Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Brazilians Are All Over Olympic Wrestling, Rio 2016’s Sexiest and Most ‘Primal’ Sport
From: Towleroad
This week the wrestling tournament started at Rio 2016 bringing together 353 athletes from 68 countries who will compete in 21 olympic wresting events in two different disciplines: freestyle, for both men and women, and Greco-Roman, only for men.
According to the Rio 2016 official website, the athletes’ goal is to force their opponent’s shoulders on to the mat, in a fascinating mix of primal hand-to-hand combat and complex tactics, where technique, stamina and brute strength are all on display.
Oh, my.
Social media in Brazil didn’t quite know how to handle such “primal hand-to-hand combat,” and the hashtag #lutaolimpica (olympic wrestling) was born. Here are some of our early favorites:
NÃO TENHO Maturidade PARA #LutaOlimpica pic.twitter.com/OIolH4G2Gj— Alana Pacheco (@Liberti332) August 16, 2016
“I just can’t with #LutaOlimpica.”
Já sei qual esporte vou querer fazer pra próxima olimpíadas #lutaolimpica pic.twitter.com/UQKUxtbmRj— Vailagay (@vaiIagay) August 16, 2016
“I already know what kind of sport I want to compete in the next Olympics.”
— Eita Geovaná (@geovana75101175) August 16, 2016
“LOVE #LutaOlimpica lol”
#lutaolimpica é um esporte meio estranho né pic.twitter.com/XOQNS11Gca— Rafael Menegon (@rumenegon) August 16, 2016
“#lutaolimpica is kind of a strange sport, isn’t it?”
— Felipe Lopes (@FelipeeJLopes) August 15, 2016
“BUT GUYS”
queria pedir o perdão de todos, mas não tenho maturidade suficiente para assistir luta greco-romana/#lutaolimpica pic.twitter.com/L8mR26s1mP— Jarbas Ribeiro ▲ (@JarbasRibeiro) August 15, 2016
“I want to apologize to everybody, but I don’t have the maturity to watch greco-roman wrestling.”
Eu pago a minha TV por assinatura pra isso #LutaOlimpica pic.twitter.com/6jNy6Vl1sR— Tigrão (@ItsThigs) August 14, 2016
“This is why I pay for cable.”
— TOnhO Pikaku (@Espantalhofz8) August 6, 2016
“Dude, I don’t understand that sport lol”
#LutaGrecoRomana não tenho maturidade pic.twitter.com/cLzsnrE9vh— Alana Pacheco (@Liberti332) August 16, 2016
#LutaOlimpica I just can’t
Broder, tá passando um vt de luta olímpica e............................. tá permitido fingir que é pornô?— crybaby (@porcelainthing) August 16, 2016
“Dude, they are showing olympic wresting on TV……… Can we pretend it’s porn?”
You can check them out for yourself:
“The Neverending Story” Is Returning To Theaters
Falkor flies again!
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Get ready to return to Fantasia.
The ’80s fantasy classic The Neverending Story is flying back into theaters for a two-day, nationwide run this September. This will be the first the film has been seen on the big screen in over three decades.
As if that wasn’t enough, each screening will include a new featurette, “Reimagine The NeverEnding Story,” that will be shown before the movie.
“The NeverEnding Story evokes a certain sense of adventure in everyone – the longing for a journey, a daring quest of bravery on which you learn your true merit through the winding road of unexpected challenges, is something we can all relate to,” said Fathom Events Vice President of Studio Relations Tom Lucas in a statement.
The film will shown on Sept. 4 and 7 at 2 and 7 p.m. (local times). Click here to find out which theaters are participating and to buy tickets.
After all these years we can can finally see our childhood crush, Atreyu on the big screen again.
Trump Campaign Office Opens Across From Pulse Nightclub In Orlando
Meanwhile, the presidential hopeful received backlash for attending "anti-LGBT rallies" in Florida last week.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
Donald Trump has used this summer’s horrific massacre in Orlando as an opportunity to insist that he’s a friend to the LGBT community, and now the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign has opened an office across the street from the exact location of the attack.
Last Friday marked the two month anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting, and Trump spent the day giving a speech to conservative Christians just a few miles away from the site with his former opponent, Marco Rubio.
But while Rubio shockingly preached LGBT tolerance at the rally, Trump neglected to bring up LGBT issues at all.
The presidential hopeful received criticism for his decision to attend an evangelical pastors event described as “an anti-LGBT rally” this week as well.
Now, the new location of one of Trump’s campaign offices is seen by many as another slap in the face to both the LGBT and Hispanic communities, as the majority of the 49 killed in the Pulse attack were Hispanic.
Pulse nightclub memorial site in Orlando reflected in the window of Trump's new field office. Photo by @mmcnarney. pic.twitter.com/LbRk2TdLE2— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) August 12, 2016
Transgender Handball Player Hopes To Go For The Gold Again
Australian Hannah Mouncey, 26, aims to become the first Olympian to play for both a men's and women's national team.
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
In November, Hannah Mouncey found herself at the elite level of handball players, representing her native Australia at a tournament in Qatar with a hope of making it to Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
But Mouncey, 26, was also secretly battling crippling gender dysphoria and accompanying depression—in a hypermasculine environment in a strange country with no support network.
As she explains in a first-person essay on Outsports, the stress took its toll and she acted out—and was disciplined for swearing at teammates during matches and kicking water bottles on the court.
“That my gender issues were at the root of that behavior is something I’ve never discussed with [my teammates], but I’m sure they figured it out,” she writes. “They’ve supported me all the way. This speaks volumes for the culture within Australian handball.”
Mouncey, who has since begun transitioning, says Qatar was a watershed moment.
It was during this tournament that I realized I no longer had a choice—I simply had to start living as my true self and transition from male to female.
The one thing keeping me going was that I had already acquired the hormones I so desperately needed to start the transition, ready and waiting for me in the glovebox of my car when I got home.
Somehow amid the anxiety and dysphoria, she found the strength to come out to her mother while in Qatar.
“I was never going to transition before telling my mum,” she tells the Canberra Times. “I remember one day, it was the back end of the tournament and I was just up in the pool on the roof, I was up there by myself and I thought, ’Why not? What is stopping me from doing anything?'”
“So I just got up out of the pool, went downstairs and sent her a big long message on Facebook. It was a very quick thing to make the decision.”
“I just didn’t want her to be upset,” she adds, “[but] I knew she’d be supportive.”
And despite the less-than-ideal circumstances, she’s also been embraced by her sport.
“The support and acceptance I’ve received from within handball has been nothing but absolute,” she writes. “From players I’d coached, those who had coached me and those who I knew but had never played with, I have not had a single negative response from within my sport.”
Mouncey hopes to qualify for the Australian women’s team, and possibly represent Australia at the 2020 games in Tokyo.
New IOC guidelines require trans women have undergone hormone treatment for a year before earning a spot on a women’s team, but Mouncey hopes to start playing sooner.
“IOC’s guidelines are just that, guidelines, so each athlete can be assessed on an individual basis… The primary objective is always to have a fair competition,” she says. “Its important people be assessed as individuals, because everyone will react differently to treatment.”
Mouncey’s testosterone levels have consistently been between 0.3 and 0.7 mol since she began treatment, well below the IOC requirement of 10.0 nmol. That means her strength and speed loss has been occurring sooner than some other people transitioning.
If she succeeds, she’ll be the first transgender athlete to compete internationally in a team sport—and the first who has gone from a men’s national team to a women’s team.
“Because there’s no precedent it’s going to be a bit difficult, just because you’ve got to work through legal things as much as anything.”
Transitioning aside, playing in the Olympics is a long shot period: Handball players receive no government funding in Australia, and the country only qualified for the Olympics once, in 2000, when it hosted the Sydney Games.
Hopefully, Mouncey and her teammates will earn that spot at the Tokyo Games, where she will join other trans athletes in breaking barriers for inclusion and fair play.
“I am not simply trying to continue a career I started four years ago,” she writes. “It will always be about representing my country as best I can, but now it’s also about representing the transgender community and providing the impetus for true equality within a society that often wants us to be ignored.”
Below, Hannah discusses how hormone therapy has affected her training and her body.
What We Wouldn’t Give To Be Wrestler Jordan Burroughs’ Singlet For A Day
From: Queerty
Olympic champion and reigning gold medalist in freestyle wrestling Jordan Burroughs is currently in Rio preparing to compete on Friday. The 28-year-old wrestler from New Jersey told press that he feels cool, calm, and collected and that he’s ready to “win the gold again and be the best in the world.”
Considering that he’s accumulated an astounding 129 wins over the course of his professional career, including an unprecedented 108-2 on the international circuit, we’d say the odds are in Burroughs’ favor. But his talents aren’t only limited to the wrestling ring. He also maintains a rather impressive and revealing Instagram account.
Check out some pics below…
Tony Azevedo: USA Water Polo Legend
From: Speed o Rex
The USA schooled Italy in Sunday's Rio 2016 Olympic Water Polo contest between the two, winning 10-7, but controlling the play much more than the score would indicate.
The win for the USA was not enough to keep them in the tournament, and the loss for Italy put them into third place in Group B.
The last USA game in this year's Olympics, was perhaps Tony Azevedo's last Olympic game, although he might come back in four years.
At 35 he has already provided so much entertainment for USA fans, as well as readers of these "pages"
Anthony Lawrence Azevedo is a Brazilian-born American water polo player and a graduate of Stanford University. Nicknamed "The Savior" at one point, he is considered to be one of the best American water polo players in recent memory.
After his brilliant career at Stanford, which many of you will remember, he played for about a decade in Europe, and currently plays for a Brazilian team. This was his fifth Olympics.
Thanks Tony, for all the great play you have provided over the years.
The LGBT Athletes Who Have Won Medals In Rio (So Far)
Way to represent, Team LGBTI!
From: NewNowNext
From: NewNowNext
There are a record 49 athletes competing at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, and if those athletes were all on a team together, they’d be tied for 13th place in the overall medal count right now.
Team LGBTI has managed to earn five medals despite more than a few anti-LGBT gaffes in NBC’s coverage, and that number is bound to grow as the second week of the Games kicks off with more track & field and team events.
OutSports notes the number of out athletes is bound to grow as well, as it’s a perfect time for LGBT athletes from countries where homosexuality is illegal to advocate for LGBT rights while the world is watching.
Last week, out diver Amini Fonua of Tonga, where homosexuality is illegal and punished by up to 10 years in prison, made a very large statement by condemning The Daily Beast’s dangerous coverage that potentially outed some athletes, and discussing the repercussions some athletes may face when they return home as a result.
Below, check out the five stunning medals Team LGBTI has claimed— so far!
***************
Rafaela Silva
Brazil
Gold
Women’s -57 kg Judo
Carl Hester
Great Britain
Silver
Dressage
Spencer Wilton
Great Britain
Silver
Dressage
There they are together!
Rachele Bruni
Italy
Silver
Marathon Swimming 10km
Dedicated her medal to her "beloved"
Italy
Silver
Marathon Swimming 10km
Dedicated her medal to her "beloved"
Tom Daley
Great Britain
Bronze
Men’s synchronized 10-meter platform Diving
Jen Kish
Canada
Bronze
Women’s Rugby
Canada
Bronze
Women’s Rugby
Swimmer dedicates Olympic medal to her girlfriend, coming out in the process
Italian swimmer Rachele Bruni dedicated her silver 10km medal to several people, including her 'beloved.'
From: OutSports
From: OutSports
It took Italy's Rachele Bruni almost two hours to complete the women's 10km swimming marathon and capture a silver medal, but it didn't take nearly as long for her to take the opportunity to come out publicly.
The distance swimmer on Monday dedicated her Olympic medal to her girlfriend, Diletta Faina, who accompanied Bruni to Rio for the competition.
"I dedicate this victory to my family, my coach and my beloved, who have followed and supported me," Bruni said.
When the Italian media picked up on the reference to Faina, Bruni answered more questions about being LGBTI at the Italian House in Rio.
"I've always lived naturally, without problems," Bruni added. "I've never done a big coming out. Undoubtedly there are people who have too many prejudices, but I live peacefully. I do not think about the prejudices, I live for myself, for my passion for swimming and for the people who love me."
Bruni is an eight-time European champion, but this is her first Olympic medal.
She is the only out LGBTI Olympian we know of on Team Italy.
Olympic Soccer Heats Up Wednesday!
From: Speed o Rex
Wednesday, August 17 Olympic Men's Soccer moves into the Semifinals. The first game pits Brazil against Honduras. In the second game, Germany, the last European team still involved, plays Nigeria.
The finals and the consolation final will be held on Saturday, August 21
\
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
