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Thread: 2016 Rio Olympics

  1. #1
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    2016 Rio Olympics

    Here's a good excuse to kick off next year's thread. Seems like ages since London.

    Anderson Silva pushes to compete for Brazil at 2016 Olympics
    By Ryan McKinnell
    April 13, 2015 6:06 PM
    Cagewriter


    Anderson Silva celebrates after the referee stop the fight in the second round during his UFC 148 middleweight championship fight against Chael Sonnen at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday, July 7, 2012 in Las Vegas. Silva won with a TKO
    .

    View photo
    Anderson Silva celebrates after the referee stop the fight in the second round during his UFC 148 middleweight championship fight against Chael Sonnen at the MGM Grand Garden Arena Saturday, July 7, 2012 in Las Vegas. Silva won with a TKO. (AP Photo/David Becker)

    When the Olympic Summer games head to Rio de Janeiro next summer, Brazil could have former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva helping its medal count.

    [DraftKings: UFC contests are live today – draft your team now!]

    That is, if "Spider" has anything to say about.

    Silva, who is 5th-degree black belt in taekwondo, penned a letter to the president of the Brazilian Taekwondo Federation (CBTKD), Carlos Fernandes, expressing his desire to compete for the national team in the 2016 Summer Games.

    "Everybody knows that for a high-performance athlete, the Olympic games is the dream of every athlete, and it wouldn't be different with me," Silva wrote on the CBTKD webpage. "It will be a great pleasure to be part of this golden team, which has a serious institution, commanded by president Carlos Fernandes, who honors us very much, along with his team. Therefore, I wish to represent taekwondo and Brazil in the Olympic games in 2016. With all my esteem, strength and honor."

    Whether or not Silva actually represents Brazil is anyone's guess at this point; however, Silva is, in fact, meeting with President Fernandes soon to discuss, as Fernandes has stated, this "magnificent possibility."

    Silva began his taekwondo training at just 14 years old. Since that time, he used it to become one of the most heralded strikers the sport of mixed martial arts has ever seen. Silva, 39, is currently suspended by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for failing drug tests before and after his fight with Nick Diaz in January at UFC 183.

    Silva has expressed interest in a potential Olympic run in previous years, but the talk was quickly shut down as Silva focused on his MMA career.

    Testing for the Olympics is conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and is much more stringent than the tests he faced during his MMA career. If Silva is looking to put his PED debacle in MMA to rest, a clean and authoritative run in Rio may just help in restoring his championship legacy with fight fans.

    Beach Volleyball, a sport that gets way overexposed here in the U.S. IMO, is going to rock at Rio.
    Gene Ching
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    Can't believe it is this summer already.
    Felt like London was just 4 year ago, ;P

    Looking forward to judo, wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, track and field, swimming, diving, in short, everything !

    LOL
    Psalms 144:1
    Praise be my Lord my Rock,
    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

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    Quote Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin View Post
    Can't believe it is this summer already.
    Felt like London was just 4 year ago, ;P

    Looking forward to judo, wrestling, weightlifting, boxing, track and field, swimming, diving, in short, everything !

    LOL
    Not to mention women's gymnastics, diving, hurdles, pole vaulting and especially that spinney ribbon dance thing and contact juggling.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

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    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    Not to mention women's gymnastics, diving, hurdles, pole vaulting and especially that spinney ribbon dance thing and contact juggling.
    Have you seen the bodies, er, I mean the skill level of the women in those sports?
    Psalms 144:1
    Praise be my Lord my Rock,
    He trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle !

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    Quote Originally Posted by sanjuro_ronin View Post
    Have you seen the bodies, er, I mean the skill level of the women in those sports?
    dem skills...yes...
    Kung Fu is good for you.

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    Zika Virus

    Researchers Weigh Risks of Zika Spreading at Rio Olympics
    By SIMON ROMERO and REBECCA R. RUIZJAN. 28, 2016


    Kleisse Marcelina and her 2-month-old son, Pietro, who has microcephaly, in Salvador, Brazil, on Thursday. Credit Christophe Simon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

    RIO DE JANEIRO — With about 500,000 people expected to visit Brazil for the Olympics here this year, researchers are scrambling to figure how much of a risk the Games might pose in spreading the Zika virus around the world.

    Infectious disease specialists are particularly focused on the potential for Zika to spread to the United States. As many as 200,000 Americans are expected to travel to Rio de Janeiro for the Olympics in August. When they return to the Northern Hemisphere and its summer heat, far more mosquitoes will be around to potentially transmit the virus in the United States.

    Brazilian researchers say they believe that Zika, which has been linked to severe birth defects, came to their country during another major sports event — the 2014 World Cup — when hundreds of thousands of visitors flowed into Brazil. Virus trackers here say that the strain raging in Brazil probably came from Polynesia, where an outbreak was rattling small islands around the Pacific.

    As many as 1.5 million people are believed to have contracted the virus in Brazil since then, and the authorities are now investigating thousands of reported cases of babies being born recently with brain damage and abnormally small heads. Zika has spread to more than 20 nations and territories in the Western Hemisphere, according to the World Health Organization, illustrating how quickly the epidemic can expand even without a big international gathering.

    By itself, the virus is not normally life-threatening, and most people who become infected have no symptoms at all.

    The big question is whether Zika is responsible for the huge increase in birth defects reported by doctors, hospitals and other medical officials in Brazil over the last few months. That connection has still not been proved.

    “There is more and more concern that there may be a causal relationship, but a lot of the work so far is to rule out other possible causes,” Dr. Bruce Aylward, an assistant director general at the World Health Organization, said on Thursday, adding that it might take six to nine months to know for sure.

    Asked whether the W.H.O. would advise people not to travel to Brazil for the Olympics, he replied: “I would think that would be very, very unlikely.”

    American officials in the United States said Thursday that there was little likelihood of a Zika outbreak in the United States, adding that the country’s long history of mosquito-control efforts had curbed other mosquito-borne diseases, like dengue or chikungunya, in the past.

    But because the virus can be carried in a person’s blood to a new country, then passed to others by mosquito bites, researchers are trying to determine whether a big global event like the Olympics could add to the global transmission of the disease.

    “Infected travelers departing from Brazil are expected to return to regions that have the potential to sustain transmission,” said Moritz Kraemer, a scholar at Oxford University who researches the global spread of viruses, emphasizing that many travelers would return to their home countries during the summer. “So the international spread of the virus might increase substantially due to higher activity of mosquitoes.”

    Using worldwide temperature profiles and air travel routes, Mr. Kraemer and other researchers found that more than 60 percent of the population of the United States lives in areas where Zika can be transmitted during the Northern Hemisphere’s summer, when the Games will be held. A much smaller number, about 23 million people, live in parts of the United States where Zika can be transmitted year-round, like Florida and Texas, the researchers found.


    In the Southern Hemisphere, by contrast, it is summer right now, and mosquitoes are rapidly spreading the disease in Brazil and other warm parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.

    That may pose a particular risk for big events like Brazil’s Carnival, which goes into full swing next month, but Olympics officials emphasize that it will be winter in Rio when the Games are held, which could limit the spread of mosquito-borne diseases.

    Even so, Brazilian virologists contend that mosquitoes can still easily transmit viruses in Rio and other tropical cities year-round, pointing out that Zika may have begun spreading in Brazil during its winter in 2014.

    Brazil has been one of the hardest hit countries and the authorities are under intense pressure domestically to contain the Zika epidemic right away, regardless of the Olympics.

    Mario Andrada, a spokesman for the Rio Olympics organizing committee, said that there had been no discussions about canceling the Games or moving them to another city because of Zika.

    He added that teams were reviewing Olympic venues daily to eliminate problems like stagnant water where mosquitoes can breed. He said officials were also seeking to work on the “psychological aspect” of athletes being fearful about getting Zika by guaranteeing a supply of mosquito repellent and by keeping teams from every nation informed about the virus.

    “The risk is no joke, so we will maintain this inspection program until the end of the Paralympics,” Mr. Andrada said, referring to the multisport event that will be held in September, after the Olympics.

    Some Brazilian virus specialists contend that the measures adopted by Olympic officials are meager given the scope of the Zika epidemic in Brazil. Beyond the risk to infants, hundreds of people around the country have been stricken by Guillain-Barré, a syndrome that Brazilian officials warn may be connected to Zika and can leave patients paralyzed for weeks.

    “It’s a step in the right direction to inspect facilities, but this is something that should have been done on a broader basis five years ago, not just in the months before the Games,” said Carlos Granato, an infectious diseases specialist at the Federal University of São Paulo. “Mosquitoes persist in a multitude of areas around Rio and other Brazilian cities, so simply keeping Olympic venues free of them is not enough.”

    The fears over Zika are merely the latest challenge to the Rio Olympics. Sailors have complained angrily about competing in the city’s sewage-infested bay. Prosecutors have asserted that builders paid bribes to win contracts for Olympic venues. Clashes have broken out over evictions to make way for Olympic projects. Deep spending cuts have come as Brazil reels from its worst economic slump in decades.

    “Plagued by so many problems, Rio is clearly in a league of its own among host cities of the Olympics in recent memory,” Andrew Zimbalist, a scholar who specializes in sports economics at Smith College, said.
    continued next post
    Gene Ching
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    continued from previous


    A doctor in Recife, Brazil, showing the brain scans of a baby born with microcephaly. Researchers are studying the connection between Zika and microcephaly. Credit Felipe Dana/Associated Press

    While ticket sales had already been disappointing organizers, concerns are growing that travelers from the United States and other countries could cancel plans to visit because of Zika.

    “People have called to ask, ‘If this explodes, how would I cancel my trip?’” said Anbritt Stengele, president of Sports Traveler, a company in Chicago that specializes in travel packages for major sporting events. She said that about 15 percent of her clients who had booked trips for the Olympics had called in recent days to ask about the Zika virus and the possibility of modifying their trips.

    “It’s a tricky situation for us, because everything is paid for in advance — airfare, hotels, ground transportation,” Ms. Stengele said. She said most of the vacation groups traveling to the Olympics included women and families with children.

    “This is a completely different demographic,” she said, compared with the largely male tourists who attended the 2014 World Cup. “The Olympics is about families.”

    Virologists are trying to piece together how the virus began spreading in Brazil, and where it might go from here.

    Dr. Felipe Scassi, a researcher at the University of São Paulo’s Tropical Medicine Institute, said that an Asian strain of Zika appeared to have made its way here from Easter Island, a part of Polynesia controlled by Chile, during the World Cup. After spreading in northeast Brazil, Zika was found in neighboring Suriname and is now being transmitted up and down Latin America and the Caribbean.

    Despite the rapid spread of the virus, Dr. Scassi said that the epidemic could look different in Brazil a few months from now.

    “The colder temperatures should diminish populations in various cities, including Rio,” he said. “The risk in relation to Zika during the Olympics will still exist, but it will be a lower risk than now.”

    Now athletes and fans alike are trying to determine whether it makes sense to travel to Rio. Alysia Montaño, an American runner who competed at the United States Track and Field Championships while eight months pregnant, said the Zika virus could affect her decision to bring her young daughter, who will turn 2 in August, to the Games.

    “The greatest thing is that I will not be a pregnant woman at the Olympics,” said Ms. Montaño, who is hoping to compete in Rio. “Having my daughter there is really, really important to me, but I’ll need to consider if she’ll be a spectator at home or at the Games themselves.”

    Simon Romero reported from Rio de Janeiro, and Rebecca R. Ruiz from New York.
    I hadn't considered this factor until I read this story.
    Gene Ching
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    It was actually the first thing I thought about when I heard about the Zika scare and Brazil. "This might not bode well for the Olympics down there."

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    So wear repellent and avoid sexums with the locals.
    Kung Fu is good for you.

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    TKD team trials

    Lopez continues his reign over the game.

    Steven Lopez, Paige McPherson And Stephen Lambdin Win Taekwondo's Olympic Trials
    BY STEVE YINGLING | FEB. 02, 2016, 9:24 P.M. (ET)


    (L-R) Stephen Lambdin, Paige McPherson and Steven Lopez won their weight classes at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Taekwondo on Feb. 2, 2016 in Reno, Nev.

    RENO, Nev. -- The United States’ most decorated taekwondo fighter and a 2012 Olympic medalist are among the three competitors who emerged victorious at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials on Tuesday afternoon in the Reno-Sparks Convention Center.

    Two-time Olympic gold medalist Steven Lopez of Sugar Land, Texas, scored an overtime win over 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Terrence Jennings in the men’s welterweight (-80 kg.) class to remain in contention for his fifth berth to the Olympic Games this summer in Rio de Janeiro.

    “It’s what I love to do,” said the 37-year-old Lopez, who won Olympic gold in 2000 and 2004, then bronze in 2008. “Like an artist, they paint until they can’t paint any longer. It’s a little different being an Olympic athlete, because physically you are only going to be at your best for a certain amount of time.

    “That’s why I have taken this opportunity that God has given me to leave it all on the mat, because when that day comes when I am done, I don’t have to look back and wish what I could have, should have done.”

    Meanwhile, welterweight Paige McPherson of Sturgis, South Dakota, a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, and heavyweight Stephen Lambdin of Colleyville, Texas, also advanced to the Pan American Qualification Tournament, the final barrier to Rio, on March 10-11 in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

    Lopez was in solid position to oust Jennings in regulation time before Jennings rallied late with a hit to the face for a 4-2 edge. But it wasn’t enough as Lopez scored two points in the final two seconds to force overtime.

    “It’s very exciting,” Lopez said. “You can be up four or even six points, and nothing is ever done. It’s very easy to accumulate points in this game.”

    The match quickly ended in overtime when judges ruled that Jennings pushed Lopez off his feet and punched him in the face. Both are half-point deductions, resulting in the one point Lopez needed to win the match.

    “Any way to win is the smart way to win,” Lopez said. “I got deduction points as well for punching him in the face, so it’s part of the match.”

    Given the chance to compete in his first U.S. Olympic Team Trials this year, Lambdin seized the opportunity, even if that meant going through veteran Mark Lopez, the younger brother of Steven Lopez and a 2008 Olympic silver medalist, to get there in the heavyweight (+80 kg.) division.

    “He’s been around forever, and almost everybody in this team trials has been around for almost two decades, so it’s just one of those things,” Lambdin said.

    Lambdin controlled his match. Mark Lopez reduced his deficit to a single point with 50 seconds remaining, but Lambdin prevented any additional scoring to clinch his coveted trials win.

    “We knew it was going to be tough coming in,” Lambdin said. “We trained for months for him, and we accomplished the goals that we set out to do, which were to control the ring, make him do all of the work of moving and make him miss the big spins.”

    McPherson showed why she is the world’s No. 7 welterweight (-67 kg.) and a 2015 world bronze medalist with her triumph of Cheyenne Lewis. She got a three-point head shot with 20 seconds remaining, then withstood a late rally by Lewis to move on to the continental qualification tournament.

    “Although there is a different format this time around, any way or path toward an Olympic Games will be very challenging,” McPherson said. “The Road to Rio has definitely proven to be difficult. Since WTF ranking is an important factor in the qualification process for the 2016 Rio Games, the journey has become more demanding physically and mentally.”

    The most competitive matchup of the day transpired between welterweights Jennings and Jaysen Ishida, who were competing for the right to face Steven Lopez. Jennings won the first match on the strength of a head kick inside the final five seconds, but Ishida bounced back to take the next bout in overtime.

    However, a wide-angle kick on top by Jennings in the second period determined the deciding match.

    “He’s a really good fighter, obviously being a former Olympian,” Ishida, competing in his second Olympic Trials, said. “I felt really confident coming into this tournament, but I couldn’t make the plays for myself.”

    At age 24, Ishida isn’t ready to give up on his Olympic dream.

    “You just never know. You have to approach every tournament like it’s your last chance,” Ishida said. “Overall, this is a learning experience and I am young. I believe I have another chance in 2020.”

    Steven Lopez, McPherson and Lambdin hope to join Jackie Galloway in Rio. Galloway became the first U.S. taekwondo athlete to qualify for the Games by virtue of her top-six ranking from the WTF Olympic rankings following the Grand Prix Final in December.
    Gene Ching
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    Meanwhile...in the TKD world

    I have yet to see one of these TKD sensors. I've seen a prototype, but not the actual thing.

    22/02/2016
    ‘Tech-wondo’ shows off its innovations at Rio 2016 Olympic Games test event
    The ancient martial art of taekwondo has embraced the future, with a fairer scoring system and more spectator engagement the outcome


    That that: sensors in the headguards are activated by magnetic socks to record successful hits
    Text: Patricia da Matta

    Taekwondo may be a sport of ancient origins, but it has adapted to modern times. Electronic point scoring, video replays, DJs blasting out high-octane music… technology is already integrated, sharing responsibility with referees to guarantee fair contests and helping engage the audience. This past Sunday (21 February) the Rio 2016 taekwondo test event ended at Carioca Arena 1, showcasing the latest version of the Korean martial art, including a new competition area and more technology in the point scoring system: now, even head protectors come equipped with electronic sensors.

    “WE DECIDED TO INVEST IN TECHNOLOGY TO HELP REFEREES. WE WANT THE BEST FIGHTER TO WIN”
    Phillippe Bouedo, WTF technical delegate

    Before the London 2012 Games, the point scoring system depended exclusively on assessment from the referees. This often resulted in complaints from athletes and technical officials, who believed the sport erred in transparency and impartiality. At Beijing 2008, Sarah Stevenson of Great Britain was eliminated from the competition after a decisive blow in the final seconds of the contest was not scored by referees. The result was reversed after television replays were viewed and the Briton finished the Olympic tournament with bronze.

    The incident caught the attention of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and to avoid the risk of the sport being withdrawn from the Olympic programme, the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) began a series of innovations that gave new life to the sport.


    The electronic scoring system is operated by wi-fi (Photo:Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

    “TECHNOLOGY HAS MADE THE FIGHT FAIRER. THIS WAS THE BEST THING THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED”
    Myriam Baverel, Olympian and French coach

    The objective of taekwondo athletes remains the same: to strike the torso and head of the opponent with kicks and blows. The difference is that now they wear magnetised socks and have impact sensors in body and head protectors – the latter a first for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

    The idea is to minimise the chances of refereeing errors, since blows to the head are worth three times more than blows to the torso and often decide contests. “New technology has given transparency to the sport. In London, we inserted sensors into the vests, but not the headwear. In Rio, for the first time in the history of the Games, we will have both,” said Bouedo.


    The body and head protectors now play an even more crucial role in point-scoring (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

    Rio 2016 operates in partnership with Omega, the IOC’s technology partner, in the management of results. “There are several systems that work in an integrated way and at an impressive speed. As such, the athlete attempts a kick, the sensors transmit a signal automatically on a wireless frequency, which takes around 0.1 or 0.2 tenths of a second to be computed in all our systems,” said Rodrigo Silveira, Rio 2016’s results coordinator.

    As such, technology has placed precision over strength in the rules of the game, which has affected the strategy of athletes and coaches. “It’s easier to train, as the athletes just need to concern themselves with being efficient and not having to show beauty in movement to score the point,” said Baverel.

    Another initiative included is the possibility of requesting a video replay during the contest, a resource that allows analysis of the blow whenever there is a doubt on the mat.


    Rio 2016 and Omega work together to ensure a correct results procedure (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

    “The inclusion of these resources forces the athlete to always adapt, which is very good. I started in the sport at a time when technology wasn’t present, so there was a lot of doubt in the results. This has now disappeared, because human error has been eliminated. This is absolutely the path to follow,” said Portugal’s Rui Bragança, who won silver in the -58kg at the test event.

    Rio 2016 promises more action, music and drama

    After responding to criticisms from athletes and coaches to make the sport fairer, the WTF then turned its attention to the spectator experience. At Rio 2016, personally selected walk-in music for the athletes, acrobatic performances and sport demonstrations will be used to engage the public.

    The competition area has a new format: changing from a square to an octagon, which prevents athletes going on the defensive in the corners of the mat. Another move to make competitors more active was to change the rules to include penalties each time an athlete went a certain time without attacking.


    Rio 2016 will be the first Olympic Games with the octogonal combat area (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

    “WE WANT TO SEE THE ATHLETES FIGHTING MORE AND MORE”
    Phillippe Bouedo

    Organised by Rio 2016 in partnership with the Brazilian Taekwondo Confederation (CBTKD), the test event featured 64 athletes from 15 countries in four of the eight Games categories (women’s -49kg and -57kg; and men’s -58kg and +80kg).

    In the women’s -49kg category, Iris Sing, the only Brazilian to have qualified for the Games, fell in the qualifiers, leaving for compatriot Talisca Reis the task of climbing atop the podium at Carioca Arena 1, which she did after a close contest against Huai-Hsuan Huang of China. Thailand’s Napaporn Charanawat and Yasmina Aziez of France completed the podium, sharing bronze.


    Talisca Reis on her way to gold at the test event (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

    “I THINK THAT BRAZIL IS STARTING TO SHOW THAT IT HAS WHAT IT TAKES TO WIN IN THIS SPORT”
    Talisca Reis, gold medallist at the test event

    Among the women in the -57kg category, world champion Mayu Hamada of Japan confirmed her position as favourite by winning the final against Yu Chuang Chen of Chinese Taipei. Fenfen Shao of China and Canada’s Evelyn Gonda took bronze.

    “THIS EVENT WAS WORTHY AS A PREVIEW OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES. IT WAS GOOD TO FIGHT HERE AND UNDERSTAND HOW THINGS WORK IN RIO”
    Mayu Hamada

    In the men’s competition, Iranian Armin Hadipour got the better of Bragança to win the -58kg category. Ren-Wei Dong of Chinese Taipei and Luisito Pie of the Dominican Republic ended the competition with bronze.

    Among the heavyweights (+80kg), two-time world champion and current world no.2 Dmitry Shokin proved that he can continue to make history for Uzbekistan by taking gold. The podium was completed with silver for Jonathan Healy of the USA and bronze medallists Yassine Trabelsi of Tunisia and M’bar N’diaye of France.

    “I WANT THE GOLD MEDAL AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES NOW. I HOPE TO BE THE FIRST FROM MY COUNTRY TO DO THIS”
    Dmitry Shokin


    Dmitry Shokin confirmed himself amongst the favourites for Olympic gold (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)
    Gene Ching
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    Quote Originally Posted by David Jamieson View Post
    So...avoid sexums with the locals.
    If any of your five senses are working this will be impossible.

    Name:  z9965586O.jpg
Views: 1027
Size:  88.0 KB

    Rio 2016!!!
    "It was already late. Night stood murkily over people, and no one else pronounced words; all that could be heard was a dog barking in some alien village---just as in olden times, as if it existed in a constant eternity." Andrey Platonov

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Taste of Death View Post
    If any of your five senses are working this will be impossible.

    Name:  z9965586O.jpg
Views: 1027
Size:  88.0 KB

    Rio 2016!!!
    I'm 51 and 20 years married.

    Avoiding sex with young maidens is entirely possible for me.



    PS thanks for the pic! lovely!
    Kung Fu is good for you.

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    no pankration no watch olympic

    Honorary African American
    grandmaster instructor of Wombat Combat The Lost Art of Anal Destruction™®LLC .
    Senior Business Director at TEAM ASSHAMMER consulting services ™®LLC

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    As if Zika wasn't enough

    Alas...forced relocations aren't limited to China.

    Homes bulldozed, thousands displaced leading to Rio Olympics
    by Anna-Cat Brigida | 24th February 2016 | @AnnaCat_Brigida


    A message that reads in Portuguese; "evictions with ethics," right, covers a wall on the remains of a home in the Vila Autodromo slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo

    The Olympic games often conjure an image of fierce, competitive spirit that culminates with an athlete’s ultimate moment of glory on the podium as their country’s national anthem resounds through the stadium. But for some residents in Rio de Janeiro, the Olympics means demolished homes and forced displacement.

    “Every day I leave my house without knowing if it will be standing when I get back,” Pedro Berto told BBC News. He lives in the Vila Autodromo favela, a neighborhood almost completely destroyed to make room for Olympics construction. Most of Berto’s neighbors left their homes, which have now been demolished, but Berto does not want to leave.

    Rio’s mayor Eduardo Paes originally said he would not force residents to relocate, but then signed a decree to push the last residents out of their homes. Berto has documents proving he owns his house, which now has a gaping hole from when his neighbor’s house was torn down.

    In June, The Guardian reported that more than 500 Vila Autodromo residents willingly moved in exchange for financial compensation. Berto is part of the small percentage of residents who decided to stay, about 10 percent. The relationship between officials and remaining residents has been tense. When two homes were targeted for demolition in June, residents and police clashed leaving six wounded.

    “I’m basically a prisoner.”

    Homes like Berto’s now stand in the middle of a construction site, like lone islands cut off from the rest of the world. Some days Berto does not have running water or electricity, he told BBC News. He fears authorities would not be able to reach him in the case of an emergency.

    “I’m basically a prisoner. I’m not part of Vila Autodromo anymore,” he said.

    Berto must now present a special badge to pass construction site security to enter his neighborhood. The guards often don’t even realize that there are still residents living inside Vila Autodromo.

    This is just one of the neighborhoods in Rio where Olympics development projects clash with and locals’ resistance to the change being forced upon them. More than 22,000 Rio residents have been relocated since 2009, according to a government report, although not all of these cases can be directly linked to Olympics construction.

    “We were told many times that those who wished to stay would be able to do so, but we all know that’s not real. Those who continue to resist might succeed in staying,” Berto said. “What’s clear is that those who have the most money have the most rights. Those who don’t have money can fight for their rights, but they may not succeed.”
    Gene Ching
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