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.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
THRILLER: Raphinha gave Barca a 3-2 lead with two minutes remaining of regular time, but Francesco Acerbi equalized the game in the second minute of added time Davide Frattesi on Tuesday fired Inter into the UEFA Champions League final with an extra-time winner that gave the Italians a stunning 4-3 triumph over Barcelona, 7-6 on aggregate. Italy midfielder Frattesi won a tie for the ages under a downpour in Milan when he lashed home in the 99th minute, sending a packed and rocking San Siro wild with joy. Simone Inzaghi’s team will face either Arsenal or Paris Saint-Germain at the end of this month in Munich, Germany, where they would feel they have a great chance to be crowned kings of Europe for a fourth time after
RSS