Exciting! Emocionante!
For the 670+ athletes from 12 South American countries, the Olympic games were a mixture of emotions as they competed with others from around the world. Some failed to qualify in the preliminary rounds and some struggled into the match rounds. Some were defeated and some fought their way to medal status.
Their countries must be proud of all of them.
There were moments of heart-stopping action. Who can forget the Chilean tennis players who brought home Chile’s first medals ever? Who can ignore the excitement of having two South American countries face off for the soccer/futbol gold medal? Who would have thought that the Brazilian men’s basketball would defeat the US where the game was born? Who would have though that the Brazilian leader of the men’s marathon, the expected gold medal winner, would be pulled out of the race by an assailant, recover, get back in the race and still win a medal?
Exciting! Emocionante!
- 4 Gold Medals:
Sailing - Laser - Robert Scheidt
Sailing - Star - Torben Grael y Marcelo Ferreira
Men's Beach Volleyball - Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Alex Santos
Men's Volleyball - Team - 3 Silver Medals:
Women's Beach Volleyball - Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar
Women's Soccer Team
Equestrian - Mixed Jumping - Individual - Rodrigo Pessoa - 3 Bronze Medals:
Judo - Men's -73 kg - Leandro Guilheiro
Judo - Men's -81 kg - Flavio Canto
Men's Marathon - Track and Field : Vanderlei de Lima
- 2 Gold Medals, after waiting 52 years from the last gold medal won in 1952 for rowing:
Men's Soccer - Team
Men's Basketball - Team - 4 Bronze Medals:
Women's 400 m swimming - Georgina Bardach
Women's Tennis Doubles - Paola Suarez and Patricia Tarabini
Women's Field Hockey - Team
- 2 Gold Medals:
Men's Double Tennis - Fernando Gonzales and Nicolas Massu
Men's Single Tennis - Nicolas Massu - 1 Bronze Medal:
Men's Tennis Singles - Fernando Gonzales
- 2 Bronze Medals:
Men's Weightlifting - 56-62 kg - Israel Jose Rubio
Women's Over 67kg Taekwondo - Adriana Carmona
- 2 Bronze Medal:
Women's Weighlifting 48-53 kg - Mabel Mosquera, the first South American athlete to medal in Greece
Women's Cycling Track - Points Race - Maria Luisa Calle Williams
- 1 Silver Medal:
Men's Soccer - First Olympic Medal
Exciting! Emocionante!
The XX Olympic Winter Games took place in Turin, Italy in 2006. See you there!
