Americans are setting some amazing records this year.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Make it six straight for Kim Rhode.
The 37-year-old American won a medal for her sixth consecutive Olympics on Friday, capturing bronze in the skeet shooting event at the Olympic Shooting Center.
It’s a stunning accomplishment from Rhode, who becomes the first female Olympian to medal in six consecutive games, and the first summer Olympian as well. Only Italian luger Armin Zoeggeler has done it on the men’s side.
Wow.
Michael Phelps has broken a 2,000-year-old Olympic record by surpassing the 12 individual titles won by Leonidas of Rhodes. Who was this athlete whose record has taken two millennia to beat, asks Jon Kelly?
Phelps has a total of 22 Olympic gold medals, but nine of these have come in relays – in terms of individual titles he has only just passed the greatest athlete of the ancient world.
Leonidas of Rhodes competed in four successive Olympiads in 164BC, 160BC, 156BC and 152BC and in each of these he won three different foot races.
Wow. Won it by a mile. Congrats!
Led by overwhelming all-around favourite Simone Biles, the USA scored 184.897 to retain their crown and win a fifth successive global title.
Russia claimed silver with 176.688, ahead of bronze medallists China (176.003) and Japan (174.371).
Somehow, I don’t think that Rio is going to get the tourism boost they hoped for once the Olympics are done.
With the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics just one day away, ocean water along Rio de Janeiro’s famed beaches remains contaminated with bacteria and viruses.
The situation is so dire, the World Health Organization has warned athletes participating in open water sports to not swallow water, to cover any open wounds during competition and to wash off immediately after exiting the water.
Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News’ chief health and medical editor, visited Guanabara Bay, where the sailing competitions will take place, on Sunday to collect samples and see the state of the bay. He traveled with a local biologist and activist, Mario Moscatelli, who noted that there are multiple pipes dumping what appears to be raw sewage directly into the water.
“It’s pure s—,” said Moscatelli.
There was a nasty surprise awaiting passengers in the arrivals hall at Rio De Janeiro’s Galeao International Airport on Monday.
Along with the relatives carrying flowers and taxi drivers waiting with name boards there were lines of off-duty police with banners that had a far more ominous message: “Welcome to Hell”.
“Police and firefighters don’t get paid,” the banners, in English and Portuguese, went on. “Whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe”. Photos of the protest have been widely shared on social media and in the Brazilian press. The image above was posted on the photo sharing site Imgur, where it was viewed more than three million times in less than a day.
With just half of tickets sold and only four months before kickoff, Brazil’s new minister of sports, Richardo Leyser, is looking into ways to boost ticket sales.
He told Brazilian newspaper Folha that the Brazilian government may purchase tickets that will be distributed to public schools. He said public officials must also work to boost worldwide confidence in Rio’s ability to host the games and ensure travelers’ safety.
The country is in the midst of a political upheaval and massive protests, and lawmakers are currently considering a request to impeach President Dilma Rousseff.
Leyser was tapped to replace Brazil’s former sports minister, who resigned just days ago.
The country’s economy is also collapsing, suffering the worst recession in 25 years.
It’s also unclear whether construction of the Olympic facilities will be finished as organizers havefaced steep funding constraints — the budget was slashed by $500 million in January.
