Rio de Janeiro’s renovated port area should be hopping — or “hooping” — during the Olympics.
The US men’s and women’s basketball teams are to stay on a cruise ship in the port. A second and much larger liner is to be anchored alongside during the Games and provide lodging for what officials term the “Olympic Family.”
The NBA is also expected to set up a “hospitality house” in the port area.
Photo: AP
“We’ll have two cruise ships in the port,” Rio de Janeiro State Tourism Office secretary Nilo Sergio Felix told reporters. “There will be one with the basketball players and the other for Olympic people. These are the only two we expect.”
The ship housing the basketball stars is to be the relatively small Silver Cloud operated by Silversea Cruises, which bills itself as the “Leader in Luxury Cruising.”
The company lists the ship’s capacity at 296 with a tonnage at 16,800. Its last cruise is in the Mediterranean in June before heading for the Olympics.
The “Olympic Family” is to stay on the cruise ship Getaway operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines. The company listed the capacity at 4,000 guests and tonnage of 145,655. It is one of the world’s largest cruise ships.
Craig Miller, a spokesman for USA Basketball, the national governing body, declined to confirm where the two basketball teams would stay.
He listed security as a reason for not disclosing the location, but said the men’s team stopped staying in the Olympic Village beginning with the 1992 Olympics — the first appearance of “The Dream Team.”
“We don’t stay in the village because we don’t feel it’s the best way to prepare for competition,” Miller told reporters. “The players have a long professional season and they want to spend as much time as possible with family and friends.”
Miller said it was always difficult during the Olympics to find lodging for the large US basketball delegation. The teams stayed in hotels in London and Beijing and on a cruise ship in Athens in 2004 — the Queen Mary 2.
He said USA Basketball picks up the costs of the lodging, an expense that would be covered primarily by Games organizers if players stayed in the village.
Miller said that tall players have the same problem no matter where they stay.
“You face the issue in a hotel, or you would face it in a village: The beds aren’t made for 7-foot [2.13m] players,” he said. “These guys live on the road and they figure out ways to sleep. Sometimes I’ve seen them put their luggage at the end of the bed so their feet can rest there.”
MOTHER KNOWS BEST: Warriors’ coach Kerr said his 91-year-old mother criticized him for his attitude toward officials that led to his ejection from Monday’s game Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday rescued the Oklahoma City Thunder with a game-tying buzzer-beater before finishing with 46 points in a 129-125 overtime victory against the Utah Jazz. The reigning NBA champions looked to be heading for a third straight loss after the Jazz inched into a 114-112 lead following Lauri Markkanen’s layup with just three seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. However, NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander drained a superb 13-foot jump shot to tie it up at 114-114 as the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime. Gilgeous-Alexander then took over in the extra period with nine points as the Western
Mohamed Salah’s Egypt knocked reigning champions Ivory Coast out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) with a 3-2 win in the quarter-finals on Saturday, while Victor Osimhen starred as Nigeria beat Algeria 2-0 to set up a clash with hosts Morocco. In Agadir, Morocco, a thrilling last-eight tie saw Omar Marmoush and Ramy Rabia net in the first half for the Pharaohs before an own goal by Ahmed Aboul-Fetouh brought the Ivorians back into it. Salah then got Egypt’s third early in the second half and they held on after Guela Doue again reduced the deficit. Egypt is to face Senegal
AUSTRALIAN ADVENTURE: Sabalenka aims to follow up with a third Australian Open win, while Taiwanese Joanna Garland claimed a WTA 125 title in Canberra Aryna Sabalenka beat Karolina Muchova in straight sets to reach her third Brisbane International final in a row yesterday, a week ahead of the Australian Open. Sabalenka looked in great touch against the tricky Czech, who had won their last three meetings and went into the match as one of the few players with a winning record over the world No. 1. However, Sabalenka showed her class and power as she broke Muchova once in each set to take the semi-final 6-3, 6-4 in 89 minutes to face Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk in the final. “I struggled against her a couple of times [in
His team were knocked out of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in agonizing fashion on Tuesday, but the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DR Congo) human statue Michel Kuka Mboladinga would be remembered as the tournament’s most remarkable supporter. The colorfully dressed Kuka has earned fame as the fan who stands completely immobile throughout his team’s games, looking toward the sky with his right arm raised and palm open. He has become a media star and on Tuesday was accompanied by a delegation of several hundred Congolese supporters whose trip to Morocco was paid for by the country’s government. They took their
RSS