Winning Pan American Games medals in a soccer stadium car park was still a thrill for Brazil’s beach volleyballers on Tuesday, but the dream of playing at next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro on the sacred sands of Copacabana remains the ultimate goal.
The atmosphere inside the temporary arena pulsated with a beach volleyball vibe, but competing beside the home of Major League Soccer’s Toronto club hardly comes close to matching the breathtaking backdrop seen at the sport’s spiritual home.
In a year’s time, BMO Field is to be replaced by Sugar Loaf mountain and the statue of Christ the Redeemer will gaze down upon the Olympic action as waves crash onto one of the world’s most famous beaches.
Photo: AFP
“It means my dream, my dream to be in the Olympic Games and if we can play on Copacabana, it would be the biggest dream of my life,” Lili Maestrini told reporters after she and partner Carolina Horta beat Canada in the bronze medal game. “It is like this crowd; always full and they cheer for every team with their heart. It is one of the best places to practice and play.”
If the sport did not instantly spring to mind at the mere mention of Rio de Janeiro, amble along the Copacabana boardwalk on any given day and you will see plenty of fit and tanned young people enjoying games of beach volleyball.
The compatriots of those seaside sportspeople have returned home from every Pan Am Games with beach volleyball medals and no country has won more Olympic medals in the sport than Brazil.
However, there was no gold for Brazil in Toronto as Mexico’s Juan Virgen and Rodolfo Ontiveros upset Vitor Aruajo and Alvaro Magliano in the men’s final to deny next year’s Olympic hosts a third straight title, while the women had to settle for bronze.
“We tried today to play with our heart and with big emotions like how Brazilians play every time,” Maestrini said. “We are a good team, we are growing.”
The Copacabana mystique is not lost on young Canadian duo Melissa Humana-Paredes and Taylor Pischke, who plan on hitting the Brazilian beach next summer.
“I really want to be able to go to Copacabana and represent Canada there because that is the home of the sport I love, it is the birthplace of it and people their appreciate it so much,” Humana-Paredes said.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was