Once again, I've fallen way behind on these updates. So after a couple of rather unrelated posts, here's pretty much the entire second half of the Games as watched live by yours truly. Chronologically:
August 14
The China-Serbia game quickly produced a margin of 40 points, thus the most memorable tidbit is this: Brazilian fans usually only support their own, boo everybody else (or each other, if anybody supports the wrong football club), and insult the Argentinians. They also don't care about anything not called football or volleyball, but the beer is cheap, and they do enjoy shouting wildly. (Imagine their utter confusion at the tennis courts: not only are the rules too complex, but also they're supposed to shut up during play? Inconceivable!) So at some point they made a random decision to cheer for whichever country fits into their common chant Oleeeee Ole Ole Olaaa *insert fitting country name here*. And just like this, "Oleeeee Ole Ole Olaaa Veneeezuelaaa" and "Oleeeee Ole Ole Olaaa Chinaaa Chinaaa" were born.
August 15
The incredible Anita Wlodarczyk smashed her own world record twice on the way to an emphatic gold medal in the hammer throw won by nearly 6 metres, a margin perhaps only comparable to what Katie Ledecky inflicts on her opponents.
Unfortunately, as one organisational blunder chases another, the victory ceremony got rescheduled for the night session in the very last moment. Which was a bit frustrating if you spent the entire morning watching from afar just to make sure you're occupying the best seat just in front of the podium. Still, gold is gold!
Later, while the Egyptian and the Bulgarian 85kg wrestlers dress to impress...
...the day belongs to the Russian who wins gold from his Ukrainian opponent with this very move:
Lithuania-Croatia, the former having the numbers in the stands as per usual.
Funny thing was that Croatia previously beat Spain only to lose to lowly Nigeria next, which produced a game of all-or-nothing. Another loss would eliminate them from the Games entirely, while their win would have a huge number of heavy repercussions. Not only would it elevate them to win the group, it'd also mean Brazil would be eliminated, Argentina - facing the unbeatable USA already in the quarterfinal, and Spain - in the semifinal. Thus no repeat of the memorable Beijing and London USA-Spain finals, plus a cheaper opportunity for me to watch the game of all the games.
And although every Brazilian cheered for Lithuania, the game was quickly dominated by Croatia, triggering all those events listed above.
August 16
The morning canoe session was a simple case of veni...
vidi...
vici!
In the afternoon I went to watch badminton for the second time ever. To illustrate the rule of supply and demand which applies to all Olympic tickets, please compare my seat in London...
...to the one in Rio.
August 17
Perhaps my favourite day of each Olympics, although from the originally empty schedule you couldn't tell. Thing is, the schedule was left empty on purpose, in order to offer maximum flexibility for buying tickets in the streets. Here's why.
I have to start the explanation with a sexist but factual remark: almost nobody cares about feminine sport, especially team sport. The organisers of every single Olympics try to sweep this under the rug by scheduling men's and women's volleyball, handball, and basketball games on alternating days. Here in Rio, the odd days belong to men, the even ones - to women. Also, all three sports follow the same ridiculous format: two groups of six teams, four of which qualify to the quarterfinals, where sudden death kicks in. Translation: you need to defeat that-African-team and one more opponent, feel free to lose the three remaining games, and still you're one game away from a medal.
Example: Polish handball team first lost three games by borderline shameful margins, then defeated Egypt (duh) and Sweden by a single goal. They suddenly did get their act together in the quarterfinal against arch-rival Croatia, and suddenly found themselves in the semis. The opposite applied to our volleyball team, reigning World Champions: good-to-great performances in group games, close loss to USA in the quarterfinal, bye-bye.
Long story short, those quarterfinals REALLY matter, and all twelve of them take place on the same day. (Btw notice the 19th and the 21st were empty in the original schedule as well, in order to spontaneously pick the juiciest semifinals and finals respectively.) In Rio, volleyball took place on the other side of town, so I skipped it. But handball and basketball, maybe my two favourite sports to watch, had been scheduled in neighbouring arenas - how lucky am I? Without further ado:
Brazil-France: les Experts (2008 & 2012 Olympic gold, 2009, 2011, 2015 World Champions - are you kidding me?) against the hosts. Surprising draw after the first half. Incidentally, the first sporting event of my life where I wore noise-cancelling headphones during the entire game. You get the picture.
Poland-Croatia: a tale of two Polish goalkeepers. Slawomir Szmal is arguably one of the best players in the world. But it was our alleged number two - Piotr Wyszomirski - who excelled, while the one-eyed monster Karol Bielecki scored 12 on the other end. (No, really, he lost an eye after an accidental contact with another player some years ago. Then retired. Then came back. Then carried the Polish flag during the Opening Ceremony. Then obliterated Croatia. Imagine Chuck Norris, but bigger and with goggles.)
Fun fact: I was joined in the stands by our fast and furious 4x400m girls, who let me take a pic with the very baton they'd later use in the relay!
Although the game finished after 10pm, it was an easy decision to immediately go to Croatia-Serbia, beginning a stone's throw away at 22h15. Of course if this game was contested anywhere in Europe, there would be blood. Here, unfortunately nobody knows where either country is located on the map or whether they have any history. Even more confusion kicked in whenever Bojan Bogdanovic fouled Bogdan Bogdanovic. Very close game. Horrible day for Croatia continued.
August 18
Triathlon at Copacabana. Bros before ho... ehm I mean before other great athletes participating in another Brownlee family feud.
August 19
I have no words, so just some facts. Men's basketball. Olympic semifinal. USA. Spain. KD. Pau. Uncle Drew. Ricky. Melo. Rudy. Boogie. La Bomba. Klay. Felipe. DeAndre. Heaven.
No real need to introduce the Americans of course. 12 big time NBA stars. A squad so strong Draymond Green barely gets any minutes.
This generation of Spaniards became World Champions, multiple European Champions, and lost to the Americans quite narrowly in two most recent Olympic finals. This time they started the tournament somewhat slowly, which prevented them from winning the group and set up this dream semifinal.
The game itself was incredibly tense. Melo quickly started quarrelling with the ref about when and how to pass him the ball when shooting free throws, that particular discussion ending with the words "don't ever speak to me like this again", followed by Coach K wisely pulling his player from the court. Then physical play kicked in, and one technical foul after another was awarded. Coming back from halftime, the refs summoned the coaches and captains for a lengthy chat, debating how to focus on playing basketball again.
During that whole time though, evident talent disparity provided a constant 6-11 point cushion for USA. As incredible a sharpshooter as Juan Carlos Navarro is, the Americans deployed an army of great defenders, all 10-15cm taller than him: Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Paul George. The same for Rudy Fernandez, constantly guarded by much taller and stronger George, Melo, or Durant. As skillful a center as Pau Gasol is, both DeAndre Jordan and Demarcus Cousins are almost a decade younger and much stronger physically, so one offensive rebound after another fell to the guys in navy blue. And once Klay got hot and Kyrie went into Uncle Drew mode, the final was always going to be theirs. Such a treat to witness it all!
In the evening, I saw a Polish team in an Olympic semifinal. That phrase, by the way, has not been used by anybody since 1992. Or since 1976, if you disregard u23 football in 1992. So kinda a big deal.
Objectively speaking, I'm not in a position to make any statements about the actual gameplay. There are parts of it I barely remember. A true nail-biter, with neither team capable of building a lead. Another great game from our goalie Wyszomirski, an inexplicably anonymous one from Bielecki. Our defense seemed mediocre, our offense - nonexistent. We kept losing goals when in numerical advantage, which seems unthinkable in principle. We kept getting players expelled for fouls they could have easily avoided, but the pressure clearly got to them too. We were going into the final 10 second of the game with a one goal deficit. Ladies and gents, welcome to the Daszek Show:
(We lost by one in extra time. Details.)
August 20
Maja Wloszczowska has been a world-class mountain biker and a major celebrity crush of mine for the past decade. The 2010 World Champion admits silver is her colour. Five times second in WC. Second in Beijing. Horrible luck in London, as a last-minute training injury prevented her from competing. In this year's World Championships, she entered the final lap in the silver medal position (yeah duh), but suffered a defect and lost a dramatic sprint for the medals.
The Olympic course is entirely man-made, and thus picturesque but reasonable. The open terrain also made moving around extremely easy, so that I observed almost every single lap from a different perspective. The day before her start, Maja listed her biggest rivals. And as it happens often in cycling, the riders themselves know best. The Swiss Jolanda Neff attacked wildly from the get-go as she always does, and Jenny Rissveds seemed the best of the rest. Maja led the chase though, followed only by two other legends: Gunn-Rita Dahle and Catharine Pendrel.
On lap 2 of 6, she pushed the tempo and soon joined the Swede.
From then, they were inseparable. Together they chased down and overtook the waning Swiss. It was always going to be between these two. Lap 3:
Lap 4:
Only one to go now!
Unfortunately for Maja, that's when Rissveds found her fifth gear and took a solo victory.
Just enough time for some high fives before grabbing the silver. Her colour.
The first person she hugged: fan number 1 - mum!
But the day was not over...
When in Brazil, it might be a good idea to watch a football game. While you're at it, why not make it perfect though? Pick the national team. Even better - in Maracana. Against the arch-rival Germany. On a mission for revenge for a recent 1-7 defeat. In an Olympic Final.
The stage is set. How should the game flow? Neymar scoring with a dream free kick maybe? Here you are:
The Germans hitting the bar three times, and eventually equalising? Sure, you got it. Extra time. 120 minutes of constant attacks from both sides. Penalties. First four rounds perfect. A German missing their fifth. Now give Neymar the ball, and watch.
August 21
In principle, the Maracana football final was supposed to be my final event to watch live. But I simply couldn't stop. The last day started off with huge rain, and I began it without any tickets, but with a duty to fulfil. Completely soaked, I walked the streets until I finally found a guy willing to sell his ticket. I knew our handball team faced a huge challenge against the Germans. In fact, my countrymen seemingly agreed, as not so many came to watch the bronze medal game. I kicked off my wet shoes, while we started the game strongly. Now, I'm not going to claim that it happened entirely thanks to the socks, but you have to admit there is practically no reasonable way of denying it.
Later though, the Germans took off. They built a 17-13 lead into the halftime, and maintained it during the remainder of the game.
I wandered around a bit, but instead of basketball tickets, I found... recent silver medallist in canoe, Marta Walczykiewicz!
Briefly watched Spain win a thriller bronze medal on the big screen, then was joined by a few more people once the broadcast switched to the volleyball final.
I wasn't ready to finish the Games with a Polish defeat, therefore launched a final charge on tickets, and got one for the handball final! Walked into the arena and immediately felt goose bumps from the loud "Allez les Bleus" alternating with "Let's go Denmark". It was packed for once, and the security control doubled at each entrance. So for a brief moment there was a distant possibility I'd have to sit in my actual sector for the first time in two weeks.
Luckily, during halftime I somehow slipped into the first row as usual, and enjoyed an exciting second half from behind the French goal. By the way, almost every single Brazilian spent it staring into their mobile, and eventually exploded with joy when Brazil won gold in volleyball. In theory, I should be happy for the host country, or at most indifferent. But somehow I felt annoyed by people who came to see an Olympic final in one sport, but disrespect it gravely by only following another and then chanting wildly for ten minutes, only to shut up and lose their interest entirely again once the game before their very eyes actually heated up to become a battle for the ages.
Very unexpectedly, the Danes - led by Mikkel Hansen as always - built a three goals lead and never looked back. France threw everything they had at them, and scored a bunch of beauties in the process, but couldn't produce effective defense on the other side. The Danes won 28-26 and dozens of extremely blonde people erupted in gold fever.
As the name of every single medallist from all three countries was announced and applauded, I suddenly felt very nostalgic about maybe the last game of this fearless Polish generation. That being said, what a worthy podium!
Somewhat symptomatically, as I joined thousands on our final walk out of the Olympic Park, the wind picked up so much one of the arenas started disassemblying itself: notice the hole on the left side?
It felt as if a hurricane was coming, and so the symbolism continued with parts of the walkway I spent so much time on peeled off and started flying all over the boulevard. The 2016 Olympic Games reached their closure.
During my 15 days in Rio, in total I watched 33 events - 32 ticketed ones, and the men's triathlon - thus breaking the barrier of 100 Olympic events I've now witnessed in person. Just please don't ask me which one was the best. The sheer variety of stages and the unbelievable range of emotion are what the Olympic Games mean to me. Every four years, during roughly two weeks, in only one city in the whole wide world, Bolt runs, Wlodarczyk throws, Durant shoots, Cancellara pedals, Murray hits, Neymar kicks, unicorns fart rainbows, and I hope to continue joining them every single time for a long long time to come.
(Tokyo, anybody?)
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