{"id":20029,"date":"2016-08-14T10:32:11","date_gmt":"2016-08-14T00:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=20029"},"modified":"2016-08-14T10:35:01","modified_gmt":"2016-08-14T00:35:01","slug":"2016-rio-olympics-highlights-from-week-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thefatwebsite.com\/?p=20029","title":{"rendered":"Highlights From Week One of the Rio Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

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N<\/span>ot to be the kind of guy to say ‘I told you so’ but I told you so.<\/p>\n

There was plenty of doom and gloom in the lead up to the 2016 Olympics in Rio. \u00a0Construction was behind schedule. \u00a0The Olympics village had dodgy facilities. \u00a0The country was in political turmoil. \u00a0Doping allegations were widespread. \u00a0There was a funky smell coming out of the water that the rowers would be competing in.<\/p>\n

In spite of all that,\u00a0I always confident that come the 5th of August, the Summer Games would come good. \u00a0The earliest Olympic games I can remember with any sort of clarity is the Barcelona Olympics of 1992. \u00a0Since then, plenty of Olympic games – both Summer and Winter – have had a media narrative of disastrous preparations and they have all turned out fine. \u00a0At the end of the day, once the opening ceremony is finished and the athletes takes centre stage, you’d have to be some kind of ardent sports-hating individual to not get caught up in the achievements of some of the talented sports men and women in the world.<\/p>\n

After the first week has wrapped up, here are some of my personal highlights of the games so far.<\/p>\n

Simone Biles<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Simone Biles is one of the breakout stars of the Olympics at just 19 years of age. \u00a0She\u00a0won her second gold in the women’s all-round by a margin of 2.1 points in a competition that measures performances down to one hundredth of a point. \u00a0She is, without hyperbole, the greatest gymnast in the world today and her performance in the Rio Olympics would have to be in the discussion for being one of the most dominating victories in the history of the competition.<\/p>\n

Simone Biles defies gravity<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Simone Manuel<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Simone Manuel’s Olympic Record breaking performance in the 100m freestyle made her the first black swimmer to ever achieve Olympics gold in an individual event.<\/p>\n

The absence of African Americans in competitive swimming has been a long observed stereotype that I\u00a0admit I naively never gave much consideration as to why that would be the case. \u00a0It is only with Manuel’s performance and the subsequent commentary surrounding it, did I see the wider social context of her victory.<\/p>\n

In a year where Donald Trump has become the presidential nominee of a major political party off the back of some shocking racially charged rhetoric, these sort of milestones become even more significant.<\/p>\n