Rio Olympics: Carnival After Hangover as 2016 Games Get Under Way

August 5, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 5: The most crisis-ridden Olympic Games in history opens on Friday with Rio organisers hoping to draw a line under a turbulent seven-year build-up to the greatest sporting show on Earth.

Rio

Football legend Pele is tipped to ignite the Olympic flame at Rio's iconic Maracana Stadium in Friday's opening ceremony, as the four-yearly celebration of sporting endeavour arrives in South America for the first time.

Olympic chiefs will hope the ceremony marks the start of a 17-day carnival of sport, a feast of drama framed by a Rio backdrop of breathtaking natural beauty.

Jamaican sprint king Usain Bolt will compete under the gaze of the Christ the Redeemer statue, sailors will duel in the shadow of Sugarloaf Mountain while the golden sands of Copacabana will host the spiritual homecoming of the beach volleyball tournament.

Yet the sporting spectacle comes after a frequently chaotic build-up which at times has threatened to leave the city nursing a nasty hangover before the party even starts.

When Rio successfully won the race for the Games in 2009, the 2016 Olympics looked set to be the crowning glory of a dynamic, newly-confident Brazil.

But a brutal recession, double-digit unemployment, fears about the mosquito-borne Zika virus, embarrassing infrastructure stumbles and a political crisis that led to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff have all but extinguished the euphoria that greeted the vote victory.

More than one million tickets, or 20 percent of the total, including for coveted events such as the men's 100-metres final, remained unsold as of Wednesday.

'The country is very sad'

"In a way the Olympics is good for Brazil to help us develop, but the country is very sad, full of violence and unemployment," Carlos Roberto, 56, a dockyard worker said.

"You go into a hospital and can't find a doctor or medicines."

"It will bring some happiness, yes it will," added pharmacist Edna Carla Assis, 31. "But nothing more."

Several ambitious plans to transform Rio have long since been abandoned, including a pledge to clean up the city's filthy Guanabara Bay.

That failure means athletes in Olympic sailing and windsurfing events will be forced to compete in a toxic soup of raw sewage from half of the city's population.

The Zika virus -- which can cause serious birth defects if pregnant mothers are infected -- has prompted all of the world's top four golfers to withdraw from the games.

Brazilian officials insist that the threat of infection is near zero in what is one of the coolest times of the year.

A vast security blanket of 85,000 military personnel and police -- twice the number on duty at the 2012 London Games -- will be draped over the city to ward off the threat of terror attacks.

Not even the beefed-up security, however, is likely to offer total protection against Rio's long-running problems with high crime.

Danish, Chinese and Australian delegations have already reported thefts from team members since arriving in Brazil, while in May members of Spain's sailing team were mugged at gunpoint.

While Rio has had its hands full scrambling to manage the grim litany of problems, the Olympic movement has been battling to cope with the Russian doping scandal.

A devastating report by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigative panel issued last November detailed a state-supporting doping program that harked back to the worst steroid scandals of the Cold War-era.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) subsequently banned Russian track and field athletes from all international competition for six months.

The IAAF later extended that suspension to cover the Olympics after ruling that Russia had not taken sufficient steps to overhaul its anti-doping regime.

More damning revelations erupted last month with the release of a WADA report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren which documented the full scale of Russian cheating, including an elaborate scheme to cover-up positive drug tests at the 2014 Winter Olympics and 2013 World Athletics Championships.

Bolt, Phelps return

The fallout from the drugs scandal should give way to several compelling sporting storylines once the action gets under way.

Once again, Jamaican superstar Bolt could electrify his sport when he attempts to defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay crowns in the blue riband track and field event.

All eyes will turn to the Olympic swimming pool in the opening week when US star Michael Phelps returns for his swansong.

The most decorated Olympian in history -- 22 medals, 18 golds -- has returned from retirement for one last crack at glory at the age of 31.

Gymnastics meanwhile could see the coronation of a new darling with America's teenage star Simone Biles while football superstar Neymar bids to inspire Brazil to a first ever Olympic gold medal.

New sports making their debut in Rio will include seven-a-side rugby and golf.

As always, however, while millionaire globally renowned stars like Bolt, Phelps and Neymar chase gold, it is the lesser known athletes who will relish their moment in the spotlight.

The 10 athletes who comprise the first ever Olympic Refugee team are among the hundreds of inspiring human stories to be found in Rio.

They include Yusra Mardini, an 18-year-old from Syria who less than a year ago was forced to swim for her life during a perilous journey across the Mediterranean as she fled her war-torn homeland.

Another refugee athlete, judoka Yolande Mabika, said simply: "This is not just a struggle for sport -- it's a struggle for life."

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News Network
June 22,2020

Zadar (Croatia), Jun 22: Grigor Dimitrov took to Instagram to announce that he has tested positive for coronavirus. The tennis star was one of the players who took part in the Adria Tour with the likes Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Dominic Thiem among others.

Taking to Instagram, the player wrote: "Hi Everyone-I want to reach out and let my fans and friends know that I tested positive back in Monaco for Covid-19. I want to make sure anyone who has been in contact with me during these past days gets tested and takes the necessary precautions. I am so sorry for any harm I might have caused. I am back home now and recovering. Thanks for your support and please stay safe and healthy."

He also urged those who had come in contact with him over the last few days in Monaco should also get tested for the deadly virus.

Meanwhile, World no.1 Djokovic reached the final of his exhibition tournament in Zadar, Croatia, after easing through the round-robin group stage on the first day. This is the second stage of the Adria Tour with Austrian Dominic Thiem winning the first leg in Belgrade, Serbia.

Djokovic started by saving three set points in his 4-3, 4-1 win over fellow Serb Pedja Krstin. He then beat home favourite Borna Coric 4-1, 4-3 in front of several thousand fans at the Visnjik tennis complex.

The tournament in Zadar is being played on red clay over two days. In the other group, Russian Andrey Rublev is in pole position to advance into the final after wins over 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic and Serb Danilo Petrovic. He faces German star Alexander Zverev in the final round robin match on Sunday who stayed in contention after beating Cilic 4-3, 0-4, 4-3.

Djokovic''s own inconsequential final group match is against Croatian Dino Serdarusic who replaced Grigor Dimitrov after the Bulgarian pulled out of the tournament with sickness following his opening 4-1, 4-1 loss to Coric.

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Agencies
February 20,2020

New Delhi, Feb 20: Grappler Divya Kakran on Thursday became the second Indian woman to win a gold medal at the ongoing Asian Wrestling Championship.

Divya, a bronze medallist at Asian Games 2018, earned her first gold by winning all her four bouts against Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Uzbekistan and Japan.

Her final bout against Naruha Matsuyuki of Japan was the closest one but she managed to outclass her opponent 6-4 to seal her name on the gold medal. The 68 kg category was played in round-robin format as only five wrestlers were in the fray.

India is likely to add some more medals to its tally when Nirmala Devi, Pinki, and Sarita go out to grapple for the yellow metal in their respective weight categories.

Three-time Commonwealth championship gold medallist, Nirmala Devi (50 kg) first defeated Munkhnar Byambasuren of Mongolia in the quarterfinals by 6-4 to reach the semis.

In the semi-finals, Nirmala got the better of Dauletbike Yakhshimuratova of Uzbekistan by 10-0 and will play against 2018 Under-23 World Champion Miho Igarashi of Japan for the gold medal.

Pinki (55 kg) started her day on a winning note against Shokhida Akhmedova of Uzbekistan by 12-4 in round 3 and lost to Kana Higashikawa of Japan to enter the semis where she defeated Marina Zuyeva of Kazakistan by a score of 6-0.

Pinki will play in the gold medal bout against Dulguun Bolormaa of Mongolia.

Sarita (59 kg) will now face Battsetseg Altantsetseg of Mongolia in the gold medal bout after winning against her opponents in the qualifiers, quarterfinals and semi-final by a score of 10-0, 11-0 and 10-3, respectively.

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News Network
June 13,2020

New Delhi, Jun 13: Five centrally contracted Indian cricketers including Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and KL Rahul have been issued notices by National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) for failing to disclose their whereabouts as the BCCI cited "password glitch" as the reason for delay.

The other players to have received the notice include women stars Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma, who are among the five cricketers in the 110 strong National Registered Testing Pool (NRTP). Speaking to PTI, NADA DG Navin Agarwal confirmed that BCCI has sent an official explanation for their five NRTP players' failure to submit whereabouts.

"There are two ways to fill up the whereabouts form in the ADAMS (Anti Doping Administration & Management Systems) software. Either athlete does it himself or association fills it up on his or her behalf," Agarwal said. "Now athletes in some discipline aren't educated enough or do not have access to internet and find themselves unable to handle the whereabouts clause of the ADAMS or upload the filled up

"They use assistance of their concerned federations. So federations have accepted responsibility of uploading their whereabouts," Agarwal said.

He said cricketers too at times find it tough to complete the process on their own. "Similarly in cricket also, although these people are well qualified and they can do it, perhaps they don't have the time for whatever reasons, so the federation concerned, the BCCI has taken upon itself the responsibility of uploading their whereabouts." So why didnt BCCI upload the the three-month whereabouts this time?

"Well they have given an explanation which appears to be reasonable but a decision will be taken. They have said that there has been a glitch with regards to password in ADAMS. Now they have said that issue has been resolved," Agarwal added. NADA DG added that "BCCI's explanation will be discussed as to whether it will be counted as one of three filing failures or not. It will be decided on the explanation given and how they (BCCI) proceed from here."

While country has been under lockdown, the rule to submit three months of whereabouts is mandatory. Three such failures to disclose leads to one Anti Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), which could lead up to two years of suspension upon hearing.

While BCCI has "officially gagged" its employees from talking to the media, it couldn't be ascertained that why as normal a glitch as a password error took days to resolve. A BCCI veteran, who has been privy to cricket operations, asked why the five cricketers were not told to upload the form themselves.

"This was lockdown period where they are not living out of suitcases. Some of the names have also engaged in multiple instagram chats and podcasts which their agents are managing," he said.

"If cricket operations team were having a glitch in fixing password, well the five cricketers could have been asked to do so and they would have done it individually with some guidance. "Probably NADA would be lenient this time but if it becomes an official warning, then who's responsible," he added.

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