thiago_simoes

For Aruba to win a medal, Ereembeent now must win the medal race, the Brazilian must arrive in third or worse and the Mexican must arrive in fourth or worse. Again, not impossible, but still unlikely.

What? Really? I thought they used spare courts or anything. Shame, really, because the sport is quite nice to watch but the level is very uneven. Usually Brazil and Argentina have good skaters and everybody else try hard not to fail. I wish FISU were the governing body of the sport, though, the same way that IIHF organized inline hockey championships.

Wasn't the level much higher at the CAC Games? How come the champion there cannot break into the top 3 in more than 2 races at the Pan Ams? Honestly, I hope Aruba wins a medal, even at the expense of Brazil or Mexico (his closest rivals at the moment). We shall see.

In order for Aruba to get a medal in men's RS:X, the following scenarios must happen: 1) Eerenbeemt needs to be first or second both in the next race and in the medal race. 2) Both the Mexican and the Brazilian must finish 4th or below both in the next race and in the medal race. Not impossible since Eerenbeemt finally had a good day today, but still very unlikely.

The official website can't differentiate personal best from season best.

Bolivia just can't get a gold medal at the Pan Ams, not even in Racquetball. I've lost all hope in a gold medal for Bolivia and Paraguay, and a medal at all for Aruba, for that matter (unless something crazy happens in sailing, or maybe even in swimming).

I was wondering if this had ever happened in a big event, but now there's proof. Stupid sport to have at the Pan Ams, with a stupid venue (really, anything made of glass should be far, far away from any playing field).

This is why I tried to inform about our second and third most popular sports. But I failed to pick a third sport.

Gabrich failed to qualify for the 200 m free final. Big shock for me.

Football in Brazil is number one. A no brainer, actually. Volleyball has become very popular in the last 30 years, to the point it's our second sport. No question about it either. Our third most popular sport would be very hard to pick. Strong candidates for the third spot would be futsal, beach soccer, beach volleyball, judo, swimming, surfing, basketball, cycling, boxing, table tennis, skateboarding, handball or athletics. It might be incredible for some, but there is also a big number of girls who practice rhythmic gymnastics (some schools in big cities offer rhythmic gymnastics programs, but almost all of them are amateur at best), but of course it's not even in the top 10 (still, it's miles ahead of wrestling or weightlifting, two virtually unknown sports in Brazil). Besides, we have capoeira (a mix or martial arts, dance and gymnastics created by African slaves) and footvolley (a mixture of football and volleyball played on the beach).

I came here to post that. Amazing!

I feel bad for laughing, but at the same time, this is me right now: And will Pignatiello's gold medal secure training funds for her in the next years? I remember someone (probably you) informed that she missed Worlds because she absolutely had to get a medal at the Pan Ams to keep her training, and I was really sad. She deserves a World medal. But I hope this medal allows her to keep going.

I explained in the thread of the World Aquatics Championships. He became American citizen (he has dual citizenship now) and said that his dream is to compete for the US. Well, look at what happened here.

Felipe Lima did not only not take a medal, but he was beaten by the Brazilian and two Americans. This is too perfect.

Yes, this is exactly the case, but since we don't have ñ in Portuguese (we use nh instead), and the word in Portuguese is exactly Humana, it's amusing when she appears anyway.

Gold medal for

Just some random language fact: Benfeito sounds like "bem feito" in Portuguese. It can both mean "well done" or "serves you right". So, whenever Meaghan Benfeito appears, I immediately think about Meaghan Servesyouright. Talking about terrible sounding Canadian names, beach volleyball player Melissa Humana-Paredes also comes to mind. Humana is human in Portuguese and Paredes is Walls. It's like I see her as a human wall or something whenever she appears. At least in volleyball being a wall is kind of neat when blocking.

I'm not holding my breath for a medal for Aruba at this point. What's going on?

Canada, Brazil and Mexico have had good performances, but Argentina is the most surprising nation here, in my opinion. Last year Argentina struggled against Venezuela on the medal table for the South American Games, so the fact that Argentina stays ahead of Cuba and very close to Colombia right now is a sight to behold.

Nice recovery from Canada in this final day of gymnastics competition. as expected finishes first in the combined medal table in gymnastics (8-11-6), is second (5-5-6) and a close third (5-5-4). and also earned medals. Some results today were very surprising, with a good variety among medalists in individual rhythmic gymnastics (both gymnasts from Canada, the US and Brazil got individual medals in the end).

Yep. Cuba is the only country to always win at least one medal in rhythmic gymnastics since 1987. Brazil is the only country to earn medals in every single group event in every single edition of the Pan Ams. Canada was a major disappointment here.

Canada... So, Cuba will get a medal. What a crazy final!

Mexico has a more difficult routine than Brazil, so I'm surprised Brazil will get gold here! Wow!

Brazil hit their routine! Yes!!!

Complete disaster for the US group in rhythmic gymnastics.