Olympics - Rio 2016 - Day 3

Day 3 - August 5

This day was dominated by the Opening Ceremonies, so of course, the stories of the day are dominated by just the presence of certain individuals/countries at the Opening Ceremonies, and thus, these games.  Under most circumstances, Gisele Bundchen's stadium-long catwalk would ordinarily be the focus of any ceremony, but here, it hardly merits a mention.

What does merit a mention are some of the athletes themselves.  Tongan athlete Pita Nikolas Taufatofua, who bore the flag of his country, became instantly famous by wearing nothing but a long skirt and lots, and I mean lots, of oil.  The taekwando participant apparently tweeted before the event, “Olympic opening Ceremony tonight! Pumped! We have a little surprise.. Don’t blink or you’ll miss it,” and then a winky-face emoji.  For our lady readers ...

On a more interesting note, Peruvian shooter, Francisco Boza carried the flag for his country.  He first participated in the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, this being his 8th Olympics., and this with him missing 2008 and 2012!

Oksana Chusovitina, a gymnast from Uzbekistan, is 41 years old.  She is competing in her 7th Olympic games, for her third country, having competed previously for the Unified Team (former Soviet Union), Germany and, of course, Uzbekistan.

We also have Kosovo and South Sudan competing under their own flags and for their own countries for the first time ever, and, in a story that is compelling, if not overdone, the Refugee Olympic team comprising 5 members from South Sudan, 2 from Syria, 2 from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 1 from Ethiopia, is recognized and competing.  The members all have Olympic qualifying times or scores in their respective sports, but have no country to call home.

On the field of play we had South Korean archer, Kim Woo-jin, set a World Record 700 out of 720 in the men's individual archery ranking round!

But, there is no contest for the story of the day, the lighting of the torch.  My friends and I debated all day as to whom would be the person cast in the role to light the Olympic flame that would burn over the entire Olympics, guessing several people that played roles in the Opening Ceremonies, like Oscar Schmidt, Marta and Gustavo Kuerten.  However, we missed the most obvious choice - Vanderlei de Lima.

For those that do not know his story, de Lima was an Olympic marathoner for Brazil.  In the 2004 Olympics in Athens, after the 22 mile mark in the race de Lima had a lead of approximately 25-30 seconds.  Out of nowhere, Cornelius Horan - a defrocked Irish priest - jumped onto the course and started grappling with de Lima.

After another spectator - Polyvios Kossivas - freed de Lima, he continued with the race, but finished with a bronze.  Despite this problem, de Lima danced as he crossed the finish line.  He was awarded the Pierre de Coubertain medal for sportsmanship (de Coubertain is the founder of the modern Olympics).  Brazilian beach volleyballer Emanuel Rego tried to give his gold medal to de Lima in 2005, but de Lima refused saying that "I'm happy with mine.  It's bronze, but it means gold".  It turns out, this was a no-brainer.  Your story of the day .... Vanderlei de Lima!!!