Rio Confidential: The hottest sport at the Olympics
IT is the hottest sport at the Rio Olympics and its athletes added a touch of glamour to the first two days of competition.
IT is the hottest sport at the Rio Olympics and its athletes added a touch of glamour to the first two days of competition.
As well as being some of the toughest in the world of athletics, the heptathletes double as models and rank among the most marketable in the business.
While the women of the 100m sprint lit up the stadium and Brit 10,000m champ Mo Farah pulled off a miracle to defend his title, the heptathletes were also the talk of the Rio stadium.
They are super fit and their multi-event training keeps them lean and fierce. For the record they have to complete the 100m hurdles, the high jump, a shot put, a long jump, a javelin throw, 800m and 200m.
1. Olympic silver medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill remains the face of British athletics even though she has signalled she will retire at the end of this event. Ennis-Hill is the face of adidas, Omega and Olay.
2. Anouk Vetter is the current European champion and made her major international debut in 2015 and is quickly attracting the eye of sponsors.
3. Austrian Ivona Dadic is a multi-talented athlete and an underwear and bikini model in her spare time.
4. Nadine Broersen is a world indoor champion and a member of the Nike family.
5. OK, so you struggle to pronounce her name but Latvian Laura Ikauniece-Admidina has become the face of athletics in her home country after claiming bronze at the world titles in 2015.
6. Nafissatou Thiam is a Belgian heptathlete who rose quickly from novice to serious contender and is already sponsored by Nike.
7. Czech star Eliska Klucinova made headlines during the London Olympics when she changed her underwear mid competition and it was caught on the big screen.
8. Nadine Visser started as a gymnast and footballer but turned to heptathlon and is the face of adidas in her home country of the Netherlands.
Thiam went on to win the gold medal ahead of crowd favourite Ennis-Hill.
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THE Australian men’s sevens team have been given a warning about behaving responsibly after members of the squad had a boozy night in Rio.
After finishing up competition with a disappointing eighth-placed finish, players went out for a big night and returned to the athletes’ village after sunrise.
Captain Ed Jenkins reportedly lost his accreditation before finding it again and being admitted into the village.
The AOC confirmed that while the players were not causing trouble, Australia’s chef de mission Kitty Chiller had spoken to the team about their obligations around behaviour post-competition.
Chiller told Fairfax “I read them the riot act” but News Corp understands she did not speak to any players.
Sources say Chiller spoke to members of all team leaders of all sports who had finished competition — including shooting, gymnastics and rowing — about the dangers of being out in Rio while drinking, and places to avoid.
Chiller made it known this year she would take a firm stance on athlete behaviour at the Games. A total alcohol ban was put in place inside the athletes village and though they weren’t banned from drinking outside it, Australia’s Olympians were given a code of conduct to follow called “responsible behaviour directive”.
It was intended to ensure that no athlete was distracted by loud and drunken compatriots returning to the village. Chiller told of how she suffered in the Sydney Olympics as an athlete who competed in the final days.
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She’s been compared to the greatest swimmer of all time and Katie Ledecky, the all-conquering US freestyler, thinks there’s a chance they will compete together again.
Ledecky, whose clean sweep of the 200m, 400m and 800m finals made history and saw her named female swimmer of the Games, said she thought there was a chance Michael Phelps would return for Tokyo in 2020.
“Last time was his last, this time was his last, and I get to say I was on the same team twice when he retired,” she said, laughing.
“Maybe there will be a third time. All records are made to be broken. Whether it’s in 10 years or 50 years, somebody will break his.”
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Team Great Britain’s pursuit cycling team partied hard to celebrate their victory over the Aussie men, but their female teammates were in no mood to join the celebrations, judging by a note on their door in the athlete’s village.
“To the team pursuit men, CONGRATULATIONS! As we’re guessing you’re probably going to be drunk by the time you read this,’ the note read.
“And a few of you have already come into our room accidentally — just a friendly reminder that THIS IS NOT YOUR ROOM.
“So please don’t try and get in at 4am.”
Cyclist Owain Doull tweeted a photo of the warning note from the women’s team, saying “hats off to the girls, they know us too well”.
And their tactic seemed to work with Joanna Rowsell-Shand, Laura Trott, Katie Archibald and Elinor Barker and winning their own gold.
Hats off to the girls they know us too well 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/N9xgcXzN1M
— Owain Doull (@owaindoull) August 13, 2016
Originally published as Rio Confidential: The hottest sport at the Olympics
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