A NUMBER OF TOUGH AND TENSE RIVALRIES FROM THE YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES (YOG) ARE BEING REKINDLED AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES RIO 2016. AS YOG GRADUATES STEP UP TO SPORT’S BIGGEST STAGE, THEY’RE COMING UP AGAINST SOME FAMILIAR FACES.
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Since winning gold in the 63kg category at the YOG Nanjing 2014, Egyptian weightlifter Sara Ahmed has bulked up and forced herself into the world’s top 10 in the 69kg category. Ahmed will be joined on the platform on Wednesday by two rivals from Nanjing who have also made the jump to 69kg: Ankhtsetseg Munkhjantsan of Mongolia, the holder of an Olympic Soldarity Scholarship, and Florina-Sorina Hulpan of Romania. Still in their teens, the three are all making their Olympic debuts.
IOC/MINE KASAPOGLU
GOALS MEAN GOLD
A goal from an extra-time penalty corner gave the Netherlands a thrilling 2-1 win over Argentina in the girls’ hockey final at the YOG Singapore 2010. Marloes Keetels, one of the stars of that team, is currently in Rio – and so are two members of the silver medal-winning Argentina side, Agustina Albertarrio and Florencia Habif. All three players have featured in their sides’ early qualifying games, and there’s a good chance the two nations may meet again in the competition’s knockout stages.
JUMPING FOR JOY
After carrying her country’s flag at the opening ceremony, Swiss pole vaulter Angelica Moser edged out Venezuelan Robeilys Peinado in Nanjing. Last month, Moser and Peinado also finished in the top two places at the IAAF World U20 Championships in Poland, a terrific warm-up for the pair’s Olympic debuts. Moser and Peinado aren’t the only jumpers rekindling a YOG rivalry in Rio: Yuliia Levchenko, from Ukraine, and Michaela Hrubá, from the Czech Republic, have gone from strength to strength since winning high jump gold and bronze in Nanjing. The two 18-year-olds also competed in July’s IAAF World U20 Championships: this time, Hrubá came away with gold while Levchenko took bronze. Both are among the top-20 jumpers in the world this year, and have high hopes of reaching the final in Rio.
IOC
FAMILIAR FOES
It will come as no surprise to Qiu Bo or Tom Daley that they will be going head to head in Rio. The pair, aged 23 and 22 respectively, have been diving against each other internationally for eight years – including in Singapore, where Qiu won the individual 3m springboard and 10m platform events. Two years later, Qiu took silver and Daley picked up bronze in the 10m platform at the Olympic Games London 2012– and the two will again be battling for medals in Rio. Whatever happens, Daley won’t be going home from the Games empty-handed: he’s already won bronze in the synchronised 10m platform.
IOC/BILLY ROWLINSON
