Rio 2016: Golden boy Thiago Braz da Silva captivates Brazil with pole vault victory at the Olympic Games
Da Silva delivered Brazil's second gold medal of the Games and has become a national hero overnight
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Your support makes all the difference.While Great Britain had Supersonic Sunday, it was meant to be Magic Monday for Brazil.
Coming into the Rio Games, the home nation would have circled 15 August on their wall charts as a day to watch. They had high hopes that their hero Arthur Zanetti, the London 2012 champion on the rings, would defend his title in the Olympic Arena. It was also meant to be the day that another Brazilian star, their joint most successful Olympian, Robert Scheidt, would take top honours in sailing’s Laser class.
It was not to be. The lord of the rings turned out to be Greece’s Eleftherios Petrounias - Zanetti settling for silver much to the disappointment of the home crowd. In the sailing, the winds didn’t get up sufficiently for any action but Scheidt is out of the golden running anyway.
Thanks heavens, then for the sudden golden emergence of Brazil's inaptly named Thiago Braz da Silva who, from nowhere, set an Olympic record of 6.03m to win the men's pole vault here in Rio on Monday night – 10cms higher than he’d ever vaulted - to the delight of the home fans in the Olympic Stadium.
He has become a hero overnight. Suddenly, Rio has its posterboy.
Despite delays due to rain and strong wind which was playing havoc with the pole vault and problems raising the bar, all seemed normal in the pole vault world with the defending champion France’s Renaud Lavillenie on course to reclaim his title after clearing 5.98m. What happened next was far from normal on a dramatic evening.
Da Silva, who is only the fourth Brazilian to win a track and field gold at an Olympics, decided to give 5.98 a miss and go straight for 6.03m. He hit the bar with his first go at 6.03m but sailed over with his second to send those in the stadium – which was maybe a quarter full - delirious.
Lavillenie then attempted to clear 6.08 to retake the lead. The noise – whistling, jeering, booing – was defeaning. The Frenchman, clearly fazed by the atmosphere and making a thumbs down signal to the TV cameras, failed and Brazil had their golden moment after all thanks the all but unknown boy from Sao Paulo.
“Thiago Braz Is God in Pole Vault!” shouted the O Globo headline on Tuesday morning as Brazil came to terms with a home hero who had smashed his PB and his way into the public consciousness.
“No way in your life have you ever seen drama such as this,” former British athlete Steve Backley said on the BBC. “The place has gone wild. How on earth has he done that? The jump of his life.”
“Incredible,” said the 22-year-old Da Silva who was taking part in his first Games. "My first time over 6m. My home town wanted me to win.” It was Brazil’s second gold following the one won by Rafaela Lopes Silva in judo last week.
Lauvillenie, who, like all athletes here who have the temerity to take on a Brazilian, was booed by the crowd mercilessly. After the action the distraught Frenchman said he was "disturbed by the nastiness" of the atmosphere inside the Olympic Stadium. But it has been the same in every venue when a competitor meets a home hope.
“In 1936, the crowd was against Jesse Owens," he said. "We've not see this since. There is no respect, no fair play. It's the Olympics. If there's no respect in the Olympics, where can we get respect? I'm very, very sad and disappointed by the Brazilian public that was in the stadium.
"Better to stay at home in front of your television than come and whistle. At least then we'd have people in the stadium who want to watch sport. It really disturbed me, I felt the nastiness of the public and we do a sport where you never see that.
"You see it in football. It is the first time I have seen it in track and field. It is the biggest moment of your life. I can't be happy about that. Now I have to wait four years to get back the gold."
Lavillenie later apologised for his choice of words. But the story was not his – it was all about the boy from Brazil.
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