A chicken is on the run through the vertically aligned mayhem of a Rio favela.
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Late Tuesday a bus carrying journalists who are covering the Olympic Games passed near City of God and was hit by either bullets or stones, according to passengers.
“This medal is for all those who criticised me and said I was a disgrace to my family, that I did not have what it takes to prevail in the Olympics”, the 24-year-old said, the defiance in her voice clear.
“Treble-Treble”: However, Chen Aisen and Lin Yue won the men’s 10m platform diving for China, who finished day three with five gold medals in total. Silva withdrew from those around her and lost focus in her sport. Securing our return to the Olympic Games has been a long journey and we embarked on it not only to broaden our competitive landscape, but also because it was apparent that Olympic inclusion is the biggest grow-the-game opportunity available to golf.
Rafaela Silva’s judo gold represents the latest chapter in a fairytale rise for an athlete who hails from Rio’s notorious City of God favela, one of the poorest and most risky neighbourhoods in the country.
There are very few occasions in sport when a rival is happier coming in second, than disrupting the completion of some natural order.
Hungary’s “Iron Lady” Katinka Hosszu will be one to watch when she competes in Monday’s 100m backstroke final, after smashing the 400m individual medley world record on Saturday.
BRAZIL BLEAK: It has come to this for the Brazilian men’s soccer team: The fans are so disappointed with the team that they heckled football icon Neymar and chanted the name of the women team’s star during a lackluster, scoreless tie against Iraq over the weekend. It is only right that the gold is hers.
To think, Rafaela Silva had nearly given up the sport.
On Monday, Silva – propelled by a boisterous crowd that erupted with excitement anytime she made a move on the mat – was almost flawless while competing in the women’s 57kg (125.5 lbs) Olympic tournament. What followed would have shocked even the hardened of minds.
Fortunately, she came back to it. People actually took time out to make and circulate hate films on her.
Her performances throughout the day were exactly what was needed the spark the Arena here into life, as well as the Games itself, particularly as she is a local girl and holds a rags to riches story line worthy of a Hollywood movie. “I met a coach that works as a volunteer at the Institutio Reacao”. Luckily, she made a decision to carry on with judo. “And I realised that I had to move on”, a calm Rafela was telling us on Monday.
Now she has a gold medal to show for all that suffering. The fight saved her. This time, Silva beat Karakas in the quarterfinals.
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“Of course we would have liked to have won more medals but out there on the mat, everybody who goes out there is a worthy contestant and we hope that my medal will be adored and open the way for Brazil to win more medals”, Silva said.
