TOM DALEY: A YOUNG DIVING STAR.

                                                                                   

Tom Daley (born on 21st May in Plymouth, England) is a British diver specialised in the 10 metre platform. He won the gold medals in the European Swimming Championships in 2008 and 2012. He has also won the gold medal in the 2009 World Championships and the bronze medal in the London Olympic Games in 2012.

He started diving at the age of 7 in the Plymouth Diving Club. He started showing his talent when he became the child to have won most junior events. When he was 11, he was invited to the Australian National Championship, where he occupied the first place in 10 m platform and the second in 3 m springboard, beating all the participants who were between the age of 14-15.

                                                                           

In 2008, he was the British under-18 winner in platform and also in 3 m springboard. It seemed not enough for him as he decided to participate in the senior competition, and to the public surprise, he became the youngest winner of the senior British 10 m title.

                                                                                   

His career has grown up a lot since that moment. He began to compete in the international FINA circuits becoming one of the youngest participants. In 2008 he won two medals in the Gran Premio de Madrid (a silver in synchro and a bronze in the individual platform competition). Daley qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games in platform and, following the retirement of 2004 silver medalist Leon Taylor, in the 10 m platform synchro competition. It was initially claimed by the British media that in competing he would become the youngest-ever male British Olympian.


                                                                     

Daley won the 2007 BBC Sports Young Personality of the Year award and he was considered a medal prospect for the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He became one of the British Olympians being tracked through the years leading up to London 2012 by the BBC TV series Olympic Dreams.

                                                                 

                                                                           


On December 2013, Tom Daley appeared in all media for a reason not having to do with sport. He released a video announcing that he has been in a relationship with a man since early that year. He said: "I still fancy girls, but at the moment I´ve never been happier."  Daley later said that it was a tough decision to speak out about his private life. He said: " I'd never felt the feeling of love, it happened so quickly, I was completely overwhelmed by it to the point I can't get him out of my head all the time."

                                                                   



I think that Tom is a really nice and hard-working person. He works hard trying to make all his dreams come true. And to me, that´s admirable.

This article has been written by Rocío Rivera Steimel. 4º ESO B.

LONDON FOOTBALL CLUBS

                                                                 

There are 14 professional football teams in London

London is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most important cities in Europe. However, and in spite of having some good football teams and the England´s national stadium (Wembley Stadium), it was not until May 19, 2012, that a team from this city-Chelsea F.C. became European champions.

 As for the 2013-2014 season, there are 14 professional football teams in London, six of them playing in the Premier League, seven in the football League and one in the Conference. We are going to speak about the most popular of these teams. We are talking -don´t forget it! about the capital of the "home of football".



CHELSEA F.C                                                   
                                                                                   

Stamford Bridge

Founded in 1905. Their stadium is Stamford Bridge (41.837 seats). Its nicknames are The Blues, or The Pensioners. Owned by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, they are nowadays managed by successful but controversial Portuguese coach Jose Mourinho.

                                                                             

A team of this season

Honours:

4 Premier Leagues, 7 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 1 UEFA Champions League (2011-2012); 1 UEFA Europa League, 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and 1 UEFA Supercup.

                                                                         

Chelsea was the first London team to become European champions in 2012

Best players ever: Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, John Terry, Juan Mata, Gianfranco Zola, Peter Osgood, Kerry Dixon, Petr Cech, Ron Harris, Peter Bonnetti, Dennis Wise, Bobby Tambling or Arjen Robben.

                                                                     

This could be an ideal Chelsea
all-time eleven

                                                                 

                                                            Champions League final 2012

                                                                       Cup Winners' Cup 1971

                                                                 Chelsea's Premier League 2005
                                                                       



ARSENAL F.C.

The Emirates Stadium

The Gunners were founded in 1886 and play in the Emirates Stadium (60.361). His manager, the French Arsene Wenger, arrived to the club in 1996, being now the longest-serving manager in their history.

                                                                   

Arsenal 2013-2014

They have won 13 League championships and 10 FA Cups, what makes them one of the most successful clubs in English football. In addition to these, they have also won 2 League Cups, one European Cup Winners' Cup and 1 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

                                                                 

"The Invincibles" did not lose from 7 May 2003 to 16 October 2004 (49 matches)

 


Among their most important players along history, we can stand out Thierry Henry, David O'Leary, Ian Wright, David Seaman, Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira, Liam Brady or the present Mesut Ozil or Theo Walcott.

Some of Arsenal legends

                                                      Arsenal´s greatest 10 moments in history

                                                 The title decider: Liverpool 0 Arsenal 2 (1989)

                                                                  Arsenal's first double 1971



TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR F.C.

White Hart Lane

     

Founded in 1882, the North London club known as The Spurs or The Lilywhites plays at White Hart Lane Stadium (36.310). Their coach at this moment is the Portuguese André Villas-Boas and they are fighting, as many other times before, to give a qualitative step forward.

Roberto Soldado is one of the main Spurs players today

They have won 2 League Championships (the last as far as 1961), 8 FA Cups, 4 League Cups, 2 UEFA Cups, 1 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.

                                                                       

Tottenham got the League and Cup double in 1961

Best all-time players: Danny Blanchflower, Jimmy Greaves, Dave Mackay, Glen Hoddle, Pat Jennings, Osvaldo Ardiles, Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker, Chris Waddle and two players now in Real Madrid ranks: Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.

                                 

Bale or Gascoigne are among the legends of the Spurs

    

                                                                         

                                                                       The Glory

                                              Uefa Cup final 1972 (Tottenham-Wolverhampton)

                                                                      Bale against Inter

                                                                                   


WEST HAM UNITED F.C.

               

Based in East London, this club was founded in 1895. Popularly called The Hammers they are currently playing the Premier League where they reached the third position in 1986. Their manager now is Sam Allardyce and they play in The Boleyn Ground (Upton Park, 35.016).

                                                                 

West Ham is The Academy of Football

Also known as The Academy of Football, since the club takes pride in the number of international players having emerged from his youth teams. That is the case of  1966 World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst and others like Trevor Brooking, Paul Ince, Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Joe Cole or Michael Carrick.

                                                               

Moore, Peters and Hurst were key players in Englnd´s victory at 1966 World Cup

The Hammers have won three FA Cups (1964, 1975, 1980) and 1 European Cup Winners' Cup (1965). In spite of the small number of titles, they are one of eight teams that have never competed below the second division of the English football-although they are the only one who has never won the league title.

                                                               

One of the most emblematic teams in West Ham history

                                                                       Moore than History

                                                              Cup final against Arsenal 1980

                                                                     1966 World Cup






FULHAM F.C.

                                        

The Cottagers are the oldest established football  team from London playing the Premier League (1879). They are now in their 24th season in English football's top division (their 13th in a row). They play in Craven Cottage (25.700) and are currently managed by Dutch coach René Meulensteen.


                                                                         

Craven Cottage

Fulham F.C. has never won any major honour, although they have reached two important finals: In 1975, they lost the FA Cup final against West Ham (they lost 2-0), and in 2010 they lost the Europa League final against Atletico Madrid (2-1 after extra time).

                                                                   

The team who played the Europa League final in 2010

The club has had many important players including Johnny Haines, Bobby Robson, Allan Mullery or the present team members Dimitar Berbatov or Maarten Stekelenburg.

                   

Former owner Mohamed Al-Fayed (left) sells the club to
American businessman Sahid Khan (July 2013)

                                                      Fulham-Roy Hodgson (Their legend coach)

                                                        West Ham 2-Fulham 0 (1975 Cup Final)


CRYSTAL PALACE F.C.

                                                                         

The Eagles won promotion to the Premier League last season (they will play their 13th season in the maximum division) and are struggling this year to keep their status, in the same way as they have done in the last thirty or fourty years. Their ground is Selhurst Park (26.309) and the manager is Welsh Tony Pulis.

                                                                       

Selhurst Park

Their best position in the English top division was to be the third in 1990-1991. They have won the second division twice and were FA Cup finalists in 1990, losing against Manchester United 1-0 in the replay , after drawing the first match 3-3.

                                                                       

Alan Pardew celebrates his goal against Liverpool
that classifies them for  the Cup Final in 1990

Palace has had important coaches such as Terry Venables, Steve Coppell or Trevor Francis. The best players have been Chris Coleman, Kenny Sansom, Ian Wright or Andrew Johnson.

                                                                         

                                          Third division Crystal Palace wins Chelsea in 1976 Cup

                                                    Cup final replay 1990 (ManU 1-Palace 0)

                                             Play-off final 2012-2013 (Palace 1-Watford 0)

THE HUNGER GAMES

                                                                           

The Hunger Games logo

Let´s talk about one of the best trilogies ever written, in my opinion. It's The Hunger Games. Suzanne Collins, the writer, put into these three books the essence of all the genres that I like most: romance; fantasy; action.

It is wonderful to imagine all the things those books bring to our mind, and the way in which the author uses the words makes them really addictive. I couldn't stop reading!

                                                                     

The trilogy has been translated to a lot of different languages

THE PLOT

Every year, in the ruins of what North America was once, the nation of Panem forces all districts to send a boy and a girl, aged between twelve and eighteen, to fight till death in The Hunger Games. This is partly an entertainment for people of the Capitol but it is also a deterrent tactic used by the Government to prevent any rebellion against them like that of The Dark Days, when all the districts rose against the Capitol. The Hunger Games are televised to the whole country. The boys and the girls, who are "the tributes", have to fight each other until only one of them survives.

                                                                       

In this map, you can see The Capitol and
all the districts that are part of Panem

       
                                                                           

In the seventy-fourth Hunger Games, the sixteen-year-old girl Katniss Everdeen, who narrates the story,  goes as a volunteer to the Hunger Games in place of her younger sister, Primrose. Katniss has to face other boys and girls from the different districts. Among them, she knows Peeta Mellark, a boy selected by lottery, who comes from her same District 12.

The tributes of all the districts have to fight each other to death

Katniss carries an amulet of her district- a mockingjay- to the games. With the help of Haymich, a tribute winner of the 50th Hunger Games, they have to defeat all their opponents. When they arrive at the Capitol, they need to impress the Capitol's people and sponsors, so that they can receive help in the form of food or water once they are in the arena. These things, though they may look too simple, can be the keys for their survival. Then, during the interviews, Peeta confesses his love for Katniss, as a strategy to win more sponsors.

                                                                     

Katniss and Peeta are the protagonists and
the winners of The Hunger Games.

   

After all the other tributes have been killed, a rule change is announced midway through the Games, allowing two tributes of the same district to win the Hunger Games as a couple. Katniss finds Peeta wounded and nurses him to health, gaining favour of most of the audience. Trying to look for a dramatic end the Gamemakers change the rules again, forcing them both to kill each other, since only one of them can win.

This makes Katniss pick up some poisonous berries and offer them to Peeta. They are both committing suicide. With this strategy he gets the Gamemakers announce that both Katniss and Peeta will be the winners of the 74th Hunger Games.
                                                         
                                                                 

Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss Everdeen

This final act has a significant influence on the other two books ("Catching Fire" and "Mockingjay"), since it is the cause of the later rebellion. Katniss becomes a symbol of hope for the people of all the districts.

The novel, first published in 2008, has sold milions of copies all over the world and was adapted into a film by director Gary Ross in 2012.

                                                The trailer of the adaptation of The Hunger Games

                                          The trailer of the second part of the trilogy, "Catching Fire"



This article has been written by Tamara Alvites, 1º Bachillerato HCS.