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American Idol runner up dies at age 23

<p><em>American Idol</em> runner-up Willie Spence has tragically died from injuries sustained in a car accident at age 23. </p> <p>The talented musician was in Tennessee at the time of the accident according to local news outlet Douglas Now. </p> <p>Upon hearing of his death, <em>American Idol</em> shared an emotional statement. </p> <p>“We are devastated about the passing of our beloved <em>American Idol</em> family member, Willie Spence,” the show said in a statement on Twitter.</p> <p>“He was a true talent who lit up every room he entered and will be deeply missed. We send our condolences to his loved ones.”</p> <p>Katharine McPhee, who performed a duet with Spence during his appearance on Season 19, posted videos mourning him on her Instagram Story.</p> <p>“I received very tragic news tonight,” she wrote above a video of her and Spence meeting. “Sweet @williespenceofficial passed away in a car accident. Only 23 years old. Life is so unfair and nothing is ever promised."</p> <p>“God rest your soul Willie. It was a pleasure to sing with you and to know you.”</p> <p>McPhee, 38, added a series of broken-heart emojis and also reposted the last video Spence shared, which shows him belting out a Christian song in a car, right before the accident.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjlR1TyguSc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CjlR1TyguSc/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by StarInTheMaking💥✨🎙🙏🏽 (@williespenceofficial)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“He posted this right before the accident,” she added.</p> <p>Fans and followers flooded Spence’s post with comments about the tragic accident.</p> <p>“Fly and sing with the angels and dance among the stars friend! RIH️,” commented one.</p> <p>“OMG I am so at a loss for words. Not you Willie! Wow … ️ Rest in Paradise, king,” commented another.</p> <p>Film producer Randall Emmett also paid tribute to his “friend” on his Instagram Story.</p> <p>“My heart is broken and my prayers go out to his family,” he wrote over a photo of Spence. “I was lucky to have him sing for me live at my home and other events, I will miss you my friend. I know you touched so many of us. I’m heart broken.”</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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"Lost a jewel": Olympic runner found stabbed in her home

<p dir="ltr">Kenyan long-distance runner Agnes Tirop was found dead in her home at the age of 25, according to a statement released by Athletics Kenya on Wednesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">She was found with stab wounds in her abdomen, and her husband was missing. Athletics Kenya said it was still working to unearth more details surrounding her death.</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr"><a href="https://t.co/ncmzF6bu6Q">pic.twitter.com/ncmzF6bu6Q</a></p> — Athletics Kenya (@athletics_kenya) <a href="https://twitter.com/athletics_kenya/status/1448245193493385217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2021</a></blockquote> <p dir="ltr">The athlete won bronze in the 10,000m at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships, and finished 4th in the 5000m at the Tokyo Olympic Games earlier this year.</p> <p dir="ltr">Tirop made history last month by shaving 28 seconds off the long-standing, women-only world record for 10,000m at the Adizero Road to Records event in Germany. She finished in 30:01, breaking the previous record of 30:29 which had been set by Moroccan Asmae Leghzaoui in 2002.</p> <p dir="ltr">Following the win, Agnes told reporters, “I’m so happy to have broken the world record. I felt the pace was good. The course was very good, too.”</p> <p dir="ltr">At the 2015 IAAF World Cross Country Championships, she became the second-youngest ever gold medallist in the women’s race, after South African athlete Zola Budd.</p> <p dir="ltr">Athletics Kenya said the country had “lost a jewel who was one of the fastest-rising athletics giants on the international stage, thanks to her eye-catching performances.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also paid tribute, saying, “It is unsettling, utterly unfortunate and very sad that we’ve lost a young and promising athlete who, at a young age of 25 years, she had brought our country so much glory through her exploits on the global athletics stage including in this year’s 2020 Tokyo Olympics where she was part of the Kenyan team in Japan.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Mustafa Abumunes/AFP via Getty Images</em></p>

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Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius attacked in prison

<p>Former Paralympic champion and convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius has been attacked in prison over the use of a public phone.</p> <p>The double amputee – known as the “Blade Runner” – is currently serving a 13-year jail term for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.</p> <p>Pistorius was left with a bruise after “an altercation with another inmate over the use of a public phone” on December 6, according to the department of Correctional Services.</p> <p>Local media report that fellow prisoners were angered by Pistorius’s lengthy telephone conversation, which led to a brawl.</p> <p>“Oscar Pistorius sustained a bruise following an alleged incident with another inmate over the use of a public phone in the special care unit where both offenders are detained at Attridgeville Correctional Centre,” spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo said.</p> <p>Nxumalo said an official investigation has been launched into the incident.</p> <p>“As standard operating procedure regarding cases of alleged assaults, DCS has launched an internal investigation into the matter to establish the facts and to ensure that appropriate action is taken as incidents of assault are not allowed,” he said.</p> <p><img width="445" height="334" src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a055b7663bd2a0095d2062780f5ce143" alt="Oscar Pistorius and his late girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in happier times. Picture: AFP" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>In November 2016, Pistorius was moved to a prison north of the capital Pretoria, which caters for inmates with physical disabilities.</p> <p>Last month, the Supreme Court of Appeal more than doubled his original sentence of six years after the state argued that it was unduly lenient.</p> <p>Pistorius, 31, was originally convicted of culpable homicide over the 2013 killing — the equivalent of manslaughter — but the appeal court upgraded his conviction to murder</p>

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Australian Ultramarathon runner adopts stray dog after 125km trek

<p>Plenty of people have been followed home by a stray dog - but the tale of Australian ultramarathon runner Dion Leonard and Gobi and a 125-kilometre journey across China is quite something else.</p> <p>Edinburgh-based Leonard first met his new best friend early in the Gobi March, a 250-kilometre run across mountain and desert areas around the region of Kashgar. The race forms part of the gruelling international 4 Deserts series.</p> <p>At first Leonard didn't think much of his small fluffy sidekick. But the story that unfolded is incredible and has now gone global.</p> <p>"I noticed this dog was at my feet and looking up at me and I'm thinking 'I saw that dog yesterday walking around the campsite, that's a bit odd'," Leonard told BBC Radio.</p> <p>"I started to speed off and this little dog is looking up at me and I'm thinking 'this dog won't last the whole day' but 25 miles I think we ran that day and she was still with me at the end.</p> <p>"Day three was exactly the same. We started the race together and during that stage I actually had to take her across lots of rivers. She slept with me on day two, she came into the camp with me. From then on she didn't leave my side."</p> <p>Leonard said the dog - since christened Gobi - had shown incredible stamina to cover half the distance of the March with him and that she would have been up for more, had the race not gone into desert regions where temperatures reached an inhospitable 52 degrees.</p> <p>Race organisers stepped in to keep them together.</p> <p>"She'd sit there and wait for me [at the finish line] so I could see her as a I was running in. It was amazing to see her stand up and start running towards me," Leonard said.</p> <p>"It was then that I realised this was something else other than a little dog following me."</p> <p>The next leg of the 4 Deserts Series is the Atacama Crossing in Chile in October but Leonard has taken on a more sentimental challenge in the meantime - a bid to be reunited with Gobi in Edinburgh.</p> <p><img width="499" height="610" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/25501/insert_499x610.jpg" alt="Insert"/></p> <p>Using the hashtag #bringgobihome, he has started fundraising for her "immigration fees" and has <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BringGobiHome/?fref=ts"><strong>Facebook</strong></a><a href="https://www.facebook.com/BringGobiHome/?fref=ts"> </a></span>and <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.instagram.com/bringgobihome/">Instagram</a></strong></span> pages set up for the cause.</p> <p>Leonard has pledged that any extra funds raised will be donated to a still-to-be-determined dog charity.</p> <p><em>Written by Simon White. First appeared on <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="http://www.stuff.co.nz/" target="_blank">Stuff.co.nz</a>.<br /></strong></span></em><strong><br />Related links:</strong></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/06/do-our-pets-dream/"><em>Do our pets dream?</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/05/dr-chris-brown-secrets-to-dealing-with-allergies-to-pets/"><em>The secret to dealing with pet allergies</em></a></strong></span></p> <p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2016/05/reasons-your-dogs-health-is-as-important-as-your-own/"><em>6 reasons your dog’s health is just as important as your own</em></a></strong></span></p>

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4 of the world’s most expensive sneakers

<p>This sneaker trend is getting a little silly, don’t you think? These four pairs of shoes cost more than a plane ride to the other side of the world. Apparently, sneakers have now reached the status of fine art in the sense that there are some collectors willing to spend oodles on a piece of history. Scroll through the gallery above to see the images.</p> <p><strong>Bicion</strong></p> <p>A pair of orthopaedic shoes set you back about $100 - or, you could always splash out US$4 million ($5.8 million) to own a pair of Bicion brand sneakers designed by sneaker artist Dan Gamache of Mache Custom Kicks.</p> <p>Adopting the philosophy that anything can be the world's most expensive if you throw enough diamonds and gold at it, Gamache has outdone himself with this very limited edition pair of kicks (there's only one).</p> <p><strong>Rock solid</strong><br /> <br /> Dubbed the Li-Ning Way of Wade "The Fire Monkey" (we have no idea what it means either, but it has something to do with NBA basketballer Dwayne Wade), the shoes are covered in hundreds of carats of white diamond pieces and blue sapphires set in 18 carat gold. You also get a solid gold hang tag depicting the logos of Bicion and Mache.<br /> <br /> Thankfully, this extreme excess is for a good cause. The sneakers were launched in New York City with the announcement that the money will go to Soles4Soles, a charity that collects and distributes shoes and clothing for those in need.<br /> <br /> According to rumours, an interested sneaker buff from China is flying in to buy them. We're tipping they're unlikely be seeing any jogging action.<br /> <br /><strong>Collectables</strong></p> <p>Chris Kyvetos, the founder of Australian retailer Sneakerboy, says expensive sneakers are not unusual, especially in the world of collecting.</p> <p>He once collaborated with luxury French fashion house Balmain to create a men and women's hi-top that featured a waxed hide with python accents. It sold off the shelf for NZ$3,000.<br /> <br /> The most expensive sneakers he stocks are a mid-top leather with rabbit fur ankle by Buscemi. Handcrafted in Civitanova Italy, they sell for NZ$2,540.</p> <p>It's when rare sneakers are resold to avid collectors that prices start to get really crazy.</p> <p>Kyvetos nominates the Nike Air Mag as a case in point. The shoe was made famous in the movie Back ToThe Future 2, in which it supposedly had self-fastening laces.</p> <p>Nike released a limited edition run of the shoe (albeit without the self-fastening laces) in 2011 for around $US800, examples of which now fetch in excess of US$10,000.</p> <p>Tell us in the comments below, what’s the most you’ve ever paid for sneakers?</p> <p><em>Written by Stephen Lacey, first appeared on <a href="http://Stuff.co.nz" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Stuff.co.nz</span><span style="text-decoration: underline;">.</span></strong></a></em></p> <p><strong>Related links:</strong></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/03/style-meets-comfort-at-homyped/"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">5 Orthopaedic shoes that don’t compromise on style</span></strong></em></a></p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/beauty-style/2016/04/tommy-hilfiger-adaptive-clothing-line/"><strong><em><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Tommy Hilfiger designs clothes for kids with disabilities</span></em></strong></a></p> <p><a href="/health/hearing/2016/04/worlds-most-expensive-headphones/"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">The headphones that cost $75,000</span></strong></em></a></p>

Beauty & Style

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20 thoughts every beginner runner has

<p>So you’ve decided to take on running. You’ve heard of the health benefits, and you’ve been meaning to get into exercise more. You have friends who run. Running is definitely for you. Well then, here are the thoughts you might expect to feel as a first-time runner.</p> <p>1. I can run. Betty runs every day. If Betty can do it so can I.</p> <p>2. Now that I’ve bought nice running shoes and workout clothes, I’ll have so much motivation to run. I feel healthier just wearing them.</p> <p>3. Today is the day. I am going to start running. It’s time to get healthy.</p> <p>4. It looks like it’s going to rain. Maybe I should wait for it to pass.</p> <p>5. It’s too hot now. I should wait for the sun to lower a little bit.</p> <p>6. Okay, no more excuses, I am going. I am running.</p> <p>7. This isn’t so bad. This is what legs were made for. I am a gazelle. Look at me go.</p> <p>8. What do I do with my water bottle? Do I hold it? Do people still wear bumbag? Should I get a fanny pack?</p> <p>9. This sports bra isn’t doing anything. Does Betty have this problem with her sports bra? Betty doesn’t even have boobs.</p> <p>10. I am so tired. How long have I been running? At least 10 minutes, it has to be. 3 minutes?! That’s it?</p> <p>11. Oh no, people are coming my way. I am breathing too loud. They’re going to think that I’m dying.</p> <p>12. I’ll slow down and just walk past them. Nothing to see here, folks. I run every single day. I am a natural. I am a running machine. I’m taking a break because I want to, not because I need to.</p> <p>13. Time to speed up again. This hurts. Everything hurts. My lungs are on fire. Is that a shin splint? I’ve heard about those. I think I have a shin splint. My shins are splinted.</p> <p>14. Do people actually like running? I think Betty is lying. I never trusted Betty.</p> <p>15. Incoming joggers. Why do they look so happy? How do they make it look so easy? Come on, self, pick up the pace, you’re halfway done.</p> <p>16. I hope this person ahead of me doesn’t think I’m following them. They keep looking back. Maybe if I just do a little smile and wave – nope, now it’s even more awkward.</p> <p>17. It’s so hot. I am sweating. I hope I don’t run into anyone I know. No one should ever see me like this.</p> <p>18. Oh look it’s Rob and Betty! And they’re jogging! As a pair! Hi guys! Yes, I have taken up running. No, I don’t want to stop and talk about it. Can’t stop now, I’m running too fast!</p> <p>19. That was surprisingly motivating. I’m almost home.  When I get home, I’m never moving again.  There it is, it’s in sight. I can do it. Wait for me, couch! I’ll be there soon, shower!</p> <p>20. I’ve made it! That wasn’t so bad. That was actually easy. I feel great. I feel invincible. I am a runner now. I wonder if I should run a marathon.</p>

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