GOOD

This Cross Crountry Runner Broke the Rules, and Everyone’s Okay With That

“You’re with me, I’ve got you,” said the girl referred to as an “angel that day.”

 Penn Collins
12.01.16

Gracie Bucher is an 8th grader, which means that she and her peers are certainly old enough to understand the concept of rules and what the penalties are for breaking them. However, she’s way ahead of the curve when it comes to lessons in humanity, all thanks to a compassionate 12th-grade competitor in a recent cross country race.

Pictured: Gracie Bucher

Liana Blomgren of Mountain Lake High School had the finish line in sight when she saw Gracie of Windom, Minnesota ahead of her, staggering and then collapsing face-first into the ground. Gracie got up under her own power, but then immediately collapsed again. Repeated efforts to stand were met with fall after fall. Her mom, watching from the stands, called the sight “excruciating.” Knowing the rules, Gracie’s mom, Missy, didn’t approach her daughter since any contact would mean disqualification.

Pictured: Liana Blomgren

Liana, having witnessed Gracie’s struggle from behind her, knew the rules as well, but chose to disregard them to come to the aid of her competitor, a stranger. She recalls to KARE 9 News, “I knew she wasn’t going to get to the finish line by herself and I knew that she needed somebody and nobody else was there for her.”

Stopping above her, she pulled Gracie up to her feet then supported her weight as the two crossed the finish line arm-in-arm.

They both finished and were both disqualified. Gracie would later find out that she had run the race while battling mononucleosis. Liana’s dad and trainer, Kyle, supports her decision to take the DQ to help someone in need. He says, “I don’t believe there’s another sport where an athlete would be allowed on the field in that condition. And it took an 18-year-old girl to step in and help.”

Naturally, many who learned of Liana’s act are upset at the disqualification, but Liana’s certainly made her peace with it. She says, “I don’t remember what place I was in the section meet last year. I don’t remember what place I was in the section meet the year before that. But I know I’m going to remember this.”

It looks like she may emerge from the experience with a new friend, as well.

Kim Blomgren

Sports

A former Miss World contestant was disqualified for being a mom. Now she's fighting back.

Some beauty pageants, like the Miss America competition, have done away with the swimsuit portions of the competitions, thus dipping their toes in the 21st century. Other aspects of beauty pageants remain stuck in the 1950s, and we're not even talking about the whole "judging women mostly on their looks" thing. One beauty pageant winner was disqualified for being a mom, as if you can't be beautiful after you've had a kid. Now she's trying to get the Miss World competition to update their rules.

Veronika Didusenko won the Miss Ukraine pageant in 2018. After four days, she was disqualified because pageant officials found out she was a mom to 5-year-old son Alex, and had been married. Didusenko said she had been aware of Miss World's rule barring mother from competing, but was encouraged to compete anyways by pageant organizers.

Keep Reading Show less
sexism beauty contest discrimination veronika didusenko miss world

NASA's solar probe sent back its first findings, and it's more incredible than we thought

upload.wikimedia.org

One mystery in our universe is a step closer to being solved. NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched last year to help scientists understand the sun. Now, it has returned its first findings. Four papers were published in the journal Nature detailing the findings of Parker's first two flybys. It's one small step for a solar probe, one giant leap for mankind.



It is astounding that we've advanced to the point where we've managed to build a probe capable of flying within 15 million miles from the surface of the sun, but here we are. Parker can withstand temperatures of up to 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit and travels at 430,000 miles per hour. It's the fastest human-made vehicle, and no other human-made object has been so close to the sun.

Keep Reading Show less
nasa space parker solar probe sun

The Army's football program ditched a team motto after learning it's used by white supremacists

via Sportstreambest / Flickr

Since the mid '90s the phrase "God Forgives, Brothers Don't" has been part of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's football team's lexicon.

Over the past few years, the team has taken the field flying a black skull-and-crossbones flag with an acronym for the phrase, "GFBD" on the skull's upper lip. Supporters of the team also use it on social media as #GFBD.

Keep Reading Show less
god forgives brothers don't white supremacists aryan biker gangs brian bosworth west point football anti-defamation league college football espn army motto gfbd
Culture