Miss Washington USA Contestant Hopes Her Disability Will Empower Others + MORE

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The New #LoveOverBias 2018 Winter Olympics Ad Will Move You to Tears

– health.com

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Whip out that pack of tissues. With the 2018 Winter Games less than 100 days away, household products giant Procter and Gamble has just released their latest heartstrings-tugging Olympics video campaign. 

Just as they did in previous years, P&G themed the campaign around the moms of athletes. "Thank You, Mom" is a tearjerker of a tribute, highlighting the love and support of the mothers of the competitors who will be going for the gold in PyeongChang, South Korea in February.

But this year's video series also takes on a hot-button topic: bias. Titled "Love Over Bias," the campaign's first ad features a montage of moms watching their adorable children chase their sports-related dreams, from figure skating to ice hockey. The children all come from diverse backgrounds in terms of race, ethnicity, and disability.

RELATED: We Can't Stop Watching This Insane Human-Powered ‘Fitness Machine’ Video

Like all moms, the mothers in the video want the best for their kids, encouraging and supporting them in a world that doesn't always appreciate diversity. The vignettes focus on real Olympic athletes and their personal stories about struggling to make it in the face of bias and stereotypes.

To go along with the new campaign (more videos have been released on YouTube), P&G has launched the hashtag #LoveOverBias. The aim is to start a conversation about differences and diversity, support competitors, and build anticipation for the Olympics, one of the few worldwide events that brings together people across the globe.

Miss Washington USA Contestant Hopes Her Disability Will Empower Others

– www.health.com

This article originally appeared on People.com.

When Madeline Irwin steps onstage to compete for the Miss Washington USA title, she won’t just be standing up for herself.

The 22-year-old college student was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (known as AMC), which is a congenital joint contracture in two or more areas of the body. Irwin, who is unable to fully straighten her arms, hands, fingers and one leg, and has severe scoliosis as a result of AMC, hopes to use her pageant platform to help others.

“I knew I wanted to someday advocate for people with physical disabilities like myself,” the Port Angeles, Washington native tells PEOPLE of her decision to enter her first pageant. “The only issue was that I wasn’t ready for a while because I had a long way to go to accepting and loving myself. So I worked really hard with self reflection and using social media and surrounding myself with people who had morals and values like I do, I finally reached a point where I felt confident enough to share my journey about accepting yourself as you are.”

Irwin – who if she wins her state competition on November 5, will go on to represent Washington in next year’s Miss USA pageant – also wants to be a role model for children.

“The challenges I faced mostly, and what I’m advocating for now, is that there was no representation for someone like me that I could look up to growing up,” she says. “So it was really difficult to know, as someone who is disabled, who I can be and what I can do because I wasn’t able to see that around me.”

She continues: “There is a pretty strong stigma around the word ‘disability,’ a negative stigma. People think of ‘disability’ and they think of someone who needs to be pitied, and so I felt like growing up I didn’t want to be associated with that for a long time, until I could use the word ‘disabled’ to empower myself so that’s what I’m doing now.”

Irwin’s drive also led her to follow her childhood passion for the piano. “I played behind closed doors for a really long time because of my AMC,” says the Washington State University, Vancouver junior.  “I felt like I wasn’t good enough because my hands weren’t able to play like everyone else.”

Now, she’s avid pianist thanks to hard work and an encouraging teacher. “[My piano teacher] would teach me different ways to play if I wasn’t able to do it as it was written, but still make it sound good,” says Irwin. “I don’t like to toot my own horn, but I’m very proud of myself for doing that.”

And she’s taking that positive outlook to the stage. “[Due to AMC], I’m unable to wear heels for the pageant which is a bummer,” says Irwin. “But I found some really cute shoes.”

This New Adidas Video Busts the Stereotypes About Female Athletes Wide Open

– health.com

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There is nothing more inspiring than a badass female athlete. And Adidas’ latest campaign is chockfull of them.

Titled Fearless AF, the just-released one-minute spot dispels tired stereotypes about women in sports, including the idea that female runners are not tough, fast, strong, determined, or competitive enough. As a male announcer’s voice repeatedly lists all the ways women who compete are supposedly subpar, the screen flashes images of female athletes doing their thing and just standing around looking cool and confident.

With its heartbeat-like background drumming, the ad feels like a rallying cry, asking viewers to dig deep and find their inner champion—and be fearless.

RELATED: 15 Running Tips You Need to Know

“Fearless AF means feeling the fear and doing it anyway,” Robin Arzon, a lawyer-turned-ultramarathoner who is featured in the ad, tells Health. It's about "leaning into the knowledge that you’ve survived 100% of your worst days and a community of women is cheering you on,” she adds.

Along with Arzon, the video features five other Adidas athletes and ambassadors—supermodel Karlie Kloss; Katherine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston marathon; Mary Keitany, three-time winner and defending New York City Marathon women’s champion; founder of Girls Run NYC Jessie Zapo; and Jen Rhines, a three-time Olympian. Each represents a defining character trait: boss, fearless, determined, bold, creative, and fierce.

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These six women are running this year’s TSC New York City Marathon on Sunday. (Talk about #squadgoals!) The commercial also pays homage to OG marathoner Switzer, with images of her being attacked mid-race in 1967 by the Boston Marathon race director at the time, as well as shots of race bibs bearing her number falling into the frame.

We dare you to watch this 60 seconds of awesomeness and not be inspired to lace up those kicks and hit the pavement for at least a mile or two.

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The New #LoveOverBias 2018 Winter Olympics Ad Will Move You to Tearshealth.com
Miss Washington USA Contestant Hopes Her Disability Will Empower Otherswww.health.com
This New Adidas Video Busts the Stereotypes About Female Athletes Wide Openhealth.com

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