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Now its fifth year, the Ironman Legacy Program has once again granted 100 athletes the opportunity to compete in the prestigious Ironman World Championship at Kona.
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Of these 100 chosen five are from the UK including Rav Dighe, Amin Golbidi, Bob Gordon, Alistair McVeigh, and Mark Walsh, and one from Ireland, John Milne.
To be eligible for selection for Kona the athletes must have;
a) Completed a minimum of 12 full-distance Ironman-branded races
b) Have never started the iconic Ironman World Championship
c) Have completed at least one Ironman event in each of the 2014 and 2015 seasons,
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d) Be registered for an Ironman event in 2016.
If you are interested in the opportunity for 2017 applications will open later in the year.
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“It is important for us to recognise and reward our most loyal and long-term athletes,” said Andrew Messick, CEO of Ironman. “Our Legacy athletes are the heart of our sport and are powerful ambassadors. Their loyalty to and love of Ironman is inspiring.”
The ITU World Paratriathlon season starts this Sunday in Buffalo City, South Africa and Brits Lauren Steadman and Alison Patrick will be hoping to seal their Paralympic Games selections. Others are chasing ranking points that will help them qualify later in the season.
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>>> Paratriathlon: the ultimate guide
Steadman and Patrick can achieve automatic selection by virtue of having won medals at both the ITU Paratriathlon World Championships in 2014 and 2015. Winning this weekend will seal their selections.
ITU World Champion, Steadman said: “It would be a big boost to secure Paralympic selection this weekend. However, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, this is the first race of the season.
“It’s great that the season is getting under way, and that Paralympic year is finally here. This is what we have all been working towards for many years.”
General selection will consider medal winning performances at the 2015 ITU World Championships as well as top ten performances at the ETU European Championships in May and rounds of the ITU World Paratriathlon Event Series up to 20 June.
>>>BTF announce selection policy for Paralympics
Head Coach, Jonathon Riall said: “There have been some big strides made over the winter and now is the opportunity for athletes to put their practice into a performance. This is the start, and what ever happens we will build from here towards the summer and aim to be in our best possible shape in Rio. The whole team is chasing ranking points, so every race is important now.”
The course in Buffalo City features a 750m sea swim, flat 20km bike and 5km run section.
The GB athletes are;
PT1: Phil Hogg, Bret Crossley
PT2: Ryan Taylor
PT4: Dave Hill, Lauren Steadman
PT4: Alison Patrick (guide Nicole Walters), Melissa Reid (guide Hazel Smith)
Former European Champion Phil Hogg who competes in the PT1 class said:
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“I was involved in a cycling accident in 1991 which left me paralysed from the waist down. I took part in wheelchair racing for many years before discovering triathlon. I love the fact that triathlon rewards hard work and dedication, and if I can make it to Rio it will be the absolute highlight of my career to be there for the sport’s debut. To compete for your country at the highest level is a honour and privilege that doesn’t come easy.
“I compete in the PT1 category where everyone I am up against has little or no use of their legs. We swim the same course as every competitor in the other classifications, and then race on hand cycles during the bike section and racing chairs for the run. As you can imagine, it takes some serious arm power to complete all three sections, so we’re the guys with the huge shoulder and back muscles! I expect Rio to be the fastest, most competitive PT1 event the world will ever have seen, so make sure to watch it in September!”
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Find complete start lists and event information here
The British duo will be joined by fellow male athletes Gordon Benson andTom Bishop, who will be hoping to impress the British selectors for Rio and get the third spot on the team with the Brownlees.
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The women’s race features Jodie Stimpson and Helen Jenkins, who will be looking to impress British selectors and claim the final third team place for Rio, with Vicky Holland and Non Stanford who have already secured their Olympic spots.
Both demonstrated good form by winning gold and bronze respectively in the previous round of the Series in Abu Dhabi.
Qualification requires evidence of ability to win an individual medal in Rio, and a nomination committee will meet following the race to review performances.
Stimpson, who won in Abu Dhabi and also in the ITU World Cup the following weekend in Mooloolaba said: “This is a massive race, which is unusual this early in the season, but I have taken a lot of confidence from my first two races this year. I will put in my best performance possible on the day, that’s all you can ever ask for.”
Double ITU World Champion, Jenkins said: “I have had a great training block since Abu Dhabi and feel like I have moved my fitness on. I need to put in a performance that shows I am able to podium at Rio. It’s going to be up to the selectors to decide on the athlete they want to take.”
Both races promise to be exciting races with a strong British squad hoping for glory. The Brownlee brothers will want to set up a fast swim to ensure the pace is high right from the start. Spain’s Mario Mola is currently ranked number one in the world following his win in the opening round of the Series in Abu Dhabi.
Jonathan Brownlee, who will be hoping to emulate his victory here last year, said: “The Gold Coast race was one of my best ever performances last year so it’s brilliant to be back. The first race of the season always has a few unknowns, but I can’t wait to race.”
Olympic Champion, Alistair Brownlee, who underwent ankle surgery at the end of last season, said: “Jonny and I didn’t actually get to race together much last year so it’s great that we’re both here this time. I’m happy with how things have gone recently and excited just to get out there.”
The women’s race is up first at 12:30am UK time on Saturday morning followed by the men at 3:30am. Both will be live on the BBC Red Button and online. Highlights are on BBC Two at 1pm on Sunday (10 April).
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Planning next year’s race diary? After looking at these images by photographer José Luis Hourcade you might be tempted to try Challenge Forte Village in Sardinia
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When the Pro Triathlon Union launched in July last year, the frisson of optimism soon gave way to an air of scepticism. With a board hastily assembled at a closed-shop triathletes’ meeting in Bahrain, it offered little to deliver cohesion in a disparate sport.
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Long-course professionals struggling to pay their rent were irked at being asked to fork out up to $600 for membership. It took a further blow when Jan Frodeno declared he was “no fan of unions” and then the PTU’s vice president, Dirk Bockel, sent an ill-advised tweet asking Lance Armstrong for support. Had the whole thing faded away quietly, few would’ve been surprised.
When I met Charles Adamo, the chief executive of the Pro Triathlon Organisation (PTO; note the switch from Union), it was the morning after golf’s Ryder Cup. The USA had triumphed 17-11, buoyed by the patriotic fervour of packed galleries in Minnesota. It was without the nails-to-the-quick final-day drama that has spoilt sports lovers for much of the past three decades, yet the unique allure of the biennial contest still captured imaginations on both sides of the pond. Adamo produced a newspaper with the headline: ‘The theatre of sport at its finest in the bear pit’. “This is what we need to create,” he said.
Championing new ventures doesn’t come naturally to journalists, however it didn’t take tweets from multiple Kona winners Dave Scott (“a fantastic competition”) or Chrissie Wellington (“très excited, bring on 2018!”) to convince this hack of the merits of The Collins Cup. If imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then the Ryder Cup has a devotee in the PTO every bit as passionate as the Americans hollering at Hazeltine. But where triathlon will move beyond golf is by including the rest of the world. And, thankfully, women.
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New international team tri competition launched
The Collins Cup, named after Ironman founders John and Judy, is a three-way non-drafting competition: Europe versus USA versus the ‘Internationals.’ It’s akin to the Ryder Cup singles format with six men and six women from each region. Eight will be chosen from the new PTO world rankings plus four captain’s picks – which allows wriggle room to involve stars from the ITU’s World Triathlon Series. Set off at regular intervals, triathletes race head-to-head-to-head over a 3km swim, 120km bike course and 25km run. Bonus points are awarded for each 5min increment – so it doesn’t pay to milk the finish chute.
Turning long-distance triathlon into a spectator sport isn’t easy. In contrast, the real sagacity of The Collins Cup is how the intrigue builds throughout the day. Anyone who has watched the Ryder Cup scoreboard swing from red (USA) to blue (Europe) and back, will understand how it can command your attention in its vice-like grip. Moreover, the focus is on the team, so if Frodeno or Daniela Ryf disappear up the road, the contest isn’t over.
That said, golf is a behemoth compared to triathlon, built on a history of 19th-century mashies and niblicks, not neon Speedos in the 70s. Can a new competition with a complex format really thrive? Adamo points out that the Ryder Cup only prospered from 1985 when the USA started to lose, and that interest soared in Olympic basketball when the USSR inflicted Team USA’s first ever loss in Munich in 1972. His point is less about revelling in US misery, but more that the success of a tournament is driven – not just by its history – but by unashamed rivalry.
The triathlon calendar is already packed and the date (June looks favourite) will depend on which broadcaster – if any – bite. To help this, Wasserman, the world’s fourth largest sports media agency (for comparison, IMG are ranked 12th) with contracts worth $2.3billion, will act as business partners. It lends some serious financial clout.
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The PTO’s solution to ensuring a crowd is to make the pro race the showpiece of a long weekend where age-groupers race on Saturday and then join the celebrations on Sunday. For a venue, think a dedicated resort rather than busy city centre streets. It’s due to run annually from 2018, and for a sport that continually innovates, I believe this could be one of the best moves yet.
The 40th birthday of Ironman was always going to be a special race, and so it proved with the Kona debut of Javier Gomez, course records broken, emotional stories of redemption and some heavyweights showdowns between the world’s greatest long-course athletes.
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Grabbing the headlines in the men’s elite event was Patrick Lange, who broke the Ali’i Drive finish line tape in 7:52:39 to become the Ironman World Champion for the second time. Following the German home was Belgium’s Bart Aernouts in second and David McNamee of Scotland, who ran in his way to third in 8:01:09.
Brit Joe Skipper would come home in seventh, while Javier Gomez was 11th on debut in Hawaii. Tim Don, after his horrific bike crash just over a year ago, crossed the line in 36th in tear-jerking scenes.
BRIT EXPECTIONS
Not since the multiple Ironman world champ Chrissie Wellington went toe-to-toe with Julie Dibens, Rachel Joyce and Leanda Cave in 2011 have British elite athletes received some much focus in Kona (head here for the women’s report featuring Lucy Charles).
In the men’s race, Scotland’s David McNamee was hoping to go even better than in 2017, when his third-placed finish was the best British male placing in Kona history. East Anglia’s Joe Skipper – second behind Jan Frodeno at Challenge Roth in 2016 – was also vying for his first top 10 finish in Hawaii, and there was the emotional appearance of Tim Don in the starting field, following a severe crash ahead of the 2017 edition of Hawaii.
Elsewhere on the starting pontoon was the five-time ITU World Champion, Javier Gomez, making his Kona racing debut, the reigning champion Patrick Lange, former winner Sebastian Kienle, and a Jan Frodeno-shaped hole after the two-time Kona champ pulled out ahead of the race.
In relatively cool and calm conditions for Kona, the men’s event saw Aussie athlete Josh Amberger first out of the water, closely followed by France’s Denis Chevrot. Gomez came out in 5th after 47:46mins and David McNamee was in 13th, 1:52mins down after a time of 49:31mins. Don would exit Kailua Bay in 50:34, 20th pro man overall
Some big names were already 2-3mins in arrears, including the reigning champion Patrick Lange and 2014 winner Sebastian Kienle. The 2017 second-place finisher and uber-biker Lionel Sanders was a further 3mins back.
.@JoshAmberger is in the lead and nearing the swim exit. #IMWC
Tune in to catch all the action from the @rokasports Swim Course via NBC Sports (US) and https://t.co/DRAL10Rxpg (Global). pic.twitter.com/sSGEq4Of2g
— IRONMAN Triathlon (@IRONMANtri) October 13, 2018
Onto the bike, and the major early news was that Kienle had suffered a puncture and was riding with a replacement wheel. But the German star had moved up to 14th by halfway through the 180km bike leg, with the field being led by biking powerhouses Andrew Starykowicz (USA) and Australia’s Cameron Wurf. Gomez was in ninth, Lange tenth, while the Brits of McNamee, Skipper, Don and Will Clarke were riding in proximity to each other in around 20th place.
Approaching transition two and Wurf’s bike course record of 4:12:54 from 2017 was in jeopardy, and the Australian would once again enter the Hawaii record books after a 4:09:36 split.
#IMWC @cameronwurf has come off the bike with the lead and established a new course record of 4:09:36! pic.twitter.com/koj3J5Y9Ee
— IRONMANLive (@IRONMANLive) October 13, 2018
Lange would enter T2 around 6mins back, with Gomez 8mins behind, and both in serious contention to see their run prowess move them to the front of the race. Kienle, meanwhile, would quit in T2.
THE 8HR BARRIER
With the 40 years of Ironman in Hawaii being celebrated in the build-up to the race, it was apt that major landmarks in the sport’s history would be broken in 2018. And that was the men’s course record and the magical eight hour barrier in Hawaii, a time that had eluded such greats as Mark Allen, Dave Scott, Craig Alexander and Jan Frodeno in Kona history.
#IMWC pic.twitter.com/a7KdM06IsT
— IRONMAN Triathlon (@IRONMANtri) October 14, 2018
Lange, who we interviewed earlier in the year about the sub-8hr record, moved to second almost instantly and was in control of the chase group on Cameron Wurf. He made the pass after 15km and gave Wurf a classy fist bump on the way, before taking off at 6min/mile pace to deliver a 2:41:32 marathon run that kicked the course record into touch. His 7:52:39 finish time was nearly 10mins faster than his 2017 course record of 8:01:40, and was scarily only his sixth-ever full Ironman race.
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Aernouts was next home in 7:56:41 to become the second man to dip under 8hrs in Hawaii, while McNamee was third in 8:01:09, which itself was the third-fastest Hawaii time in history. Skipper was seventh in 8:05:54.
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Il y a eu du changement dans la vie amoureuse d’Emmanuelle Berne. Aux dernières nouvelles, la danseuse professionnelle de Danse avec les stars était en couple avec l’ancien candidat de la Star Academy Tony Bredelet. Mais depuis, elle a changé de partenaire comme l’a dévoilé Yoann Riou sur Instagram, lundi 30 septembre 2019.
Le candidat de la saison 10, actuellement diffusée sur TF1, a partagé un dîner avec Emmanuelle Berne, la maman de cette dernière, ainsi que son nouveau compagnon. Nous avons donc appris que la belle blonde de 31 ans était en couple avec un célèbre pilote automobile britannique prénommé Chris Buncombe (41 ans), qui a notamment remporté les 24 Heures du Mans en 2007. “Très apaisante, agréable soirée avec ma formidable partenaire de @dals_tf1 @emmanuelleberne, son compagnon @chris_buncombe et la maman d’Emmanuelle. Chaque semaine, on se fait au moins un resto avec Emma et Chris et ce lundi soir, il y avait aussi la maman de ma pétillante danseuse. Quand on dit et répète que Danse avec les stars est avant tout une aventure humaine, qui se prolonge bien au-delà des parquets et salles d’entraînement“, a tout d’abord écrit le commentateur sportif de L’Équipe. Il a ensuite précisé qu’aujourd’hui, sa partenaire de danse et son compagnon allaient justement “venir à L’Équipe pour regarder dans les coulisses ses commentaires du match Galatasaray – PSG“. Une belle amitié qui renforce leur complicité sur le parquet.
Pour l’heure, Emmanuelle Berne ne s’est pas encore exprimée sur sa rencontre avec Chris Buncombe. Elle a simplement posté une photo en sa compagnie, le 1er août dernier. Et ce mardi 1er octobre 2019, elle a commenté un cliché d’eux : “Je nage en plein bonheur en ce moment grâce à @chris_buncombe… Contente d’avoir pu soutenir celui qui me soutient au quotidien depuis bien des mois maintenant ! Bravo à toute l’équipe de @tempestaracing pour votre podium de ce week-end @93_cf @jonhui_racing @eddie_cheever !“
Trs apaisante, agrable soire avec ma formidable partenaire de @dals_tf1 @emmanuelleberne, son compagnon @chris_buncombe et la maman d’Emmanuelle. Chaque semaine, on se fait au moins un resto avec Emma et Chris et ce lundi soir, il y avait aussi la maman de ma ptillante danseuse. Quand on dit et rpte que Danse avec les stars est avant tout une aventure humaine, qui se prolonge bien au-del des parquets et salles d’entranement. Ce que nous avons vcu, ressenti samedi nous rapproche encore. C’tait si fort, si intense, si mouvant. Des soires rares dans une vie. Ce mardi soir, Emmanuelle et Chris vont venir L’Equipe pour regarder dans les coulisses mes commentaires du match Galatasaray – PSG. Chacun essaye de se nourrir de l’environnement de l’autre, on s’intresse au travail de l’autre. J’adore ces changes !!!!! Et a nous donne encore plus de complicit sur le parquet. On se donne pour notre partenaire. On vit une semaine de rve supplmentaire. On a eu 4 heures d’entranement aujourd’hui. Demain, 4h30. Nous allons bosser comme des fous pour vivre un joli samedi… #aventure #DALS @tf1 #amiti #bonnesondes
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MY CHAMPION – Je nage en plein bonheur en ce moment grce @chris_buncombe … Contente d’avoir pu soutenir celui qui me soutient au quotidien depuis bien des mois maintenant ! Bravo toute l’quipe de @tempestaracing pour votre podium de ce week end @93_cf @jonhui_racing @eddie_cheever ! – @hublot @blancpaingtseries #lovemyman
La reine multiplie les apparitions ces derniers jours. Le 2 octobre 2019, accompagnée de son mari le roi Felipe VI, Letizia d’Espagne a pris part au 30e anniversaire du quotidien El Mondo, à l’hôtel Westin de Madrid. Une soirée pour laquelle elle n’a pas hésité à miser sur une tenue glamour et sensuelle qui avait déjà fait ses preuves il y a quelques mois.
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Cette robe bustier rouge du créateur espagnol Roberto Torretta avait déjà fait parler d’elle lorsque la reine l’avait portée pour une réception présidentielle en Argentine, en mars 2019. Cette fois-ci, la mère de Leonor et Sofia (13 et 12 ans) a complété sa tenue d’accessoires plus clinquants avec une minaudière dorée Carolina Herrera et des sandales Jimmy Choo à talons vertigineux.
A l’image de Kate Middleton outre-Manche, Letizia d’Espagne est une experte du recyclage de tenue. Que ce soit une pièce de créateur ou des vêtements de marques plus accessibles, la reine n’hésite pas à porter plusieurs fois les mêmes tenues pour des apparitions publiques : sa robe imprimée Sandro, le modèle Zara en tweed, celle en jean signée Carolina Herrera, ou même sa jupe à fleurs de la même marque.
Le 3 octobre, c’est seule que l’ex-journaliste de 47 ans a effectué une nouvelle sortie à San Miguel de la Cogolla, à La Rioja, pour inaugurer et présider le 14e séminaire international sur les langues et le journalisme. Letizia Ortiz, son nom de jeune fille, avait mis un terme a sa carrière de journaliste de télévision en 2003, quelques mois avant ses fiançailles avec Felipe.
Warning of the possible “significant intimidating effect” of private recounts like the ongoing GOP-run audit of an Arizona county’s 2020 election ballots, a senior official at the U.S. Justice Department’s civil rights division on Thursday advised the Republican president of the southwestern state’s Senate that such efforts may violate federal voting and civil rights laws.
“Such investigative efforts can have a significant intimidating effect on qualified voters that can deter them from seeking to vote in the future.”
—Pamela S. Karlan, DOJ
In a letter (pdf) to Sen. Karen Fann (R-1), Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan wrote that plans by Cyber Ninjas—the online security firm hired by the Arizona Legislature to perform a hand recount of nearly 2.1 million Maricopa County ballots—to directly contact voters potentially constitutes intimidation.
“The information of which we are aware raises concerns regarding at least two issues of potential noncompliance with federal laws,” the letter states.
“The first issue relates to a number of reports suggesting that the ballots, elections systems, and election materials that are the subject of the Maricopa County audit are no longer under the ultimate control of state and local elections officials, are not being adequately safeguarded by contractors at an insecure facility, and are at risk of being lost, stolen, altered, compromised, or destroyed,” it continues.
“The second issue,” the letter says, “relates to the Cyber Ninjas’ statement of work for this audit,” which “indicates that the contractor has been working ‘with a number of individuals’ to ‘identify voter registrations that did not make sense, and then knock on doors to confirm if valid voters actually lived at the stated address.'”
“This description of the proposed work of the audit raises concerns regarding potential intimidation of voters,” it warns. “Past experience with similar investigative efforts around the country has raised concerns that they can be directed at minority voters, which potentially can implicate the anti-intimidation prohibitions of the Voting Rights Act.”
“Such investigative efforts can have a significant intimidating effect on qualified voters that can deter them from seeking to vote in the future,” the letter concludes.
The Arizona Legislature is paying the Florida-based Cyber Ninjas—which has no elections experience and whose CEO Doug Logan is an advocate of the “Stop the Steal” movement claiming former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election—$150,000 to conduct the Maricopa County audit.
President Joe Biden won the county, which includes Phoenix and surrounding cities, by over 45,000 votes. In the race for the U.S. Senate, Democrat Mark Kelly defeated Republican Martha McSally by more than 80,000 votes in Maricopa County.
In addition to its CEO’s affinity for Trump, Cyber Ninjas has also raised eyebrows and ire by allowing former Arizona GOP state lawmaker Anthony Kern, a rampant pro-Trump conspiracy theorist and participant in the deadly January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, to help conduct the audit.
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The auditors—who have fallen far behind schedule—have investigated conspiracy theories during the course of their work, including one that 40,000 bamboo-laced Biden ballots were smuggled into the county from China.
The Justice Department letter follows an April request (pdf) by the Brennan Center for Justice—which said it is “very concerned that the auditors are engaged in ongoing and imminent violations of federal voting and election law”—for the DOJ to send federal monitors to oversee the Maricopa recount.
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La grossesse de Nabilla fascine depuis maintenant plusieurs mois. Mais les choses sont devenues sérieuses le lundi 7 octobre 2019, car la jeune femme et son chéri ont complètement disparu des réseaux sociaux après avoir annoncé l’imminence de l’accouchement. Vendredi 11 octobre 2019, les fans sont toujours sans nouvelles, mais Tarek Benattia, le frère de la starlette a publié sur Snapchat une photo qui laisse supposer que le petit Milann est déjà né…
En effet, le jeune homme qui se prend en selfie, semble être sur le départ pour rejoindre sa soeur puisqu’il affiche un émoticône coeur suivi d’une valise. Un petit signe de main et un message, court, mais accrocheur – “J’arrive ma reuss” –, laissent imaginer que Tarek Benattia est déjà tonton. Bien évidemment, il n’a pas manqué non plus d’identifier sa soeur sur la photo.
Alors, Nabilla a-t-elle déjà accouché ? Ce ne serait pas étonnant quand on pense aux événements qui ont eu lieu en début de semaine. La starlette, très fatiguée par le poids de son bébé “bien en chair“, avait été transportée d’urgence à la maternité le dimanche 6 octobre 2019. Finalement de retour chez elle le lendemain, elle s’était dite “déçue” puisque le travail n’avait en réalité pas encore commencé, mais avait également ajouté que la naissance devait avoir lieu dans les jours suivants : “Soit mardi, mercredi ou jeudi. Cette semaine en tout cas !“, s’était-elle impatientée sur son compte Snapchat.
Thomas Vergara, le futur papa, a quant à lui pris soin de se faire beau pour accueillir son fils, en faisant venir un barbier à domicile dans la journée du lundi 7 octobre 2019.
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