🏃 Letesenbet Gidey was the pre-race favorite and with the finishing line in sight it seemed as if the Ethiopian was to win gold with ease. But meters from the tape the 24-year-old fell, and in a blink of an eye, victory was dramatically gone.
In a spectacular conclusion to the women’s race at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, Australia, Saturday, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet overhauled Gidey with an impressive final kick to win the title.
With the finishing line looming, Gidey looked over her shoulder and would have sensed Chebet, the world 5000m silver medalist, sprinting towards her. It was as the Kenyan was on her shoulder that Gidey lost her footing on the uneven ground.
To make matters worse for Gidey, the reigning 10,000m world champion, she was disqualified for outside assistance after a supporter reportedly jumped the fence to assist her.
In an Instagram post, the athlete later said: “I’m doing well. Thank you for all the messages. I’ll be back. Today was a good race with a sad ending for me. Let’s take the good forward to the future.”
Olympic great Michael Johnson tweeted: “Wow! Heartbreaking for Letesenbet at World Cross Country Champs. Literally just meters from the tape!”
😈 The Kenyan ‘Winner’ made a disgusting and ignorant statement…..I, I, I kegna, kegna!
Letesenbet holds the current world records for the 5000 metres, 10,000 metres, and half marathon, which she set in October 2020, June 2021 and October 2021, respectively. She is only the second athlete after Ingrid Kristiansen from 1989–1991 to hold them simultaneously.[3] Her record in the half marathon, making Letesenbet the first debutante to set a world record in the event, broke previous mark by more than a minute.[4][5] She also holds the world best in the 15 km road race, which was also an over one-minute improvement. Letesenbet became the first woman to break the 64 and 63-minute barriers in the half marathon and the 45-minute barrier in the 15 km. She recorded the fastest women’s marathon debut in history at the 2022 Valencia Marathon, placing her sixth on the respective world all-time list.
✞✞✞ May Our Holy Mother of God wrap him in the mantle of Her Love, and may he rest in peace. ✞✞✞
A prominent Los Angeles Catholic official, who served the community for over four decades, was fatally shot Saturday in a California suburb.
David O’Connell, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, was found inside a Hacienda Heights home with a severe gunshot wound to his upper torso and pronounced dead, according to CBS Los Angeles.
He was 69 years old.
Archbishop José H. Gomez released a statement on O’Connell’s death early Saturday morning, saying he had “passed away unexpectedly.”
“He was a peacemaker with a heart for the poor and the immigrant, and he had a passion for building a community where the sanctity and dignity of every human life was honored and protected,” Gomez said.
“He was also a good friend, and I will miss him greatly. I know we all will.”
Detectives are investigating the shooting as a suspicious death and have not yet released any information on the suspect or suspects involved, according to the outlet.
“It’s very early in the investigation,” said LASD Homicide Bureau Detective Michael Modica. “We got a lot more steps we have to take to make more determination to what’s happening.”
O’Connell had been a part of the LA Catholic community for 45 years when he first became a priest. Pope Francis appointed O’Connell Auxiliary Bishop in 2015.
Born in Ireland, O’Connell studied for the priesthood at All Hallows College in Dublin before moving to California in 1979. After he was ordained, he was an associate pastor at several LA parishes.
The Bishop was heavily involved in aiding immigration in California. He was chairman of the Interdiocesan Southern California Immigration Task Force, which helps children and families who immigrated from Central America.
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