She won 4 World Cup titles, and got a silver medal and a gold medal in the Olympics. Who is her? Jennifer Heil.

She was born on April 11, 1983 in Canada. She is so good at skiing maybe because she started hitting the Canadian slopes (斜坡) at age two. She went to McGill University and founded B2ten, which has raised over $3, 000 to support athletes from all around Canada!

Heil was able to compete in her first Olympics at the 2002 Winter Olympics at 18. She finished in fourth place. In 2006, she was invited to compete in the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She did an amazing job! Good enough for first place! She took the 2007-2008 season off because she wanted to build up her physical strength. Then at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, she won a silver medal.

Unfortunately for Canadians, but fortunately for everyone who wants to win the World Cup, Heil stated that she may retire sometime in the next few years. If she does, Canada may go into another gold medal drought (缺乏) in skiing at home.

Heil says，“My skis are part of my body now.” She has spent so much time on them and she never feels bored at all! She has so much energy that when she is off her skis, she still plays a sport. She was also very good at many other sports. She was very good at volleyball, but was too short. She set records in high school for junior cross-country running, but had to quit because of injuries. Heil swam for 11 years and competed in the provincials，which is like a state-wide competition in the US. She even did freestyle in the pool!

Jennifer Heil now lives in Montreal, Canada where she skis nearby.

Joint Statement from the IOC and the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee

The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, and the Prime Minister of Japan, Abe Shinzo, held a conference call this morning to discuss the constantly changing environment with regard to COVID-19 and the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

President Bach and Prime Minister Abe expressed their shared concern about the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, and what it is doing to people’s lives and the significant effect it is having on global athletes’ preparations for the Games.

In a very friendly and constructive meeting, the two leaders praised the work of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee and noted the great progress being made in Japan to fight against COVID-19.

The unprecedented and unpredictable spread of the outbreak has seen the situation in the rest of the world worsening. Yesterday, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating. There are more than 375,000 cases now recorded worldwide and in nearly every country, and their number is growing by the hour.

In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community.

The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon (灯塔) of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present. Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

My 10-year-old son and two friends attended a 2-hour fantastic basketball camp on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. A few minutes before the session ended, there was a shooting contest. Only a few kids were chosen to compete, and my son was not one of them. The contest winners received prizes and recognition, as did a few kids chosen as “all-stars” for effort, skill and participation. Again, my son was not selected.

My son was struggling to deal with his disappointment.

At the camp, he played a basketball game with kids he had never met, guarded them fiercely and took shots easily against them. As his mom, I was thrilled that he spent the day without his iPad. All in all, the day felt wonderful. The last thing I wanted was for these awards to ruin the experience.

I decided to simplify it for him. I did the math and figured out the shooting contest and awards were about 6% of the total camp. The rest of the camp, the parts that he enjoyed, were 94% of the day. Even though the kid loves math, it was hard for him to see the contests and awards as a small part of his day.

My son once told me about a negative situation that played out at recess（课间休息）. The way he explained it felt like the disagreement lasted hours, but it turns out it was only the last few minutes of recess.

Now is the time for me as the parent to help my kids think more positively. If my son leaves a half-day camp and most of the day was great —that’s a win. If our family is able to go to Florida over winter break and enjoy time together, away from the everyday headaches, that’s also a win. We can acknowledge the aspects that disappoint us, as long as we are willing to then focus on the bigger picture.

It starts with me and my husband. Our kids will model the behavior we show. They need to see us thinking positively and not hyper-focusing on the negative 6%.