Our event for the day is the B session of men's 62 kg and women's 58 kg weightlifting in Riocentro. The B session is for athletes that have lower estimated lift totals compared to all of the other athletes in the same weight category. When the event starts, the crowds are still pretty sparse:
There are no Brazilians in this session so that might have something to do with attendance.
Weightlifting is composed of two lifts - the snatch, where you have to lift the weight directly over your head in one smooth motion, and the clean and jerk where you stop at shoulder level before lifting the weight over your head. You have to hold the weight over your head for 3 seconds under full control and there are 3 judges who decide whether a lift is good. Each athlete has 3 tries in each technique.
Based on initial start totals, there are four favorites: Yosuke Nakayama from Japan, Jesus Lopez Sanchez from Venezuela, Julio Salamanca Pineda from El Salvador and Vaipava Ioane from Samoa. All have said that they would lift a combined 280 kg in the two lifts. But like the Brazilians, we like to root for the underdog. In this match, this is 22 year old Rick Confiance from the Seychelles Islands:
All of these guys weight about the same, but Rick is taller and therefore thinner. His projected starting lift total is 222 kg.
The lifters go in order of increasing weight so Rick and and a lifter from Haiti take turns lifting their three snatch lifts before anyone even starts. Rick is successful at 100 kg and 105 kg while the Haitian lifter is successful at 102 kg and 107 kg. Rick fails at 110 kg, but the Haitian lifter hurts himself in his attempt at 112 kg and drops out of the competition. The same thing happens to a lifter from Sri Lanka a little later on so Rick works his way up another spot.
The battle to win the session is close. Salamanca Pineda and Ioane both lift 115 kg and 120 kg successfully. Nakayama lifts 121 kg on his first try:
but is not able to improve. Lopez Sanchez starts at 125 kg and fails on his first lift. But he is successful on his second attempt to take the lead going into the clean and jerk.
About this time, a woman wearing a volunteer's outfit walks up to me and asks me in several languages what nationality I am. Then she asks where I got so many pins. I tell her that this is our 12th Olympics. She is surprised and asks why I keep coming back. I tell her and she asks me would I mind being interviewed on the venue camera later in the event. I agree. Then a second woman, who is the video presenter, comes over and says that she'll give a little introduction, ask me my name and where I come from and then ask the same question the other woman just asked me.
Confiance again is the first lifter and lifts 127 kg successfully, but is unable to improve and finishes with a total of 232 kg. Nakayama lifts 140 kg and 145 kg successfully to move into first place with 266 kg. Salamanca Pineda starts by successfully lifting 150 kg and later lifts 155 kg to finish at 275 kg. Lopez Sanchez:
yells to get himself fired up as he attempts 151 kg. Unfortunately, he missed the lift and hurt himself in the process and ends up disqualified with no successful clean and jerks so Confiance moves up another spot in the standings. Then it is Ioane's turn. He starts with 156 kg:
He is also successful at 161 kg. He fails at 166 kg, but bows to the judge and crowd:
We reach the intermission between events and Sean is freaking out. He does not want to be seen on the big video screen while I'm interviewed so he leaves to get something to eat even though he is not particularly hungry. Beth wants to see the interview, but also wants to get something to eat. Eventually, she leaves me to sit there waiting. She gets back and hands me a hamburger. I eat that, but pass on the popcorn because I have this image of myself being interviewed with hunks of popcorn stuck in my teeth.
The women's event begins and it looks like I've been stood up - not that I mind at all. As in the men's event, there is one woman, Ayesha Albalooshi from the United Arab Emirates, whose entry total is 20 kg lower than the next lowest total. Nevertheless, a whole group of UAE team members have arrived to watch. One of them sees all the pins on my hat and hands me one of their team pins! Albalooshi is successful on her first lift at 67 kg:
and her fans go wild. It is tough for her because her second lift at 72 kg and her third at 77 kg are all lower than the starting weight for the next lifter. This gives her only 2 minutes between lifts. Nevertheless, she successfully lifts both weights. Just to be clear, I may say she "only" lifted 77 kg, but this is considerably more than her weight of 57 kg. All of these women are really, really strong.
The favorites in this contest, at least based on start weights, are Sabine Kusterer from Germany:
At the end of the snatch, Kusterer is tied with Ukrainian lifter Veronika Ivasiuk:
at 90 kg with Sasser 3 kg back at 87 kg. You can see that Ivaskiuk is much skinnier than the other athletes in this session. That is because she is considerably taller. This gives her an advantage in the snatch because it is more based on quickness and the length of your lever arm, but will be a disadvantage in the clean and jerk.
Sean sees the interviewers coming and bugs out. The first woman who spoke with me (who is from Finland) tells me what is going to happen. She tells the presenter that the camera is live. The presenter gives a short speech about what has happened so far and then the Finnish woman motions for me to stand next to the presenter. She says "now here is someone who should win a medal for the number of Olympics" and mentions that this is my 12th Olympics. She asks me my name and where I am from. Then she asks me why I keep coming back. I told her that I love sports, but what keeps me coming back is the chance to see an athlete achieve a performance that they did not believe that they were capable of. Overall, it went okay except that the time delay between when she asked the question and when I heard it on the public address system through me off a little. After the spot was done, the presenter, who spoke excellent English, apologized and said that she should have told me about that. Then they were gone and I went back to the popcorn. Subtract 2 minutes from my 15 minutes of fame!
In the clean and jerk, Albalooshi lifts 86 kg and 90 kg, but fails at 94 kg to finish at 162 kg. Her fans give her a huge round of applause as she exits the stage. Ivaskiuk starts with a successful lift of 98 kg, but Klusterer starts with a successful lift of 108 kg and Sasser is even better at 110 kg. Sasser eventually outlifts Klusterer 112 kg to 110 kg. However, since Klusterer beat Sasser by 3 kg in the snatch, she wins the overall 200 kg to 199 kg.
Outside the venue, a group of volunteers stop me and ask to see my pins. After a bunch of trades and giving away a bunch of pins, I end up with two dated Nauru team pins and undated team pins from Singapore and Hong Kong. It is too bad that we are leaving going home relatively early in this Olympic Games because the Brazilians are definitely getting into pins!
We take the bus and train back to our hotel, drop our stuff and head out for dinner. We end up going to a contemporary Brazilian restaurant called Bazaar. We were a little worried when there was only one table full of people in the place. Sean and I both had grilled shrimp with black garlic risotto and Beth had rock lobster over a manioc puree. We asked the waiter if they could recommend a Brazilian wine for dinner. He said that he picks two reds and two whites each night for specials. Since we are eating seafood, we go with a Sauvignon Blanc from Portugal. Everything was outstanding and by the time we left, the place was full. Just another case of the Brazilians preferring to eat later.
The women's event begins and it looks like I've been stood up - not that I mind at all. As in the men's event, there is one woman, Ayesha Albalooshi from the United Arab Emirates, whose entry total is 20 kg lower than the next lowest total. Nevertheless, a whole group of UAE team members have arrived to watch. One of them sees all the pins on my hat and hands me one of their team pins! Albalooshi is successful on her first lift at 67 kg:
and her fans go wild. It is tough for her because her second lift at 72 kg and her third at 77 kg are all lower than the starting weight for the next lifter. This gives her only 2 minutes between lifts. Nevertheless, she successfully lifts both weights. Just to be clear, I may say she "only" lifted 77 kg, but this is considerably more than her weight of 57 kg. All of these women are really, really strong.
The favorites in this contest, at least based on start weights, are Sabine Kusterer from Germany:
and 19 year old Mathlynn Sasser from the Marshall Islands:
at 90 kg with Sasser 3 kg back at 87 kg. You can see that Ivaskiuk is much skinnier than the other athletes in this session. That is because she is considerably taller. This gives her an advantage in the snatch because it is more based on quickness and the length of your lever arm, but will be a disadvantage in the clean and jerk.
Sean sees the interviewers coming and bugs out. The first woman who spoke with me (who is from Finland) tells me what is going to happen. She tells the presenter that the camera is live. The presenter gives a short speech about what has happened so far and then the Finnish woman motions for me to stand next to the presenter. She says "now here is someone who should win a medal for the number of Olympics" and mentions that this is my 12th Olympics. She asks me my name and where I am from. Then she asks me why I keep coming back. I told her that I love sports, but what keeps me coming back is the chance to see an athlete achieve a performance that they did not believe that they were capable of. Overall, it went okay except that the time delay between when she asked the question and when I heard it on the public address system through me off a little. After the spot was done, the presenter, who spoke excellent English, apologized and said that she should have told me about that. Then they were gone and I went back to the popcorn. Subtract 2 minutes from my 15 minutes of fame!
In the clean and jerk, Albalooshi lifts 86 kg and 90 kg, but fails at 94 kg to finish at 162 kg. Her fans give her a huge round of applause as she exits the stage. Ivaskiuk starts with a successful lift of 98 kg, but Klusterer starts with a successful lift of 108 kg and Sasser is even better at 110 kg. Sasser eventually outlifts Klusterer 112 kg to 110 kg. However, since Klusterer beat Sasser by 3 kg in the snatch, she wins the overall 200 kg to 199 kg.
Outside the venue, a group of volunteers stop me and ask to see my pins. After a bunch of trades and giving away a bunch of pins, I end up with two dated Nauru team pins and undated team pins from Singapore and Hong Kong. It is too bad that we are leaving going home relatively early in this Olympic Games because the Brazilians are definitely getting into pins!
We take the bus and train back to our hotel, drop our stuff and head out for dinner. We end up going to a contemporary Brazilian restaurant called Bazaar. We were a little worried when there was only one table full of people in the place. Sean and I both had grilled shrimp with black garlic risotto and Beth had rock lobster over a manioc puree. We asked the waiter if they could recommend a Brazilian wine for dinner. He said that he picks two reds and two whites each night for specials. Since we are eating seafood, we go with a Sauvignon Blanc from Portugal. Everything was outstanding and by the time we left, the place was full. Just another case of the Brazilians preferring to eat later.
Steps for the day - 10,678
Maybe South Korea could "sponsor" you in two years?! Thirteen Olympics should be worth SOMETHING!
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