“It is a great joy to see that Brazil’s first gold medal was won by a black woman”, Rousseff tweeted.
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Concerned about her future and understanding their daughter’s passion for sports, her parents enrolled her, along with her sister, in judo classes at the Instituto Reação – a project created in the City of God by former judo athlete Flávio Canto.
So Mardini’s story, and Silva’s, only sound rehearsed because they are Olympic touchstones and everyone wants to hear them. Very concrete changes spurred by the Games, like the creation of a bus rapid transit system that better connects poorer neighborhoods with the city’s center, could create an economic legacy for Rio’s poor, even if it isn’t a social policy, he says.
But many sceptics say Zika was a convenient excuse for golfers worn down by playing two majors in three weeks, especially with the US PGA Tour’s season-ending playoffs for a $10 million top prize starting days after Rio ends, unchanged despite the Games crunch.
‘”She was there every day and knew how I was feeling, when I was sick when I wasn’t, ‘ Silva told Globo”.
Much was made of the failure by Silva, a navy sergeant, to salute the Brazilian flag when it was raised at the medals ceremony. Her first match lasted only 46 seconds.
“[That’s why] I think people have to support the Brazilian athletes, even when they are losing, because they give their life to their sport”.
She not only had to deal with her own frustration, but she also suffered racist and sexist attacks from Brazilians at the time, which impacted her psychological health.
Rafaela Silva, Brazil’s first gold medallist at Rio 2016, revealed a message of encouragement from football star Neymar helped convince her to remain in judo following her exit at London 2012. She beat her trauma and kept fighting, improving her skills. “I thought about leaving judo”. Sadly the audience was not filled with her fellow residents from the City of God favela. Some residents wanted to celebrate our gold medal victor, but there was yet another police operation in the favela for the third consecutive day.
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Her victory, she said, showed that a “child from the favela with no hope. can end up somewhere”.
