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Hello, Elle!
Anne B is a great help to me when solving.
I am a fan!
I like "Ladies Who Lunge", a very apt name!
How did they do?
Speaking of athletes, Trotty and Jason auctioned one of their crash hats, signed, on eBay, and it finished today.
I think it went for over £1200, and the money they raised is going to help Kristina Vogel, who was paralysed, as I mentioned to you.
I think she had a press conference last week but I have not seen it yet.
Must check YouTube.
Kristina was a super sprinter, up there with Victoria P and Anna Meares.
The wind is rising here!

Hi, Rusty!
Yes, the team name appealed to me, too!
But they didn't win!
In fact, I don't think that any of the recent "Celebrity" teams has succeeded in beating the "Eggheads".
A pity, as any money won in the Celebrity challenges goes to chosen charities.
Goldie Sayers (javelin thrower) was the only member of tonight's panel whom I recognised.
That was a lovely gesture of Laura's and Jason's to auction one of their helmets, and donate the proceeds to help Kristina Vogel.
I wonder will any other colleagues/ sportspeople come forward with similar gestures?
Or maybe donate prize money?
That would help Kristina a lot , wouldn't it?
I hope your weather doesn't get too bad....
At the moment, it looks as though we might well miss the storms here in the South -east.

Hello, Elle!
It takes a fine team to beat the Eggheads!
Yes, Trotty and Jason are two of the best, well done them!
I know that Kristina's team mate, Max Levy, was trying to raise 50,000 Euros to help her and her family.
Kristina was a part time policewoman, and the German police told her she has a job for life with them.
Her interview video is here.
https://www.dw.com/en/kristina-vogel-its-more-difficult-than-the-battle-for-an-olympic-gold-medal/a-45459497
Weather is OK here just now, but the folks in Belfast say it is getting worse there.
We'll be fine!

Hi, Rusty!
Oops, I am sorry...I fell asleep, reading my book .......
I listened to Kristina's interview...and read all the documentation.
What a brave young woman!
With such a positive attitude, hopefully she can still have a bright future, if very different from what she originally envisaged.
Kristina seems to have good background support, from her partner, and family and friends.
She seems keen to get back into sport in some fashion?
And it is good that she will always have a job with the police.
She struck me as having a very "Pollyanna -like" attitude .
I am filled with admiration for her fortitude.
I hope your weather hasn't worsened in the interim...whilst I dozed!.....and that it will remain reasonably calm.
I am now away to my bed!

Good morning, Elle!
Hope the weather will be nice today!
So far so good.
Kristina "appears" to be adjusting well to her new circumstances, but what an awful tragedy to befall her.
The German police have been very good to her, as have her family, friends, and fellow riders, and her doctors and the medical staff.
I've read some of the messages from her fellow sprinters, like Becky James, Steph Morton, and Nettie Edmonson.
There was a very nice one from Stephen Fry, too.
One strange thing, in her accident/crash, it was a Dutch rider who was involved, and Kristina has not heard a thing from either the rider or the Dutch cycling federation.
Not one word! Very strange!
Ah well, I wonder what today holds!

Good morning, Rusty!
Drizzly here this morning and a little breezy.
How are your friends in Belfast faring with storm Helene?
It didn't sound too good over there last night?
I am wondering whether the lack of response from the Dutch cyclist involved in Kristina's crash...and also the Cycling Federation ...might possibly be on legal advice?
Perhaps they have been advised to "keep quiet" while the legal procedures are sorted out?
Right, I must away and change out of my walking gear....
I am very shortly going to have my hair cut!
I shall be back about lunchtime........

Hello, Elle!
No word from Belfast or Donegal, so far, today.
The Belfast folk have "adopted" a gecko and most of their news has been about him!
I think the same regarding the Dutch rider etc.
It may well be on legal advice, but I have no idea if there are any legal implications related to the crash.
I do not know who the other rider is, or anything else about the crash, other than it happened at the Cottbus Velodrome in Germany, and Kristina was flown to Berlin for treatment.
It is a "fell dreich" day here, now.

Hi, Rusty!
I am home again......with my hair shorter now by about an inch!
Our day has "perked up"....the drizzle has gone....... and we now have sunshine!
I trust your weather has improved somewhat , too?
( My friend in Calgary says she is having heavy snow! )
I have a lazyish afternoon ahead....
I think I'll have a yoghurt for lunch...and maybe a couple of those very tempting Ginger Thin biscuits!
Then take a belated look at the crossword........

Good afternoon, Elle!
Happy haircut!
It is still dreich here, and windy
We are due the tail end of Storm Helene, and Storm Ali is right behind.
My understanding is the storms are named in alphabetical order?
Ali (male) is the first named storm, to be followed by Bronagh (female).
So, what am I missing?
Is Ali the first of a new storm season, or what?
In the puzzle, for 9a, think "Centennial"!

Hi Rusty
Helene is a second-hand storm, sent to us from the US, where it was named. Ali is our first home-grown one.
However that doesn't explain why the current one in the US is Florence!