Rio 2016 Olympic Update (Day 12)
There is always pressure on every athlete that goes to the Olympics as they always want to come home with a medal.
They want to prove that the support they received is worthwhile and that they can accomplish great things.
The pressure increases when these athletes are at home and are in front of their home crowd who are cheering them on every step of the way.
Despite the support in a win or a loss, the athletes competing at home are always under pressure as every host country doesn’t want to be embarrassed.
They want to put on a good showing and give the fans something to see when they attend the events.
They want to be competitive in every event and although it is impossible for most countries that pressure is still on for all of the home athletes.
The Brazilians are feeling that pressure but are putting up medals, even if it is not the same number they were hoping for at this point.
Brazilian athletes are certainly aware of that pressure but none of them has more pressure than one group of athletes at the games.
Brazil has long been a soccer nation and yet for all of the titles the national teams have won they have never won the Olympic gold.
The perfect time to break that long drought would be at home where the soccer tournament has clearly been one of the most watched and talked about throughout the country.
Olympic soccer games have regularly been packed full of Brazilian fans cheering loudly for their team in the hopes that the drought could end at home.
From the start of the tournament the men were under tremendous pressure while the women were somewhat forgotten.
The men started out struggling in the tournament leaving many Brazilians to wonder if they could pull this off.
As a result, they began looking for the women who were playing well throughout the start of the tournament.
Both teams made it past the group stage and one step closer to the gold medal.
The concentration never wavered as both teams have been the focus of plenty of criticism and praise.
In Day 12 the fate of the men’s team came much closer to being determined as they had their semi-final match-up against Honduras.
Although most expected them to win the fact was the Brazilians were not the team that many expected them to be throughout the tournament.
Tensions were high but the Brazilian men put those tensions to bed quickly scoring their first goal in 16 seconds.
That was followed up by five more goals as Brazil moved one easily to the gold medal game on Saturday.
If they are just hitting their stride now they may very well break that drought.
The day before the women fell short of what the fans were hoping after they lost to the upset queens in Sweden.
They still have a shot at a medal though as they play Canada for bronze and hope to end their Olympics with a win.
There is no doubt that Saturday’s game will be one of the few events in the Rio Olympics that will be hard to find a ticket for.
All of Brazil is sure to be watching the men closely as their national sport comes into full focus.
It is not a new phenomenon in the Olympics of course as the same could be said for Americans and baseball, which will return to the Olympics in 2020 or hockey in Canada.
Every sport has their favourite sport that seems to grip the country in every major tournament.
For many the Olympics are a failure if their country does not win that chosen sport that was certainly the case in 2010 when Canada eventually took the gold in hockey.
The same might be said for Rio as the Brazilian fans are waiting and certainly paying attention as the Brazilian men look to win their first ever Olympic Gold medal to officially start the party throughout the country.
The Canadian Story:
Challenging the Greatest
Andre De Grasse has clearly made his presence known after a bronze in the 100m but he looks to take another medal in the 200m and in the semi-final he showed that he can after making it close with defending Olympic champion Usain Bolt, even if Bolt let up at the end
Pushing the Best
The battle for the best athlete in the world is underway and Canadian Damian Warner is in the hunt as the London, Ontario native is currently sitting within striking distance of defending Olympic champion Ashton Eaton
Rough First Round
Brooke Henderson came into the games as the #2 golfer on the LPGA tour and was expected to challenge for gold but her first round was not a good one as she finished at -1 dropping her to 19th place with a lot of ground to make up on the leaders
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Day 12 Medal Results: |
Day 13 Medal Events: |
| Athletics Men’s 3000m Steeplechase 1. Conseslus Kipruto (KEN) 2. Evan Jager (USA) 3. Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad (FRA) Women’s 100m Hurdles 1. Brianne Rollins (USA) 2. Nia Ali (USA) 3. Kristi Castlin (USA) Women’s 200m 1. Elaine Thompson (JAM) 2. Dafne Schippers (NED) 3. Tori Bowie (USA) Women’s Long Jump 1. Tianna Bartoletta (USA) 2. Brittney Reese (USA) 3. Ivana Španović (SRB) Badminton Beach Volleyball Boxing Equestrian Table Tennis Taekwondo Wrestling |
Athletics Men’s 200m Men’s 400m Hurdles Men’s Decathlon Men’s Shot Put Men’s Triathlon Women’s 400m Hurdles Women’s Javelin Badminton Beach Volleyball Boxing Canoe/Kayak Sprint Diving Field Hockey Sailing Taekwondo Wrestling |
The Sport Addiction 