this, sacrificed herself, opened herself up, and still didn’t achieve the specified result?
Johnson discovered that letting go of fear brings freedom.
“It was a tough journey,” she said. “But I used to be ultimately capable of make the team and recover from my fear of failure, which is difficult when you’ve such an enormous goal.
“That’s something that a lot of people don’t realize about the Olympic journey. The more you hold on to the fear of not achieving your goal, the more it hurts when you don’t achieve it, and the less you actually experience the journey along the way, which is the best thing you get out of it.”
Clive Rose/2024 Getty Images
Three Olympics later, Johnson has grow to be the leader and star of Team USA. Her mission now, in addition to helping the team win its fourth consecutive gold medal, is to open the door and convey more young women who appear like her into the game.
In July, she felt invigorated when 65-year-old rapper Flavor Flav signed a five-year sponsorship deal to support the lads’s and ladies’s national water polo teams.
“I’ve met a lot of young black girls in my sport. A lot of them reach out to me through Instagram through USA Water Polo,” Johnson said. “Just sharing stories, encouraging and being a fan of people who find themselves coming into our sport, being a voice that guides them, telling them they’re on the precise path, they’re doing the precise thing, there’s a spot for you here.
“I think telling a new story is something I’m trying to do, saying we belong here, we stand out here, and then mentoring. That’s really important to me.”
When she was 21 and walking the trail of a pioneer alone, Johnson struggled hard to seek out joy in her journey. Today, she said, her joy is immense.
“I think finding joy in what you do is asking yourself why you do it,” she said. “I play because it brings me joy even when it’s hard. Like, jumping in a pool is one of the hardest things I do all day, but I think about it as my job, I get to play a game with my friends, and it’s the same game I’ve been playing since I was a kid. The game hasn’t changed, I’ve just gotten better at it, so I play the game I’m really good at with my friends every day.”
There is more joy at these Games than on the Tokyo Games, when the world was in the grips of a pandemic.
Johnson said 2021 lacked a way of lightness and joy.
“One of the biggest differences between the Tokyo Olympics and these games is that the pandemic is behind us, and that has affected a lot of athletes,” she said. “Loads of people have been grieving, lots of people have been wondering how one can take care of the financial losses, the social losses, and a lot distance.
“We didn’t have any interaction with other athletes (in Tokyo). The Olympic spirit was there, but it was muted. So going into these Games, that Olympic spirit was revived. As excited as I am to play, people are excited to go and be part of the Olympic spirit. We all felt a surge of energy.”
Winning a fourth gold medal will bring her joy, but it would also make her discipline more diverse, and the outcomes her team achieves will give her peace of mind.
Joy has grow to be multifaceted.
“The pandemic has put things in perspective for us,” Johnson said. “OK, I play water polo and I’m an athlete, but what else am I? — understanding that you’re more than just an athlete, more than what you do at your job. I need to go for a walk every day, or I like to cook, I like to read. Connecting with things that make you happy.”
Sports
Antonio Gates, Jared Allen, Eric Allen and Sterling Sharpe form the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Antonio Gates, Jared Allen, Eric Allen and Sterling Sharpe were voted for Pro Football Hall of Fame in the smallest induction class inside 20 years after changes in the rules out of season, which is to make it difficult to make the introduction.
Sharpe got as a candidate of seniors in a vote announced on Thursday evening at the NFL Honors and will join Shannon’s younger brother as the first siblings introduced to the room. Two -time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning failed this yr’s older brother Peyton in Canton, Ohio.
Shannon gave the message on to Sterling and will probably be together without end in the hall after the introduction ceremony on August 2.
“I don’t think it really happened,” said Sterling Sharpe. “This is one of those situations in which the closer is approaching the same colorful jacket he has, and standing in the same place that he has become and was able to find out about traveling, to get there, I think I think standing. But now it hasn’t hit home yet. “
While a small class is a change in comparison with previous years, when at the least seven people have been introduced in each of the previous 12 classes, it will not be unprecedented.
In the 2005 class there have been only 4 aspects and there have been 18 other years with three or 4 induced from the firstclass 17 in 1963.
“You appreciate it almost more,” said Jared Allen. “Nothing comes easily. When I found out that it was only four, it became more unique. The emphasis is on what it means to be Hall of Famer. We apparently fit it. For me it was a sigh with relief. “
The recent rules were established this yr after the pursuit of Hall of Famers to make the hall more exclusive, which led on to the smaller class. Candidates from modern times were voted from 15 to seven in the last stage, as a substitute of five lately.
49 voters could vote for five out of seven, and each reached 80% or ends in the top three entering the room. In the past years, five finalists have received a voice up or down, and all five got here to the last 17 years.
Candidates from the senior, trainers and colleagues category were then placed in a bunch by which voters selected three. Candidates also needed 80% support with the best finisher robotically, even when it fails.
A spokesman for Hall of Fame, Rich Desrosiers, said that no decision was made or to maintain this method in 2026, but said that one yr could possibly be too early to attract all conclusions.
Gates was elected in the second yr of qualification. He only played basketball in college, then transformed into one of the most vital ends of the NFL after the chargers appointed.
“The possibility of saying, he says about how (chargers) they believed in me,” Gates said. “I’m glad that everything paid off.”
He became All-PRO in its second season in 2004. He was again Pro in the next two seasons and had a 16-year profession in Chargers. Gates ended with 955 fishing to 11,841 yards and the NFL record for tight ends with 116 filming. It ranks seventh in the TD breakthrough.
Jared Allen was a four-time All-PRO, who ended his profession with 136 sacks, including the leading in League 22 in 2011 for Minnesota. He also led the league in sacks with 15 1/2 for Kansas City in 2007 and achieved two -digit numbers in seven seasons. His last game was a loss of Super Bowl for Karolina against Denver in the 2015 season.
Eric Allen performed for 14 seasons as the highest defender in the NFL and never had to maneuver in a protected place. Allen’s profession lasted in the game “Fog Bowl” in 1988, when he played in Philadelphia as a debutant in the game “Tuck Rule” in the 2001 season for Oakland in his last match.
Allen ended with 54 intercourse, including eight returned to the use. He was the first ALL-PRO team in 1989 and had two other seasons as a range of the second team.
He got here from 19 years of qualification.
“Life rarely plays as you like,” said Eric Allen. “There are always some curves and turns. But time always reveals the truth. … It’s been time before people see the complexity of my situation. “
Sharpe had a brief but productive profession for Green Bay Packers in 1988-94. His best season took place in 1992, when he became the sixth player who won the receiving a triple crown, setting the NFL record with 108 fishing on 1461 yards and 13 application.
He performed his own album with 112 fishing in 1993 and led the NFL with 18 seizures in the last season, 1994, before his neck injury shortened his profession.
Sharpe was three-time All-PRO and had 595 fishing on 8 134 yards and 65 tds. During the seven -year profession in the parties and fishing, he took only Jerry Rice.
Sharpe brothers will join the three Father-Syn tandems in the hall: Tim and Wellington Mara; Art Rooney Sr. and Dan Rooney; and ED and Steve Sabol.
Four other candidates from modern times who reached the last stage, but weren’t in the state of Willie Anderson, Torry Holt, Luke Kuechly and Adam Vinatieri. These 4 will robotically advance to the last 15 to vote next yr.
The other eight finalists who were cut before are Manning, Jahri Evans, Steve Smith Sr., Terrell Suggs, Fred Taylor, Reggie Wayne, Darren Woodson and Marshal Yanda.
Seniors who weren’t in a position to Maxa Bughan and Jim Tyrer, and Mike Holmgren weren’t a coach and Ralph Hay as a collaborator.
(Tagstranslate) @AP
Sports
The furious supporters of Donald Trump call for a boycott Super Bowl after the NFL rules “Black National Anthem” will be sung before the match
NFL doesn’t abandon the black national anthem before the Super Bowl, and its most conservative fans are in confusion. As a result, several football fanatics expressed plans to boycott the Gridiron duel between Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs on February 9.
The league appointed the contractor to sing “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” as part of the ceremony before the match from the time of the initiative of the social justice in 2020. It is anticipated that the response to tradition is connected with the news that President Donald Trump will be present.
Republican politician returned to the office on January 20 and implemented many executive orders restoring America with the withdrawal of programs of diversity, capital and integration, and performing mass efforts to deport.
The NFL was turned on by the Black National Anthem took place after civic anxieties stimulated by the clay of killing George Floyd in 2020 and the later kneeling movement led by the former playmaker San Francisco 49ers Colin Kapernick. It was first made in Super Bowl in 2021.
Angered person wrote“This year we will not watch the Super Bowl if they intend to play the Black National Hymn.” Another person noticed: “I will not watch Superbowl because of unrealized special treatment, enabling the recovery of another national anthem other than a banner with a star.”
@realdonaldtrump Please, don’t go to SB, where the NFL will play the Black National Hymn. He is bad and dividing. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/63dsg9dvjb
– lu (@ lullen francm) February 5, 2025
The third critic announced: “Let’s Annuj Culture Super Bowl like Bud Light. NFL and advertisers need indignation. Loyal viewers do not need a call to indignation. “
The repetitive argument of boycott is that America has one national anthem that represents all the things and that the second version consolidates the division. “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” was invented by the NAACP Black National Anthem in 1919 and wiped the soundtrack for civil rights.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” gained preaching as the national anthem of the Congress in 1931. The constructing of the call to operate to tune Super Bowl was counteracted by several others. Online commentary is: “Hey magician, your racism is (again) shown. You may want to put it on. ”
Abby Phillip, the host of CNN, is clearly nervous that NFL removes “final racism” from the final zone for Super Bowl.
Democrats lose their cultural war because culture is fed up with democrats.
Stop injecting all the things, America shouldn’t be interested. pic.twitter.com/8k9od1vu9c
– Paul A. Shaypula 🇺🇸 (@bubBlebathgirl) February 5, 2025
Second person he asked“Why do the Republicans hate diversity and inclusion?” The third response states: “Well, what do you say to omitted the national anthem of LOL, because it does not apply to everyone !!!!”
On Sunday, the winner of Grammy, Ledisi, will throw the hymn, and the native trombone Crescent City Shorty and Christian music artist Lauren Daigle will join the forces “America The Beautiful” before the great football night begins.
“The Star-Spangled Banner” will be performed by Jon Batiste Moments before Philadelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, who’re fighting for the Vince Lombardi trophy during the television event at Caesars SuperDome. The expected break show is led by the hip-hop star of Kendrick Lamar.
Sports
Dallas Mavericks Guard Max Christie prepared for the opportunity after trading from the Lakers
While Max Christie stood quiet at the opposite end of the Los Angeles Lakers cloakroom after a recent victory, Lebron James offered respect for his then team, who won the option to the initial composition.
“He is getting better,” said James about Christie after winning Lakers 111-88 over Washington Wizards in Los Angeles on January 21. “This is what this league is about. First, you have the opportunity. You get confidence from your trainers and then put on work. Whoever is on the floor for us at the time of the game, we trust them in the game. He is still getting better. He is still young. Super young. “
And now 21-year-old Christie with a toddler’s faces has a probability to be higher as a brand new member of Dallas Mavericks.
Mavericks shocked the sports world, exchanging Storerz Superstar Doncica from Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday. Mavericks also handed over the center of Maxi Kleber and striker Markff Morris Lakers on the 10-fold NBA striker ALL-STAR Anthony Davis, the first round in 2029 and Christie. While Davis was a header’s overcoming Mavericks, the president of the Nico Harrison team can be excited so as to add Christie, a young, sports guard 6 feet and 6 feet, which may shoot and defend.
“Max Christie was a lakes starting shooting,” said Harrison and Scape. “He didn’t miss any games. Firefighter all the best 2-guide in the league. Is durable. He gets a lot of balls. His shot is really cool. He is elastic. We are excited about it. It will help us. “
Nathaniel S. Butler/Nbae via Getty Images
Christie is predicted to go away the bench for Dallas behind the veteran shooting Klay Thompson, a five -time NBA star. However, with the Lakers Christie began from mid -December after two seasons primarily as a reserve. As a starter in 25 matches for Lakers, Christie reached a mean of 9.7 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.5 3-point points made for a match in 28.4 minutes per match this season.
While the fundamental coach of the first yr Lakers JJ Redick didn’t know Christie when he was employed, the latter finally deserved the trust of his coach after the flawless starting of the season. Redick said that Christie was in a “difficult place” as a result of the lack of experience and the challenge related to the pressure of being on the lakeers. But Christie’s star game finally landed at the stake.
“He trusts who he is as a player,” Redick said about Christie. “I trust who he can be and who he is now as a player.”
Christie said: “My confidence is certainly just being in such situations. Getting trust from coaches and team members definitely meant a lot to me. I felt really good. I felt that I was playing my career’s best basketball so far. I am looking forward to continuing it here. “
The former Michigan State Guard was taken with the thirty fifth general selection in the second round of NBA Draft 2022. Christie initially left the bench during the first two seasons in the NBA. He entered his third season, descending from the bench for the Lakers, but as an alternative of being frustrated, Christie worked on her game, became much stronger because of the gym’s indication and the conditioning of Lakers Randy Flores and used the positive mentality to develop the ranks. Christie also rigorously watched James, Davis and a former teammate of the Lakers Russell Westbrook team worked and prepared for matches.
“The perspective is everything, especially for players who were in my position in which you want to play, you feel that you should play, put all work (but) it does not come immediately,” said Christie. “But for me my perspective was (watching) guys we’ve got in the locker room and the opportunity to check them, learn, after which knowing that the opportunity will finally come. It’s a protracted season …
“And for me, when this opportunity came, I was always prepared only because I did not give up when I felt that I did not have time to play. I stopped at the gym. I stopped in the gym from Randy. I watched the movie. I asked questions. So I felt like I had all the answers to the game. For me it was only confidence, knowing that I did everything in my power to prepare for a moment and the opportunity. “
Another key for Christie as a NBA player is the development of his mental force.
Jesse D. Garrabrant/Nbae via Getty Images
Christie said he was talking to advisers and therapists since his debut season with the Lakers. Mother Christie, Katrina Christie, is an expert psychologist specializing in mental health. Max Christie said he was a “supporter of the meaning of a part of the game of the game.” According to the mass hospital of Brigham McLean, only 25% of African Americans are looking for mental health treatment.
“I have been talking to them for three years,” Christie said about listening to therapists. “And then my mother can be a therapist. So having someone like that’s phenomenal for me all the time. And they put many intelligent things for me to have the opportunity to grasp when things don’t go towards me, with the ability to have a unique perspective, with the ability to start a full picture.
“I was blessed with the ability to see in this lens. It helped me a lot. “
Christie scored 15 points during the last match with the Lakers-West 128-112 over New York Knicks on February 1. About an hour after the match he learned about trade from Dallas, which was a “great shock to everyone.” Christie could have many competitions for the time of the Dallas game, because the list features a talented group of guards and small attackers in Thompson, eight times NBA stars Kyrie Irving, Caleb Martin, Spencer Dinwiddie, Jaden Hardy and Dante Exum.
“This is a great shock for anyone who has such a passage so quickly,” Christie said when shooting at Mavericks in Philadelphia on Tuesday morning. “I still process many things and still try to raise my feet under me. I was just shooting to meet my teammates and get to know the new system. I feel a little more comfortable now, but it was a vortex for everyone. I can’t wait for a new passage. “
Christie was in a jealous a part of the NBA world as an initial guard in Lakers twiddling with James. His brother, Cam, is a debutant from Los Angeles Clippers and often participated in games. Their parents live in Los Angeles and often take part in each of their games.
Now Max Christie starts from scratch from Dallas on the pitch and out of doors. He recognized his presence in his first match, scoring 15 points, scoring 4 out of 4 after 3-point rehearsals, and in addition added nine rebounds, three assists and one theft in 32 minutes of defeat of the road 118-116 with Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday.
“Many emotions,” Christie later told journalists. “Of course, I still learn some sets and only the personality of the band. But I had a good time, even though we didn’t win. It was good to go back to the floor and publish the first game. “
Ex warehouse worker earns 132,000 USD without a bachelor’s degree
It starts to look like another record in a Christmas journey
As Gaza Beasefiot, Israeli forces turn to Jenin – a regular goal perceived as a center of Palestinian resistance
Don Cheadle Receives the Environmental Champion Icon | theGrio Awards 2023
George Benson & Bill Withers on Black Enterprise
CEO of 360WiSE Launches Mentorship Program in Overtown Miami FL
U.S.-Africa Chamber of Commerce Appoints Robert Alexander of 360WiseMedia as Board Director
The Importance of Owning Your Distribution Media Platform
360Wise Media and McDonald’s NY Tri-State Owner Operators Celebrate Success of “Faces of Black History” Campaign with Over 2 Million Event Visits
Another lawsuit accuses Google of bias against Black minority employees
Don Cheadle Receives the Environmental Champion Icon | theGrio Awards 2023
George Benson & Bill Withers on Black Enterprise
Black Experiences in Cuba
Red Tails Cast on Black Enterprise
Lone survivor speaks about plane crash that killed 153
-
Press Release10 months agoCEO of 360WiSE Launches Mentorship Program in Overtown Miami FL
-
Press Release10 months agoU.S.-Africa Chamber of Commerce Appoints Robert Alexander of 360WiseMedia as Board Director
-
Business and Finance8 months agoThe Importance of Owning Your Distribution Media Platform
-
Business and Finance11 months ago360Wise Media and McDonald’s NY Tri-State Owner Operators Celebrate Success of “Faces of Black History” Campaign with Over 2 Million Event Visits
-
Ben Crump10 months agoAnother lawsuit accuses Google of bias against Black minority employees
-
Theater11 months agoTelling the story of the Apollo Theater
-
Ben Crump11 months agoHenrietta Lacks’ family members reach an agreement after her cells undergo advanced medical tests
-
Ben Crump11 months agoThe families of George Floyd and Daunte Wright hold an emotional press conference in Minneapolis
-
Theater11 months agoApplications open for the 2020-2021 Soul Producing National Black Theater residency – Black Theater Matters
-
Theater8 months agoCultural icon Apollo Theater sets new goals on the occasion of its 85th anniversary