No national anthem for Brazil so far
Every host nation yearns to hear its national anthem played. Every citizen, warm or cool to the Olympics, wants to sing it loud, sing it proud. OPatria amada Idolatrada Salve! Salve! At the end of Day One, Rio 2016, Brazilians are still waiting.
It is only Day One, of course, in the Olympic fortnight. Doubtless the Brazilian anthem will blast forth from a venue at some point.
They couldn’t be so unlucky as, well, us, 40 years ago in Montreal, where no O Canada ever burst from our primed lips except in decorative fashion, a Summer Olympics goldless.
But thus far things aren’t going to plan, which is the way of sports and nerves and pressure in front of a home audience.
Gold was very much anticipated in women’s judo, where national heroine Sarah Menezes stepped out onto the mat as the defending Olympic champion. A surprise victor in London four years ago, a shocking loser on Saturday afternoon here.
The amiable 26-year-old whose parents tried to dissuade her from taking up judo as a young girl — thought it too masculine an endeavour, until their daughter started winning matches — was considered a strong favourite in the 48-kilogram category. A raucous crowd at Carioca Arena 2 certainly shared that view, chanting “Ole Ole Sarah Sarah” and waving the Brazilian flag.
Except Sarah Sarah, ranked fourth in the world at the moment and seeded fourth in Rio, was clearly not having her best day as a judoka. In her first round, she barely scraped by Charline Van Snick from Belgium, then lost to 17th ranked Dayaris Mestre Alvarez of Cuba on a single penalty in what was otherwise a scoreless quarter-finals match. And there went an early gold prospect.
Menezes looked unable to get much traction on the tatami in either of those encounters. The possibility of winning bronze still existed as Menezes went into the repechage round, only to be confronted by — defeated by — World No. 1 Urantsetseg Munkhbat from Mongolia.
To make matters worse, Menezes was obviously in pain at the conclusion of her final appearance, wincing as she cradled her elbow before slowly departing. “She has a dislocated elbow,” an official told reporters afterwards. “She has been taken to the hospital of the Olympic Village.”
Not the Games Menezes had visualized.
Further rotten outcome for Brazil in the men’s 60-kg event where Felipe Kitadai, bronze in London, was sent packing in his repechage. He did, though, provide one of the most dramatic episodes on Saturday in the round of 32. After trailing France’s Walide Khyar, he managed to score a winning yuko with seven seconds left on the clock. That was the last hurrah for Brazilians.
The country had staked a lot on its judo contingent, fielding a full complement of 14 judokas. Only powerhouses France and Japan have sent similar numbers. Mayra Aguiar, in the women’s 78-Kg category, will now be bearing the weight of a nation as a gold contender, with home advantage slipping away for the squad.
If the judo team flames out, Brazil’s best hopes lie with reigning Olympics rings champion Arthur Zanetti, open water swimmer Poliana Okimoto, perennial pole vault contender Fabiana Murer, pentathlon star Yane Marques, multiple Olympic medaling sailor Robert Scheidt, Isaquias Queiroz in canoe sprints, the beach volleyballers, women volleyball champions (dry-land version) seeking an Olympics gold three-peat, teenage archer Marcus Vinicius D’Almeida, the men’s and women’s soccer squads and the women’s handball team.
And there was some glitter by the end of Day One, with Felipe Wu winning silver in men’s 10 m air pistol.
No national anthem for second place, unfortunately.