Roanne Ho’s hopes of qualifying for August’s Olympics may have suffered a blow, but the swimmer is just happy to be alive after surviving a life-threatening condition.
On Wednesday, the SEA Games 50m breaststroke champion went to Bukit Batok Polyclinic to seek treatment for what she thought was “a very bad cough”.
But an X-ray showed her right lung had collapsed 80 per cent. Ho was rushed to the accident and emergency department at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital.
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Skyhouse residents have an “adult snow day” in the rooftop heated pool 23 stories above downtown Raleigh’s icy streets Friday, January 22, 2016 in Raleigh, N.C.
Serbia completes hattrick in front of 18,000 fans
Serbia captured its third straight European title and won its 6th gold in the last eight editions of the European Championships. In front of approximately 18,000 fans – the highest turnout ever at a water polo match in modern times – the hosts managed to overcome the Montenegrin fighters who were on equal terms with the champions but succumbed to the pressure in the finish. Hungary clinched the bronze, its 24th medal in the event’s history.
Pregnant women are being warned not to travel to the Olympics in Brazil after a virus causing thousands of babies to be born with unusually small heads swept through the region.
Researchers have linked the rise in Microcephaly, a neurological disorder in which infants are born with smaller craniums and brains, to the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne disease first seen in Africa in 1947.
The outbreak has spread with such speed that the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has now warned pregnant women not to travel to Brazil and 13 other countries in Latin America and the Caribbean – potentially affecting thousands intending to arrive in Rio for the Olympics this August.
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Hungary won after 15 years, heading to Rio
Hungary returned to the European throne after winning an outstanding battle over the Netherlands (9-7) in the good old way: two centre-goals decided the match in the last period after 7-7. This was the first title for the Magyar women since 2001 while the Dutch lost their third final in as many years. Italy clinched the bronze medal, France booked the last available spot for the women’s Olympic qualification tournament while Slovakia also caught the flight among the men.
Imagine holding your breath as you fall endlessly deeper into the sea. For some, it sounds like a nightmare, but for others it’s heaven on earth. Take the plunge through layers of salty sea and light with freediving master Aharon Solomons.
Montenegro goes to Rio, Hungary and Holland play for it in women’s final
Montenegro beat Hungary in the fight of the fortnight in the men’s second semi-final and qualified for the Olympics – as well as set up a mouth-watering end to the event as they will meet arch-rival Serbia on Saturday. The Magyars had some consolation, their women’s team upended Italy and will meet the Netherlands on Friday evening in the final. The Dutch, just like two years ago, won a penalty shootout, this time against Spain.
Serbia storms into the final, same four reach the semis among the women
Serbia was overwhelming once more while beating Greece easily in the first semi-final of the men’s tournament. They made the final for the 6th time in the last seven editions since 2001. Among the women the same teams advanced to the top four as in Budapest 2014: the Netherlands will have a rematch of the final against Spain while Hungary and Italy will replay the bronze-medal game from the previous edition, this time for the final and a chance to qualify directly to the Olympics.
Tuesday was an important holiday in the Russian Orthodox Church: Epiphany, which celebrates the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.
Russian believers mark the event by re-enacting that baptism in ponds and rivers, and since Russia is far north of the Jordan, that means plunging into freezing water through holes cut in the ice.
Big cities like Moscow often set up elaborate stations where people can take the plunge, but people in other cities go for the do-it-yourself approach.
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