Olympic - Haiti Observer Blog

Up until today, the Summer Olympics have been held 27 times (6 editions in North America, 16 in Europe, 3 in Asia and 2 in Oceania). The Summer Olympic 2016 is unique for many reasons. Golf has been reinstated after a 112-year absence. The Rio 2016 games will be the first to feature Olympians born in the year 2000. The rule says, the Olympians must have been born before Jan. 1, 2003 with relaxation to certain games for health and safety reasons. A team of athletes (10 refugees) who were forced to flee their countries will compete under the Olympic flag. There are 7.5 million tickets, with prices ranging from $40 (for some swimming events) to almost $3000 (for the best seats at the opening ceremony). Organizers will prepare 60,000 meals per day to feed the athletes. Rio 2016 will appoint 70,000 volunteers. 'Taxistas' or Rio's taxi drivers were given opportunity to join a free English course. Total cost of Rio 2016 will mount up to €10.24 billion ((37.6 billion Brazilian Real) including €6.56 billion (24.1 billion Real) for the infrastructure of the city, € 1.77 billion (6.5 billion Real) for sports facilities and €1.91 billion (7 billion Real) for the operation and organization of the event.

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Fernando Rosado Spilki, a virologist and an expert in water quality was commissioned by the Associated Press to test conditions in all the water at Brazilian competition sites. Spilki is an expert on the subject from the Universidade Feevale in Brazil. In last July, he identified virus levels 1.7 million times more than which would be considered highly alarming in the U.S. or Europe. It is basically 'poop water' and the IOC does not care for that. Nobody can deny the facts that raw sewage regularly flows into many of Rio's Olympic venues every day and there is no dilution factor in the bay or lagoon where events will take place and within this polluted environment, the exposure is imminent and the chances of infection are very likely. Officials have already admitted that they would be able to treat maximum 65% of the sewage that flows into the bay, not their earlier target of 80%. Kristina Mena, on examining Spolki's report, has predicted that if any athlete ingests just three teaspoons of water from the bay, will have a 99% chance of infection. Ms. Mena is an expert in risk management for waterborne viruses at the School of Public Health at the University of Texas. Coaches are advising sailors to keep their mouths closed and sanitize themselves once they come into contact with polluted water.

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Here is the Haitian runner Jeffrey Julmis during the first of the 110m hurdle semi-finals at the Olympic games in Rio. He toke a dive but despite being hampered, he managed to finish in a time of 25.56, nearly 12 seconds behind the second-last place runner. In his first series, Jeffrey Julmis finished in 13.66 seconds and ranked 3rd on 9 runners.

Haitian hurdler Jeffrey Julmis fell down after hitting a hurdle in the 110 meter hurdles semi-finals. His falling drew massive cheers from the crowd at the Estadio Olimpico on August 16. Julmis mistimed the first obstacle on the course and jumped straight into the first hurdle during the first of the 110 meter hurdles semi-finals and tumbled head over feet into the second one while taking the first hurdle with him all the way to the second hurdle. But, in true Olympic spirit, he got up again to finish the race to huge cheers from the crowd. Took a deep breath, composed himself and cleared the final eight hurdles in a time of 25.56 seconds, nearly 13 seconds behind race winner Orlando Ortega of Spain (13.32 seconds) and 12 seconds behind the second-last place getter Ronnie Ash of USA (13.36 seconds). Yordan O'Farrill of Cuba came last in the round with 13.70 seconds time. He was later declared disqualified, but no one's run was more memorable than Julmis in Lane 9 who ended up himself doing a somersault, landing close to the second hurdle.

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The threat of the Zika virus is absolutely real in Brazil and it has reached in Rio de Janeiro. There it is flourishing beyond expectation. In last January, the declaration of Rio as a "safe environment" by the International Olympic Committee was a plain speculation based upon a declaration by the Brazil's Ministry of Health that described "Zika as a notifiable disease". The declaration was not supported by any actual data, because then the counting of cases was not started. However, when the data became available, it showed Rio de Janeiro's suspected Zika cases (about 26,000) are one of the highest (fourth, with 157 cases per 100,000) of any state in Brazil. After years of money being dumped into the games, IOC felt it is not possible to delay or move the Rio Games because of Zika. With an estimated 500,000 foreign tourists who will flock into Rio for the Games, there are enough chances that Brazil's Zika will spread globally. The decision to continue Summer Olympics in Rio is purely a financial decision, not a logical one.

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CoSport (www.cosport.com, 877 457 4647) is the only entity authorized to sell individual tickets and ticket-inclusive packages for the Olympic. As per April 4, 2016 report, only four months before the opening, just half the tickets for all events were sold. There could be many reasons for that. Presently, Brazil is passing through its worst recession in 25 years. Very few Brazilians have the extra money to spend on attending the games. The government was forced to cut Olympic budget, with everything from the opening ceremony, all over security for the gamer, and facilities for athletes in the Olympic Village. An impeachment process began against Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian President for her alleged involvement in a corruption scandal in the late 2015 and that continued through the first half of 2016 (till 12 May 2016).

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Abdias Dolce who was among more than 40,000 Haitians who emigrated to Brazil following the 2010 earthquake had the privilege to carry the Olympic Torch through the streets of Manaus in Brazil in June, 2016. He received warm cheers from the crowd as he was staging the Olympic Torch Relay

Dolce stated that he was representing over 40,000 immigrants from Haiti who came to Brazil following the earthquake. He was very appreciative of the people of Brazil and Manaus in particular. Abdias Dolce who had managed to lean Portuguese in a relatively short period of time said that his three most favorite passions in Brazil are: Carnival, Football and music.

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Silvio P. Cator, a Haitian track and field competitor, was born on October 9, 1900 and died July 21, 1952. Before he began his track and field career, he played football at the Trivoli Athletic Club and participated in racing events for the Haitian Racing Club. He competed at the 1924 Olympic Summer Games held in Paris, France, in three events, the Free Rifle Team of Haiti, in which he achieved the Bronze Medal, the High Jump (in which he placed 15th), and the Long Jump (in which he placed 12th).

At the 1928 Olympic Games, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Silvio Cator achieved the Silver Medal in the Long Jump Event, losing the Gold to Edward Hamm, by only 16 cm. However, only a few weeks later, in September, he set a new world record, smashing Edward Hamm's Olympic World Record in the Long Jump, by an astounding 7.93 m.

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London, England is hosting the Summer 2012 Olympic Games, which will run from Friday, July 27th to Sunday, August 12th. Haiti has a total of nine representatives, five of whom have already qualified to compete in the 30th Olympiad.

Field and Track athlete Samyr Laine will compete in the Triple Jump Event. In the Triple Jump, ability to gain forward momentum and yet get enough lift-off, but not too much, is key to a good Triple Jumper. Laine is one of only three competitors in this narrow-field event.

Samyr Laine's colleague, Linouse Desravines, will compete in Judo in the 52 kg. The other three qualified athletes will also be competing in Field and Track Events: Moïse Joseph, in the 800 m Event; Marleine Wesh, in the 400 m; and Jeffrey Julmis, in the 110 m/Hurdles Event.

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London, England is hosting the Summer 2012 Olympic Games, which will run from Friday, July 27th to Sunday, August 12th. Haiti has a total of nine representatives, five of whom have already qualified to compete in the 30th Olympiad.

Competing for the Gold in Field and Track is Moïse Joseph, who will run in the 800 m Event, which requires a great deal of stamina, pacing, and knowing when to pour on the juice for the last few meters.

Moise Joseph's already-qualified Haitian colleague, Linouse Desravines, will compete in Judo in the 52 kg. The other three athletes will be competing in Field and Track Events. Marleine Wesh will run in the 400 m; Jeffrey Julmis in the 110 m/Hurdles; and Samyr Laine will compete in the Triple Jump Event.

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Moise Joseph has confirmed his place in London Olympics 2012 for Haiti which will be kicked off on July 27, 2012. Moise is a prominent middle-distance runner and specialised in 800 meters. He participated in Athens Olympic Games too in 2004. He will compete in 800 meters for Haiti in 2012 Olympic Games.

Four more Haitian athletes booked their place in the London Olympics 2012. Linouse Desravines is the only participant from the country in judo whereas Marleine Wesh will compete in 400 meters, Jeffrey Julmis in 400 m/hurdles and Samyr Laine in triple jump. However, there are hopes remaining for four other Haitian athletes as they are still going through qualifying rounds which ends on July 15.

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