Churandy Martina, 100m Pan Am champion is a hero today in Netherlands Antilles. (ATR)
Firsts for Pan Am Athletics
Netherlands Antilles sprinter Churandy Martina is the first from his nation to win the 100m gold medal at the Pan Am Games. His time was 10.15, .02 seconds faster than silver medalist Darvis Patton of the U.S.
In the women’s 100m event earlier Tuesday evening at Havelange Stadium, Mikele Barber of the U.S. ran 11.02 to
Break the record set 28 years ago by Evelyn Ashford. Mechelle Lewis of the U.S. won the silver.
Martina said the Antilles were “going wild” at his result. He added that in the brief time between his medaling and the press conference that he had received calls from “lots of people back home”.
More than half the seats at the stadium were unoccupied and that number shrunk even more once rains started Tuesday evening. After the men’s 100m concluded the skies opened up and the fan took cover. Attendance at athletics has been noticeably low; Havelange Stadium seats 45,000.
All three medalists commented on the pro-Brazil crowds during the 100m final. And staying true to the boorish behavior experienced throughout the Pan Ams, spectators chose to boo Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman when he presented the medals.
Rain for Softball, Tennis
More rain in Rio meant more postponements at the City of Rock, venue last week for baseball, this week for softball.
The softball tournament at the troubled temporary ballpark has been forced to start a day late and in abbreviated form.
Each team played twice Tuesday and once on Wednesday.
The top two teams in the two four-nation divisions will advance to the playoff round Friday.
Damage from an early morning windstorm scuttled Monday’s games. Rainy weather returned late Monday and continued into Tuesday.
Rain also delayed men’s tennis on the clay court at Marapendi Club. The morning schedule was postponed until a 4:05 p.m. start.
Rio’s official weather forecast for today is cloudy with showers with gusts of wind and temperatures between 21 and 26 Celsius. It’ll be slightly cooler with drizzle on Thursday.
The cooler temperatures prompted The cauldron at Maracana Stadium. (Getty Images)shutdown of air conditioning in the main press centre’s communal area, also known as the “bullpen.” That didn’t stop the international journalists and photographers from continuing a tradition of clapping whenever one of the imbalanced chairs is overturned.
Dim the Flame
It wasn’t rain and wind that dimmed the Pan American cauldron at Maracana Stadium this week. Turns out the flame was put on minimum intensity after Monday’s women’s football semifinals as part of planned maintenance in preparation for the closing ceremony July 29, according to CO-RIO.
No Hoops Gold for Home Team
The U.S. stopped the Brazilian gold medal juggernaut to take the women’s basketball championship at Rio Multipurpose Focused: Mattee Avajon was the leading scorer in the U.S. win over Brazil for basketball gold. (Getty Images)Arena on Tuesday.
Matee Avajon led with 27 points for the U.S. squad.
“Brazil, even being a more experienced team, couldn’t deal with the pressure of being host,” Avajon said. “We were focused on our goals and we won it.”
Women’s Football Final Set
The Brazil team for the upcoming World Cup will meet the U.S. under-20 team for the gold medal match at noon Thursday in Maracana Stadium.
U.S. upset Canada Monday night 2-1 to move to the final.
Canada and Mexico meet for bronze at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Record Breakers
Three Pan American athletics records were set Monday on the first day of competition at Joao Havelange Stadium.
Cuban Yipsi Moreno broke her 2003 Pan American record to win the women’s hammer throw at 75.2m. Brazil’s Fabiana Murer cleared 4.6m to take a record in the pole vault. Ed Moran won gold in men’s 5,000 m for U.S. in 13:25.6, shaving almost five seconds off the Pan Am standard.
Medal Tally
The U.S. leads with 164 overall medals, including 67 gold, 64 silver and 33 bronze. Brazil has 95 (30-24-41) followed by Canada at 81 (20-28-33).
Medals for Wednesday
On the schedule Wednesday at Rio 2007:
Seven medal events in athletics, plus medal rounds in diving, roller skating, karate and wrestling.
The marquee team event is field hockey, with favorite Argentina taking on Canada at 5 p.m. at the Deodoro Military Complex. Argentina has played in every final since 1967 in Winnipeg and is 5-3 against Canada in the championship. The winner advances to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
With reporting from Bob Mackin and Ed Hula III.
On the scene coverage of the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro continues
through the month at www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.
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