#BrazilNuts: Gold Medal Moments

The Summer Olympic Games kicked off with only a few hitches this weekend and there are already some award-winning moments. The opening ceremony had everything you could ask for: samba, lasers, Brazilian supermodels. Rio even managed to throw in a little political shade by leading the Saudi Arabian national team with a woman driver. Whether it was intentional or not, the irony made it the best awkward moment so far. With the first weekend wrapped up, Australia currently leads with three gold medals in swimming and shooting, which makes sense given Australia’s terrain. Team USA beat France 1-0 in Women’s Soccer because there’s just no beating Carli Lloyd. 

 

But there is also a team that everyone is cheering. For the first time in history, ten athletes, mostly from war-torn countries, came together to form the first refugee Olympic team. Given that there are roughly 65 million forcibly displaced people across the globe, representation in the Summer Games is unfortunately appropriate. Yusra Mardini, the Syrian refugee who pulled a boat of 18 refugees to safety, won her first Olympic heats.