Sport is a form of physical activity or game. Often competitive and organized, sports use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills. They also provide enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Many sports exist, with different participant numbers, some are done by a single person with others being done by hundreds. Most sports take place either in teams or competing as individuals. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament format, producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a regular sports season, followed in some cases by playoffs.
Sport is generally recognised as system of activities based in physical athleticism or physical dexterity, with major competitions admitting only sports meeting this definition. Some organisations, such as the Council of Europe, preclude activities without any physical element from classification as sports. However, a number of competitive, but non-physical, activities claim recognition as mind sports. The International Olympic Committee who oversee the Olympic Games recognises both chess and bridge as sports. SportAccord, the international sports federation association, recognises five non-physical sports: bridge, chess, draughts, Go and xiangqi. However, they limit the number of mind games which can be admitted as sports. Sport is usually governed by a set of rules or customs, which serve to ensure fair competition. Winning can be determined by physical events such as scoring goals or crossing a line first. It can also be determined by judges who are scoring elements of the sporting performance, including objective or subjective measures such as technical performance or artistic impression. (Full article...)
Wayne Douglas GretzkyCC (/ˈɡrɛtski/GRET-skee; born January 26, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for four teams from 1979 to 1999, retiring at the age of 38. Nicknamed "the Great One", he has been called the greatest ice hockey player ever by many sportswriters, players, The Hockey News, and the NHL itself, based on extensive surveys of hockey writers, ex-players, general managers and coaches. Gretzky is the leading career goal scorer, assist producer and point scorer in NHL history, and has more career assists than any other player has total points. He is the only NHL player to total over 200 points in one season, a feat he accomplished four times. In addition, Gretzky tallied over 100 points in 15 professional seasons, 13 of them consecutive. At the time of his retirement in 1999, he held 61 NHL records: 40 regular season records, 15 playoff records, and 6 All-Star records.
Born and raised in Brantford, Ontario, Gretzky honed his skills on a backyard rink and regularly played minor hockey at a level far above his peers. Despite his unimpressive size and strength, Gretzky's intelligence, stamina, and reading of the game were unrivaled. He was adept at dodging checks from opposing players, and consistently anticipated where the puck was going to be and executed the right move at the right time. Gretzky became known for setting up behind his opponent's net, an area that was nicknamed "Gretzky's office". (Full article...)
Born in Winters, Texas, and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Hornsby played for several semi-professional and minor league teams. In 1915, he began his major league career with the St. Louis Cardinals and remained with the team for 12 seasons. During this period, Hornsby won his first MVP Award and the Cardinals won the 1926 World Series. After that season, he spent one season with the New York Giants and another with the Boston Braves before being traded to the Chicago Cubs. He played with the Cubs for four years and won his second MVP Award before the team released him in 1932. Hornsby re-signed with the Cardinals in 1933, but was released partway through the season, effectively ending his career as a full-time player. He was picked up by the St. Louis Browns and remained there until his final season in 1937, though he made only 67 appearances for them as a player. From 1925 to 1937, Hornsby was intermittently a player-manager. After retiring as a player, he managed the Browns in 1952 and the Cincinnati Reds from 1952 to 1953. (Full article...)
After showing promise at an early age, O'Brien was sent to Sydney to train under renowned coach Forbes Carlile and his breaststroke assistant Terry Gathercole. He competed in his first national championships in 1962 at the age of 15, winning the 220 yard breaststroke to gain selection for the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, where he won both the 110 and 220 yd (200 m) breaststroke and the 4 × 110 yd medley relay. (Full article...)
Lewis Hamilton, the eventual Drivers' Champion, led the Championship going into the race, and started from pole position alongside Räikkönen. Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen began from third, next to Alonso. At the first corner Hamilton braked late, forcing Räikkönen wide. Hamilton was later given a penalty, and was criticised by the British racing press for overaggressive driving. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, Hamilton's principal Championship rival, was penalised after an incident on lap two in which he touched Hamilton's car, causing it to spin. The incident dropped Hamilton to the back of the field, from where he was unable to regain a points scoring position. Massa later collided with Sébastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso. Bourdais was penalised after the race, and demoted from sixth to tenth position. The penalty prompted widespread criticism from the racing media and ex-drivers. (Full article...)
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During the 1907–08 English football season, New Brompton F.C. (named Gillingham F.C. since 1912) competed in the Southern League Division One. It was the 14th season in which the club competed in the Southern League and the 13th in Division One. The team lost their first game of the season 9–1 to Bristol Rovers, the heaviest defeat in the club's history up to that point. Despite the poor start, the team climbed to 6th place out of 20 teams in the league table in mid-November after a run of three consecutive wins, but by the end of December they had slipped to 12th place, having achieved seven wins and five draws in twenty Southern League games. In the second half of the season, however, the team lost fourteen out of eighteen league games, and New Brompton finished the campaign in 20th place, the first time the team had finished bottom of the table.
New Brompton also competed in the FA Cup; in the first round they played Sunderland, the first time a team from the Football League First Division had played at New Brompton's Priestfield Road ground. New Brompton won 3–1, which was seen as the greatest win the club had yet achieved. In the second round they held another First Division team, Manchester City, to a draw away from home but lost the replay. The team played a total of 42 league and cup matches, winning 11, drawing 8, and losing 23. Charlie McGibbon was the club's top goalscorer with 14 goals in the league and 8 in the FA Cup. John Martin made the most appearances, playing in 40 of the team's 42 competitive games. The FA Cup match against Sunderland set a new attendance record for the Priestfield Road ground of 10,620; the record was broken again for the match against Manchester City, which drew an attendance reported at 12,000. (Full article...)
The late 1960s was a turbulent time for the club. The problems began when the club, under manager Dick Taylor, was relegated from the first tier of English football for the third time in 1967. Within two years, pressure from supporters led to the resignation of the board of directors. The club was then relegated to the Third Division. In the 1971–72 season, Aston Villa returned to the Second Division as champions with a record 70 points. In 1974 Ron Saunders was appointed manager, and by 1975 he led the club back into the First Division and into European competition. It continued to have much success under Saunders, winning the league in the 1980–81 season. Saunders' resignation halfway through the 1981–82 season came as a surprise, with the club in the quarter-final of the European Cup. He was replaced by his assistant manager Tony Barton who guided them to 1–0 victory over Bayern Munich in the European Cup final in Rotterdam. However, winning the cup marked a pinnacle, and the club fell steadily down the League standings over the next five years and was relegated in 1987. The club was promoted the following year, and achieved second place in the Football League in 1989 under manager Graham Taylor. (Full article...)
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On July 10, 1932, the Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians 18–17 in 18 innings in a Major League Baseball game played at League Park in Cleveland. Several major-league records were set during the game; for example, Johnny Burnett of the Indians became the only player to hit safely nine (or even eight) times in a game, while Cleveland's 33 hits and the teams' combined 58 hits are also single-game records. Pitcher Eddie Rommel secured the win for the Athletics, pitching an American League-record 17 innings in relief after Philadelphia's Lew Krausse gave up three runs in the first inning. The 29 hits Rommel allowed are a major-league record; the 14 runs against him are the most given up by a winning pitcher.
Coming into the game, the Athletics, who were the three-time defending American League champions, trailed the New York Yankees in the standings by 71⁄2games. Sunday baseball was still illegal in Philadelphia, forcing the Athletics to make one-game road trips on some Sundays, including July 10. With his pitching staff exhausted by six games in the previous three days, the owner and manager of the Athletics, Connie Mack, took only two pitchers on the train trip to Cleveland, giving the rest of the staff the day off. With no chance of being relieved except by a position player, Rommel pitched with mixed effectiveness, giving up six runs in the seventh inning but only two runs in the final nine innings of the game. He aided his own cause by getting three hits in seven at bats. Cleveland's Wes Ferrell took the loss after Jimmie Foxx got his sixth hit of the game and then scored. Foxx had already batted in eight runs, having hit three home runs and accumulated sixteen total bases, tying a record that has since been broken. (Full article...)
Woolwich Arsenal (in dark shirts) playing Newcastle United (in striped shirts) in an FA Cup semi-final at the Victoria Ground, Stoke on 31 March 1906 The history of Arsenal Football Club between 1886 and 1966 covers the time from the club's foundation, through the first two major periods of success (the 1930s, and the late 1940s and early 1950s, respectively) and the club's subsequent decline in the early 1960s.
Arsenal Football Club was founded in 1886 as a munition workers' team from Woolwich, then in Kent. They turned professional in 1891 and joined The Football League two years later. They were promoted to the First Division in 1904 but in 1910 the club went into voluntary liquidation due to financial problems and were bought out by a consortium of businessmen. New majority shareholder Sir Henry Norris improved the club's financial standing and moved the team to Arsenal Stadium, Highbury, north London in 1913. In 1919, after the First World War, the club was voted into the newly expanded First Division, where they have remained ever since. (Full article...)
The game's organizers had previously selected a team from the East Coast and the West Coast, and asked the Washington Huskies to represent the West Coast. Washington requested that the Navy Midshipmen be their opponents, and Navy accepted. Washington selected Navy in favor of several teams from the east which had amassed better records. Both teams had suffered only a single loss during the season, but Washington had won eight games compared with Navy's five, although Navy had also amassed two ties. Predictions gave Washington a slight advantage in the game due to the weight difference between the teams: the Washington players were on average 10 pounds (4.5 kg) heavier than those of Navy. (Full article...)
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The 2002 World Snooker Championship (also referred to as the 2002 Embassy World Snooker Championship for the purposes of sponsorship) was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 20 April to 6 May 2002 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the final ranking event of the 2001–02 snooker season. This was the 26th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, marking the 25th anniversary of the first staging of the event at this venue. The championship was sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
Peter Ebdon won his only world title by defeating seven-time winner Stephen Hendry 18–17 in the final. Ebdon defeated Matthew Stevens 17–16 in the semi-finals, and Hendry defeated the defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 17–13 to reach the final. This was Hendry's ninth and last appearance in a World Championship final. There were 65 century breaks during the tournament. The highest break of the tournament was by Stevens, who achieved 145 in his quarter-final match. Hendry made 16 centuries during the event, a record for any individual tournament, equalled by Mark Williams in 2022. A total prize fund of £1,615,770 was awarded at the event, the winner receiving £260,000 (Full article...)
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A 1904 illustration from the Badminton Library's Cricket, showing a batsman who is leg before wicket. The original caption was "A clear case" [of lbw]. Leg before wicket (lbw) is one of the ways in which a batter can be dismissed in the sport of cricket. Following an appeal by the fielding side, the umpire may rule a batter out lbw if the ball would have struck the wicket but was instead intercepted by any part of the batsman's body (except the hand(s) holding the bat). The umpire's decision will depend on a number of criteria, including where the ball pitched, whether the ball hit in line with the wickets, the ball's expected future trajectory after hitting the batsman, and whether the batsman was attempting to hit the ball.
Leg before wicket first appeared in the laws of cricket in 1774, as batsmen began to use their pads to prevent the ball from hitting their wicket. Over several years, refinements were made to clarify where the ball should pitch and to remove the element of interpreting the batsman's intentions. The 1839 version of the law used a wording that remained in place for nearly 100 years. However, starting in the latter part of the 19th century, batsmen became increasingly expert at "pad-play" to reduce the risk of their dismissal. Following a number of failed proposals for reform, in 1935 the law was expanded, such that batters could be dismissed lbw even if the ball pitched outside the line of off stump. Critics felt this change made the game unattractive as it encouraged negative tactics at the expense of leg spin bowling. (Full article...)
Joe Oakley (right), being penalised by the official (centre) for "dabbing" his foot on the ground during a mountain bike trials competition. Trials riding is a mountain biking discipline in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. Originating in Catalonia, it is popular within Europe and has a small following worldwide.
Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. Depicted here is a game from the first round of the 2012 Euroleague tournament, showing players from Toulouse (in red) and Roma (in white).
BASE jumping is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend safely to the ground. The acronym stands for four categories of fixed objects from which the jumps can be made: buildings, antennae, spans, and earth (cliffs). In this photograph, a BASE jumper launches himself from the top of the Sapphire Tower in Istanbul, Turkey.
This photograph of Skudina, taken in 2009, is part of a collection of 500 images of Russian sportspeople released to Wikimedia Commons by Bolshoi Sport.
A surfer off the coast of Santa Cruz, California, is performing a "cutback", or very sharp turn. Santa Cruz and the surrounding Northern California coastline is a popular surfing destination; however, the year-round low temperature of the Pacific Ocean in that region (averaging 57 °F or 14 °C) necessitates the use of wetsuits.
Motocross is form of motorcycle or ATV racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The tracks are often quite large, natural, terrains with very few man made jumps, unlike Supercross, a sport that was originally derived from Motocross and is executed on a smaller track with many more extreme man made obstacles.
Photo: National Photo Company; restoration: Lise Broer; crop: jjron
Ty Cobb (1886–1961), shown here sliding into third base on August 16, 1924, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He spent twenty-two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, including six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. During this time Cobb set ninety MLB records, though his abilities were sometimes overshadowed by his surly temperament and aggressive playing style. In 1936 Cobb was made an inaugural member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1999 editors at the Sporting News ranked him third on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".
A line-out at a rugby union match between Stade Toulousain and Lyon OU. When a player puts the ball out of the field of play, the opposing team is awarded a line-out; in the case of a penalty kick, the team that was awarded the penalty throws into the resulting line-out. A line-out is also awarded if a player in possession of the ball crosses or touches the touch-line while still in possession of the ball.
Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo/Wayne Short; editing by Shawnc
Boxing is a sport where two participants of similar weight attack each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called "rounds". Modern boxing began in 1867 with the Marquess of Queensberry rules. Currently, there are two distinct branches of boxing: Professional and Olympic, which have different rules, but are similar in execution.
...that whipcracking, the art of using a whip to create a miniature sonic boom, is a competitive sport in Australia, where it was also elaborated into whipboxing?
Annika Sörenstam (born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer whose achievements rank her as one of the most successful female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she won 90 international tournaments, including ten majors, as a professional, making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name.
Her successful amateur career included a win in the St. Rule Trophy played at St. Andrews and a runner-up finish in the Swedish national mother/daughter golf tournament. She moved to the United States to attend college at the University of Arizona. She won seven collegiate titles and in 1991, became the first non-American and first freshman to win the individual NCAA Division I Championship. She was 1991 NCAA Co-Player of the Year with Kelly Robbins, runner-up in the 1992 NCAA National Championship, 1992 Pac-10 champion and a 1991-92 NCAA All-American.
The winner of a record eight Player of the Year awards and six Vare Trophies, given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average; she is the only female golfer to have shot a 59 in competition. She holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average: 68.6969 in 2004. Representing Europe in the Solheim Cup on eight occasions between 1994–2007, Sörenstam was the event's all-time leading points earner until her record was surpassed by England's Laura Davies during the 2011 Solheim Cup. (Full article...)
The All Blacks are the Rugby World Cup champions, the leading points scorers of all time, and the only international rugby team with a winning record against every test nation they have ever played. The All Blacks have held the top ranking in the world for longer than all other countries combined, and in over 100 years only five test rugby nations have ever beaten New Zealand. The All Blacks have won The Rugby Championship a record eleven times (in 1996, 1997, 1999, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012) in the competition's 16-year history. The All Blacks have won over a record 75% of all rugby matches they have played since 1903 (which is amongst the highest in all International sport) and they were named the International Rugby Board (IRB) Team of the Year in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2010 and a record fifth time in 2011. Fifteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame; three of these are also inductees of the IRB Hall of Fame, and another player is a member of the IRB Hall.
The team's early uniforms consisted of a black jersey with a silver fern and white knickerbockers. By their 1905 tour New Zealand were wearing all black, except for the silver fern, and their All Black name dates from this time. New Zealand traditionally perform a haka (Māori challenge) before each match, traditionally the Te Rauparaha'sKa Mate. (Full article...)
Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, the team play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. It won its first major honour, the League championship, in 1955. The club won the FA Cup for the first time in 1970, their first European honour, the Cup Winners' Cup, in 1971, and became the third English club to win the Club World Cup in 2022.
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Joe Oakley (right), being penalised by the official (centre) for "dabbing" his foot on the ground during a mountain bike trials competition. Trials riding is a mountain biking discipline in which the rider attempts to pass through an obstacle course without setting foot to ground. Originating in Catalonia, it is popular within Europe and has a small following worldwide.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s Hendrick Motorsports pit crew execute a pit stop at a Sprint Cup Series competition at Darlington Raceway, South Carolina, in May 2008. In motor sport, pit stops are when the racing vehicle gets more fuel, new wheels, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, or any combination of the above.
Photo: John O'NeillRobbie McEwen, Australian professional road cyclist, wearing his Team Katusha (Russian: Катюша) cycling kit at the start of the 2010 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic. McEwen's accolades include winning the maillot vert (green jersey) overall Points Classification in the Tour de France three times, along with winning 12 individual stages, and competing in three Olympic Games. The green and gold bands around his arms identify him as an Australian National Cycling Champion.
Credit: PierreSelim
Photograph: Pierre-SelimWheelchair basketball is basketball played by people in wheelchairs and is considered one of the major disabled sports practiced. Depicted here is a game from the first round of the 2012 Euroleague tournament, showing players from Toulouse (in red) and Roma (in white).
Photograph credit: Kontizas DimitriosBASE jumping is the recreational sport of jumping from fixed objects, using a parachute to descend safely to the ground. The acronym stands for four categories of fixed objects from which the jumps can be made: buildings, antennae, spans, and earth (cliffs). In this photograph, a BASE jumper launches himself from the top of the Sapphire Tower in Istanbul, Turkey.
Photograph credit: Platon ShilikovYekaterina Skudina (born 21 March 1981) is a Russian world champion and Olympic sailor. She was awarded the Roy Yamaguchi Memorial Trophy for winning the world championships in the women's Snipe class in 1998, and the bronze medal at the Yngling open world championships in 2007. At the 2011 World Championships, Skudina finished fourth in the Elliott 6m class. In addition, she has competed in three Olympic Games, finishing eighth in the Yngling class in 2004, sixth in the same class in 2008, and fourth in the Elliott 6m class in 2012.
Photo: Sport the LibraryJeremy Doyle (1983–2011) was an Australian wheelchair basketball player. Left paraplegic after a car accident, he was classified as a 1 point player. While representing his country Doyle won two gold medals, first at the 2009 Paralympic World Cup and again at the 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship.
Photo: KallernaNasser Al-Attiyah, a Qatari rally driver, in a Ford Fiesta S2000 at the 2010 Rally Finland. He is the only Arab to have won the Dakar Rally, which he did in 2011. In addition to driving, Al-Attiyah is a sport shooter and won a bronze medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics in skeet.
Photo credit: Mila ZinkovaA surfer off the coast of Santa Cruz, California, is performing a "cutback", or very sharp turn. Santa Cruz and the surrounding Northern California coastline is a popular surfing destination; however, the year-round low temperature of the Pacific Ocean in that region (averaging 57 °F or 14 °C) necessitates the use of wetsuits.
Motocross is form of motorcycle or ATV racing held on enclosed off-road circuits. The tracks are often quite large, natural, terrains with very few man made jumps, unlike Supercross, a sport that was originally derived from Motocross and is executed on a smaller track with many more extreme man made obstacles.
Credit: Fernando FrazãoThe balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus, as well as the event performed using the apparatus. Pictured is Daniele Hypólito in the final of the women's artistic gymnastics competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, where Brazil finished in 8th place.
Photo: Paul Thompson
Photo: National Photo Company; restoration: Lise Broer; crop: jjronTy Cobb (1886–1961), shown here sliding into third base on August 16, 1924, was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder. He spent twenty-two seasons with the Detroit Tigers, including six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. During this time Cobb set ninety MLB records, though his abilities were sometimes overshadowed by his surly temperament and aggressive playing style. In 1936 Cobb was made an inaugural member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, and in 1999 editors at the Sporting News ranked him third on their list of "Baseball's 100 Greatest Players".
Photograph: Pierre SelimA line-out at a rugby union match between Stade Toulousain and Lyon OU. When a player puts the ball out of the field of play, the opposing team is awarded a line-out; in the case of a penalty kick, the team that was awarded the penalty throws into the resulting line-out. A line-out is also awarded if a player in possession of the ball crosses or touches the touch-line while still in possession of the ball.
Credit: Fir0002Horses race on grass at the 2006 Tambo Valley Races in Swifts Creek, Victoria, Australia. Horseracing is the third most popular spectator sport in Australia, behind Australian rules football and rugby league, with almost 2 million admissions to the 379 racecourses throughout Australia in 2002–03.
Photograph: Fred RentschlerOfficial portrait of the 1899 Michigan Wolverines football team, an American football team which represented the University of Michigan in the 1899 season. Coached by Gustave Ferbert, the Wolverines opened the season with six consecutive shutouts, outscoring opponents in those six contests by a combined score of 109 to 0. However, they finished the season by going 2–2 in their final four games, losing against the University of Pennsylvania Quakers and a championship game against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Photo: Keith AllisonZack Greinke is a pitcher for the Major League Baseball team Milwaukee Brewers. He began his career with the Kansas City Royals (as pictured here), during which time he won the American League Cy Young Award, given to the league's best pitcher. In December 2010, Greinke asked to be traded, saying he was not motivated to play for a rebuilding team.
Credit: KuebiMara Friton in a handball match in the German Handball-Bundesliga.
Credit: ChePriit Narusk in the qualification for the Tour de Ski cross-country skiing competition in Prague.
Restoration: Lise BroerA late 1930s Federal Art Project poster advertising the bobsled track in Lake Placid, New York, United States, which had been used in the 1932 Winter Olympics. The village is located in the Adirondack Mountains and is known as a tourist destination for winter sports, mountain climbing, and golf. It is one of the three places to have twice hosted the Winter Olympic Games and the first location in North America to host two Olympic games.
Credit: Ralf RoletschekMartin Sesaker representing Norway in curling at the 2012 Winter Youth Olympics.
Boxing is a sport where two participants of similar weight attack each other with their fists in a series of one to three-minute intervals called "rounds". Modern boxing began in 1867 with the Marquess of Queensberry rules. Currently, there are two distinct branches of boxing: Professional and Olympic, which have different rules, but are similar in execution.
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