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Brazil cheers, hopes, suffers as home team hunts glory
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil won its first medal of the Rio Olympics on Saturday, but its hard cheering fans also suffered deep disappointment as a top gold-medal hope
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil won its first medal of the Rio Olympics on Saturday, but its hard cheering fans also suffered deep disappointment as a top gold-medal hope was eliminated from the judo competition, left in tears on the mat with a dislocated elbow.
Enthusiasm turned quickly to shock for many home team fans though. Brazil’s Sara Menezes, a judo gold medallist in London in 2012, was rushed to hospital after being eliminated in a bruising match against Mongolian Urantsetseg Munkhbat to finish seventh.
Judo is one of Brazil’s most successful Olympic sports. But Menezes was in such pain after having her arm yanked in the match that she was unable to get up to acknowledge her opponent’s traditional bow.
Another Brazilian judo contender Felipe Kitadai, also cheered on by name by fans, was also eliminated in the men’s 60kg Judo class by Uzbekistan’s Diyorbek Urozboev. Kitadai finished seventh.
Still, Brazil’s Felipe Wu made a good start towards the host country’s goal of breaking into the top-10 total medal count for the first time. He won silver in the men’s 10m air pistol event after being edged out for the gold by Xuan Vinh Hoang of Vietnam.
That spirit was evident at the men’s gymnastics team qualifying event, where Brazil was in fourth place Saturday evening after two of three subdivisions had performed. Only the top eight teams were to advance.
During subdivision matchups with Japan, Korea and the Netherlands, chanting, singing local crowds, and a couple of emotional athletes’ mothers, gave it their all in trying to spark Brazil to victory.
While Brazil has recently developed several top-flight gymnasts including Arthur Zanetti, 2012 gold medalist in rings and multiple world champion Diogo Hypolito, Brazil has never qualified as a team at the Olympics.
Hypolito broke down in tears after helping Brazil come in second to historic powerhouse Japan before later rounds moved them to fourth.
Similar scenes played out at the beach volleyball, fencing, and judo, and swimming venues, though the results in competition were mixed.
ORGANISERS APOLOGISE FOR LONG QUEUES
The organisers have apologised to fans for long queues at stadium entrances.
“We should explain everything and first and foremost apologise to those who had to line up under the scorching sun. We will try to step up security checks for fans in compliance with generally accepted security criteria because we do not want anybody to miss the competitions,” Mario Andrada of the Rio-2016 organising committee said on Saturday.
According to witnesses, people had to stand in queues for two hours in order to enter some Olympic venues. The Brazilian media has blamed it on lack of coordination among police units in charge of security at the Olympic Games.
