Brazil’s Adilson da Silva will hit the first shot in Olympic competition for 112 years when golf’s controversial return to the Games finally gets under way on Thursday.
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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The third day of Olympic competition featured a couple of notable firsts: Rafaela Silva captured host Brazil’s initial gold medal of the Rio Games and fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad became the only American ever to compete in the Olympics wearing a hijab.
She is from Brazil’s largest slum, or favela, and trained at a judo dojo founded by former Olympic bronze medalist Flavio Canto.
Judo has a big following in Brazil, and that enthusiasm followed Silva from one match to the next. “This is more than just a medal, it’s a victory for poor people”. The 19-year-old gymnast was adopted by her maternal grandfather, Ron Biles, and his wife, Nellie, after spending time in foster care.
“The monkey that they said had to be locked up in a cage in London is today an Olympic champion at home”, Silva said.
The Carioca Arena 2 was rocking as the crowd went into a frenzy, stomping their feet and chanting “Rafa” as Silva tossed Karakas onto the tatami for the match-winning waza-ari.
In the 2012 London Olympics, Silva was disqualified for an illegal hold.
Silva was in top form for much of the day, including a quick 46-second win over her first opponent in which she managed to throw her twice. She crushed her own world record in the 400 freestyle Sunday night, touching almost 5 seconds ahead of her closest pursuer. But defending Olympic champion Sarah Menezes narrowly lost out on a bronze on Saturday in the 48kg category, and so did Erika Miranda at 52kg on Sunday.
It is Japan’s first judo gold of the Rio Olympics after taking four bronze medals in the first two days of the competition. As predicted, the first Olympic rugby sevens gold medal will be heading to either Australia or New Zealand after both powerhouses advanced to the final.
Ono had been on a surge all day and emphatically capped his campaign with an ippon – judo’s equivalent of a knockout – to defeat Rustam Orujov of Azerbaijan.
“I felt a lot of pressure, but I could do it”.
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Belgium’s Dirk Van Tichelt and Georgia’s Lasha Shavdatuashvili took bronze.
