RIO DE JANEIRO — Athletes’ quotes are often delivered via translator at the Olympics, making for some interesting interpretations.
Did the athlete actually use those words? Was it a struggling translator?
Here’s Italian volleyball player Antonella Del Core, talking about the farewell message her teammates wrote on her arm after her final match: “It said ‘Thanks Capitan. We Love You’. It was very good. I went to toilet for pee-pee and I come back with this on my arm. I cry. But these are joy drops.”
You decide.
FEELING THE HEAT: It was 28 degrees during Sunday’s women’s marathon, making at least one athlete rethink her future after the gruelling 42-km race. Said Latvia’s Ariana Kira Hilborna: “I was thinking of doing Honolulu after this, but I think I’m done with the hot weather marathons.” As for her more immediate plans: “I’m looking forward to a stiff drink.”
McDREAMING: British boxer Savannah Marshall doesn’t like to chat: “I’m not really a people person,” she told reporters. But get her on the right topic, such as her post-competition plans, and it’s tough to stop her.
“My flat’s right outside the McDonald’s (in the Olympic Village) so every day I look outside and think, ‘A couple more days, one more week and I’ll be in that queue’. Every day I look at that queue and think, ‘One more week’. I know the times when it’s quiet; I’ve got it all down. They don’t do double cheeseburgers so I’m just gonna get four cheeseburgers, throw the buns away and make my own. I’ve planned it all.”
BOO BOOS: Brazilian fans like to boo. We get that. So do the athletes. It’s the ferocity of the boos that continues to take competitors by surprise.
“Before I heard the crowd, I was real excited,” American boxer Shakur Stevenson said Sunday, before his bantamweight win over Brazilian Robenilson de Jesus. “But when I got there and they started booing, I got a little nervous. I’ve never gotten booed like that in my life. I knew it was coming, but once you were there, it was different. I didn’t think it would be that bad. I was like, ‘Dang, they going in’.”
TWEET OF THE DAY: How to decide between the thousands — and thousands — of tweets featuring Usain Bolt’s smiling face …
bwake@postmedia.com
@bevewake