Rio 2016 Diary: Seven memorable moments so far

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  • RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — As a journalist covering an event as hectic as the Olympic Games, you can sometimes lose track of the real world – which day of the week it is, and exactly where you are.

    But every now and then, you get a little reminder and realise just what a privileged position you’re in. After frantically running from pool to track to rowing lake, something happens – you look up and catch a glimpse of the Christ the Redeemer statue, or the famous Sugarloaf Mountain and realise: “Oh yes, I’m in Rio!”

    Here in Brazil these reminders also often involve dancing or a samba beat. On Saturday night, I decided to sit up in the stands rather than the media centre for my last night of swimming and it was worth the switch. About 25 minutes before the programme was due to start, the rhythm kicked in and soon the pool deck was covered with musicians and dancers.

    Reminder of Rio

    Reminder of Rio

    Only in Brazil – and particularly Rio, that famous carnival city.

    It reminded me of a trip between venues on the metro the other day. A couple boarded the train and the man started to give a long speech in Portuguese. As my Portuguese is beyond limited, I wondered for a split second if this was a mass-mugging – we’ve all heard the horror-stories. But then, out of her jacket pocket, the women produced a device that played music and the man began to pull some serious hip-hop dance moves. I was happy to place a few coins in the hat that did the rounds afterwards.

    In the build-up to these Games, much was made of the rampant crime rate and animosity of the locals towards the hosting of the Olympics. Of course these problems don’t just go away, but so far we’ve managed to focus largely on the sporting stage for the past 10 days which has been great.

    The Games have produced some epic encounters so far. Here are a few of my favourites…

    MOST DRAMATIC MOMENT

    It was the women’s cycling road race that served up one of the heart-stopping moments of the Games. Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten was in the lead with less than 10km to go when she went flying over her handlebars and landed in a crumpled heap in the gutter. She lay there, seemingly lifeless while the rest of the field passed her by. Many of them said afterwards they were convinced Van Vleuten was dead. But miraculously, the Dutch rider only sustained three cracks in her spine. And just a few days later she was up and tweeting from the track cycling venue where she was supporting her teammates.

    MOST PAINFUL MOMENT 

    I still can’t bring myself to watch the video clip of French gymnast Samir Aït Saïd landing horribly during a vault in the qualifying rounds of the men’s gymnastics. The crack was apparently heard around the arena – he had broken his tibia and fibula and had to undergo surgery immediately. “The operation went very well, I should be back on my feet in a short time,” he has since told The Daily Mail. “I will go back to the training camp to encourage my friends because the competition is not over.”

    In true Olympic style, Said was also already talking about his plans to compete in Tokyo four years from now.

    Warning: video below contains images some people may find upsetting. 

    BEST UAE MOMENT

    Of course this one has to go to Sergiu Toma, who won the country’s only medal of the Games – a bronze in the 81kg judo. He may have represented Moldova at the last Olympics, but Toma was proud to bring back the bling for his adopted country. “Doing judo in Moldova is not as possible as in the UAE. And the career of an athlete is short. In the UAE they gave me the chance to represent them, they always believed in me,” he said after his victory for the bronze.

    MOST AWKWARD MOMENT

    The press conference following the women’s 100m breaststroke final had everyone feeling just a little bit awkward. USA’s Lilly King, who had been highly critical of Russia’s Yulia Efimova’s participation in Rio, had just won the gold while Efimova claimed the silver. What followed was more criticism, with King standing by her earlier statements. Efimova was in tears and bronze medallist Katie Meili was stuck in the middle of the two, not too sure where to look.

    BEST NON-OLYMPICS STAR SPOT

    Former All Blacks captain and World Cup winner Richie McCaw on his way to supporting the Kiwi crew of Eric Murray and Hamish Bond in the men’s pair rowing. It obviously did the trick – the duo went on to win gold to continue their incredible unbeaten run which started back in 2009.

    BEST VENUE

    Surrounded by mountains with the Christ the Redeemer statue looking down on all the boats, the Lagoa Stadium – where all the rowing took place – has definitely been my favourite spot so far.

    BEST FANS

    They are hosts after all so we’ll have to go with Brazil on this one. There’s been some criticism of empty seats in the stadiums, but those who are here certainly make themselves heard. When one of their athletes is announced, chants of “Brasil, Brasil” or the athletes name can be deafening – and the response when they walked into the stadium at the opening ceremony was just phenomenal.

    OLYMPICS TRACKER-01

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