When British rower Imogen Grant won Olympic gold in Paris, it could easily have been the final race of her career.
Lightweight rowing, the discipline in which she had enjoyed her greatest success, was disappearing from the Olympic calendar. Within days she was back at work as a trainee doctor.
For a while, retirement felt a genuine possibility.
But once her race was over, Grant had a chance to experience the rest of the Paris Games, and something shifted.
"It's so special. I just have to try and do it again," she remembers thinking.

#race #imogen #lightweight #rower

With Queen Elizabeth's death in 2022, Queen Margrethe of Denmark became Europe's last reigning queen. Her abdication less than two years later marked the end of an era for Europe's female monarchs. While there are currently no women sitting on Europe's thrones, that will one day change. Waiting in the wings is a new generation of Princesses poised to become Queens Regnant.
Sweden's Crown Princess Victoria, Belgium's Princess Elisabeth, the Netherlands' Princess Catharina-Amalia and Spain's Princess Leonor are all first in line to their respective thrones, while Norway's Princess Ingrid Alexandra and Sweden's Princess Estelle are expected to succeed their respective parents in the future.
These Princess are the faces of the future, who will usher in a new era of Queens across Europe.
Born in 1977, Crown Princess Victoria is the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden's children. At the time of her birth, Sweden had an agnatic order of succession, meaning that the throne could only be inherited by males.
But in 1980, Sweden introduced absolute primogeniture, making Crown Princess Victoria the heir to the Swedish throne and moving her ahead of her younger brother, Prince Carl Philip.

#princess #queen #queens #Sweden

Brooklyn artist Brenda Zlamany used an unconventional method to let her newborn daughter choose her own name
Zlamany spent days deciding between two final names, Imogen and Oona
Her now-25-year-old daughter says her unique name shaped her personality and plans to name her future daughter Imogen as a tribute to her mom
A Brooklyn artist gave birth to a baby girl over two decades ago and chose an unconventional way to name her.
Instead of consulting with loved ones, baby books, or even trends, Brenda Zlamany opted to write 100 baby name possibilities on index cards to take to the hospital, which she read aloud to her daughter, watching to see which names her newborn reacted to.