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Charley Hull needs a new form of relaxing at golf. No smoking is allowed at the Olympic course

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Charley Hull needs a new form of relaxing at golf. No smoking is allowed at the Olympic course
Sport

Sport

Charley Hull needs a new form of relaxing at golf. No smoking is allowed at the Olympic course

2024-08-07 00:06 Last Updated At:00:10

SAINT-QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (AP) — Charley Hull of Britain might not be going viral at the Olympics. There's no smoking inside the ropes at Le Golf National.

Hull made quite the sensation this year at the U.S. Women's Open with a social media post of her signing autographs with a cigarette dangling between her lips.

“I do smoke on the course,” Hull said Tuesday. “It's a habit, but I won't do it this week. I don't think you're allowed.”

The Paris 2024 health and safety guidelines indicate that smoking is not allowed at any venues except in designated areas. That would not include inside the ropes for the 60-player field in the women's competition that starts Wednesday.

That was greeted by a shrug from Hull, a free-wheeling 28-year-old from England. But there was a small measure of concern. She was asked if not smoking — she says she lights up on the course when she's feeling stressed — will affect her.

“I think it will,” Hull said. “Because it relaxes me a little bit. But it is what it is.”

Hull is playing in her second Olympics. She finished two shots out of a chance at the bronze medal in the Tokyo Games. Hull played in her first Solheim Cup at age 17. She has five wins on the LPGA and Ladies European Tour and has been runner-up three times in the majors.

But that one moment at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania made her more famous than nearly everything she has done on the golf course.

Hull said she was walking to the range, smoking a cigarette, and her hands were full when someone asked her for an autograph.

“I always like signing autographs,” she said at the Women's Open. “Had a cigarette in my mouth, signed it, and then it's gone viral.”

She hasn't checked reaction to that moment because Hull got off Instagram and other social media about four months ago.

Smoking and golf have a history — Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, even Jack Nicklaus until he saw a photo of him smoking in the early 1960s and never smoked again on the course. It's more rare these days on tour, though a few players — Hull included — still light up.

Just not this week.

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

FILE - Charley Hull, of England, watches her shot after hitting from the fourth tee during the final round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament at Sahalee Country Club, Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Sammamish, Wash. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE - Charley Hull, of England, watches her shot after hitting from the fourth tee during the final round of the Women's PGA Championship golf tournament at Sahalee Country Club, Sunday, June 23, 2024, in Sammamish, Wash. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

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A 2,000-year-old statue is found abandoned in a garbage bag in Greece

2025-01-23 00:17 Last Updated At:00:20

THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP) — A marble statue of a woman believed to be more than 2,000 years old was found abandoned in a garbage bag near the Greek city of Thessaloniki, police said Wednesday.

A resident discovered the 80-centimeter (31-inch) headless statue beside a trash bin in Neoi Epivates, outside Greece’s second-largest city. The man turned it over to local authorities, who contacted archaeologists to assess its significance.

Police said experts, following an initial evaluation, determined the piece dates to the Hellenistic era, a period roughly between 320 and 30 B.C. that was marked by a flourishing of art and culture following the conquests of Alexander the Great.

The statue was sent for further examination by archaeologists. It will ultimately be handed over to the local antiquities authority for preservation and study.

Police opened an investigation to determine who discarded the statue and briefly detained a man for questioning who was later released without charge.

Accidental archaeological discoveries are relatively common in Greece, a country renowned for its ancient heritage, and often made during building construction or public works. In December, workers installing natural gas pipelines near Athens uncovered a Roman-era statue of Hermes buried upright in a brick-lined pit near the Acropolis.

Thessaloniki weeks ago unveiled a trove of antiquities found during the decades-long construction of its metro system, which officially opened in November. Key finds, including a marble-paved Roman thoroughfare and tens of thousands of artifacts spanning the Greek, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods, are now showcased at subway stations.

This undated handout photo provided by the Greek Police and released on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 shows a marble statue of a woman believed to be more than 2,000 years old which was found abandoned in a garbage bag in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece. (Greek Police via AP)

This undated handout photo provided by the Greek Police and released on Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025 shows a marble statue of a woman believed to be more than 2,000 years old which was found abandoned in a garbage bag in the northern city of Thessaloniki, Greece. (Greek Police via AP)

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