Now back to the real business the race, I last wrote to you on Friday when I was starting to feel better again and had managed to eat and put on some weight again. I was pretty confident about being back to 100% by Saturday but then again overnight had yet another relapse, lost all the weight I had gained and woke again to a sore stomach frequent visits to the toilet. Eating was again a struggle although I justified it too myself that the others would also be struggling to eat due to nerves. Going into the Olympics I had planned to race similar to what I did in Poznan, take the lead early and try and fight off any attacks. The reason for this is I feel I deal with a fast paced race better than the others and will quite often row the sprint out of the others like I did to Synek in Poznan.

After the Semi and feeling the way I did, I decided it was a better option to change my race plan to be conservative in the first half, save some energy then win the race in the second half. Very much like Munich last year, that way I thought I was less likely to hit the great wall like I did in the semi. The start wasn’t the best as there was a lot of weed around my lane and I was trying to explain to them I wanted it cleared, before I knew what was happening the race had started and I lost a little bit of ground. As I got into my rhythm I was feeling good and the boat was moving along nicely. It was starting to feel like a repeat of Munich with Alan and Tufte out in front and Synek just in behind me. By the time we approached the 1000M I was in good position and feeling very good. Don Rowlands had sent me a Mohammad Ali quote “The will must be greater than the skill.” Mohammad Ali is someone I have always admired and the Rumble in the Jungle fight something I often watch for inspiration. I decided this was the Olympic final, I had got myself in the best shape I possibly could and I was going to go out use my will and race to win.

As I passed Alan I put in a big move, by the time I came out in front of him the others hadn’t realised I was moving and I soon moved through to take the lead, I was still rowing well and feeling good. I couldn’t believe it but I was just rowing away from the field, I had a length and was still moving away. I got to 500M to go and was confident of holding on as I still felt good, Tufte and Synek now made a move to try and come back, Synek was closing the gap but still quite a distance behind, I was holding them both off. 250M to go I was starting to struggle but with my lead was confident I could hold them off, we were going passed the last stands probably into about the last 150M I was still in front, I went to take the next stroke and suddenly my legs gave way, I had no push and my body was failing me, I tried to put in strokes but the rating was dropping and there was no more to give. I could only watch as Tufte and then Synek both rowed through me, I don’t remember much of the last 100M and just remember finishing and looking up to see I had held on for Bronze which was a huge relief.

In rowing you learn about your body and pacing yourself, ideally you want to cross the line in a big final and only have maybe one stroke more you could take, until the semi and final I have always achieved this but both these races I took that last stroke about 150M before the line. Tufte and Synek both had exceptional races and managed to always be in touch so that when I blew they could strike and beat me. I hate showing any signs of fatigue after the race as it’s a sign of weakness to your competitors. This unfortunately wasn’t my greatest week, I had thrown up on Monday in front of Tufte on the warm down lake, Wednesday I just made it to the pontoon and had to pretty much run to our warm down room to throw up (so no one would see).

Saturday I was incapable of even rowing a stroke after the finish, I sat there bent over trying to recover, it wasn’t happening and thankfully the rescue boat was soon there to help. After nearly falling out I decided it was safer in their boat and just managed to get in, before hanging over the side and dry wrenching. When your in that state all you want to do is be away from everyone so no one can see you, so they took me to the last place I wanted to be, the media pontoon. With the worlds camera’s and journalists on hand pretty much my whole recovery after the race was documented which I have to say was pretty embarrassing. I spent some time on the pontoon before being stretchered off to the medical tent, I wasn’t too sure what was going on but I had doctors and support staff everywhere covering me with ice and talking about my condition. What I do remember is them saying I was going on an IV and couldn’t go to the medal ceremony. That was when I tried to tell them I was fine and I could sit up and go to the ceremony. As they helped me sit in a chair I started shaking uncontrollably and next minute had fallen off the chair and was back to laying on the ground being fed Oxygen. There was never any question about making the ceremony, even if I had to be stretchered over I was going to be there. The reasons for this were, I wanted to acknowledge the achievements of Tufte and Synek, two cause an Olympic medal ceremony is a very special occasion and three cause I didn’t want to be like Hacker in 2006. Again I set my mind to trying to control my body and about 30minutes after our race had finished I finally managed to sit up and be walked by Andrew and Chris toward the medal dais, still a little bit out of it. By the time I got there I was well enough to walk onto the dais unassisted and was close to tears when both Tufte and Synek walked over to me give me a hug and check I was OK. It was awesome to receive my medal and the whole ceremony just seemed to flash by. We did however lift Tufte onto our shoulders at the end although I was struggling and we ended up going sideways for a while until I managed to get my body under control and stand still.

I have since been asked by the media would I have won had I not got sick. All I can say is I have no excuses, I raced as well as I could, I pushed my body beyond its limits and there were two guys that went faster than me in the Olympic Final, full credit to them as they both performed better than me when it counted most. I have always said the Olympics are so hard to win as there is 1 day in four years when you have to be prepared and have to race the best you can, when you start that final you are level and every past result is forgotten. I got sick during the week, that was out of my control but its makes no difference, I still knew I had to perform on Saturday the 16th August, you cant call in sick for the final and do it the next day. I always wanted gold and knew I was capable of winning but I did everything I could and raced the best I could in that final, in that respect I am very proud of my bronze. This experience has certainly given me even more appreciation of what an Olympic Gold medal means and has made me even more hungry to come back and have another go in London 2012.

The twins had a fantastic race to win gold in the woman’s double in a very exciting photo finish, the men’s pair won a bronze to make it New Zealand’s most successful day in rowing at an Olympics. Later that evening Valerie Vili won gold and Hayden Roulston Silver to make it New Zealand’s single best day at an Olympics. So far we have a total of 9 medals, making it one of our most successful Olympic teams overall. Something I am proud to be associated with as team captain and something I predicted could happen at the time I was appointed.

Since the racing has finished we have had a few nights out, watched a lot of events (I have seen 6 of 9 medals won live) with the highlight for me so far being Nick Willis run. The venues are so good and amazing to be at. The last few days I have been spending most of my time in bed as I have got sick again, this time a pretty nasty fever with high temperatures, coughing and muscle aches. Unfortunately I cant take too much sympathy as I haven’t exactly looked after myself since finishing racing and have certainly pushed my body beyond its limits (but this time not with exercise).

We are back in NZ Wednesday and will try and get an email out around then to let you know about the rest of the Olympics.

Mahe

Noticias relacionadas

• Semis (Im in the final, just!)
• Quarter Final
• Opening ceremony and heats
• O erro olímpico
• Pequim – Portugal em 8º lugar

Filomena Franco foi a atleta que liderou a comitiva portuguesa na cerimónia de abertuta dos Jogos Paralímpicos, transportando a bandeira portuguesa.

A Final B está programada para amanhã, dia 11 de Setembro pelas 15h em Pequim (8h em Portugal).

Noticias relacionadas

• Filomena Franco já em Pequim
• Olympic Bronze
• Semis (Im in the final, just!)
• Quarter Final
• Opening ceremony and heats

Noticias relacionadas

• Olympic Bronze
• Quarter Final
• Opening ceremony and heats
• O erro olímpico
• Pequim – Portugal em 8º lugar

Conditions for the race where pretty nice, with very little breeze and a much cooler temperature than we have had since arriving here. The warm up went well although my stomach was churning by the time I got to the blocks, I coughed and just managed to stop myself from vomiting in the start blocks (will become clear why shortly) then got a reasonable start and into the race. Hamburger shot out, while I paced Lassi. As the race progressed Hamburger started to struggle and soon both Lassi and myself moved through. I was feeling pretty good and felt in control of the race, as I tried to conserve myself as much as possible. Lassi kept pushing and I ended up having to raise the rate a few points to hold him off. At the line he was closing but I managed to hold him off by about 0.22sec and progressed safely as the top qualifier to the semi finals. Hamburger paid for his fast start and blew up, to allow the USA sculler to come through for the third and final spot in the semis.

I got a stomach bug on Sunday and while I had been feeling quite good before and during the race, the effort soon told. As I paddled off to warm down I realised lunch was going to come back up. As I sat on the warm up lake feeding the fish my lunch in front of a very startled Chinese official who thought I was dying, I realised I might be a little sicker than I first thought and might not be able to keep this quiet from my competitors. As Tufte rowed passed asking if I was OK, I realised I suspected right.

I got back to shore and spent a few minutes recovering before realising spewing wasn’t so bad and I was feeling the best I had since getting sick Sunday morning. Confident the worst was over it was back to the hotel for dinner, rehydrating and recovering to get in shape for the semi finals on Wednesday.

Will be back after that

Mahe

Noticias relacionadas

• Olympic Bronze
• Semis (Im in the final, just!)
• Opening ceremony and heats
• O erro olímpico
• Pequim – Portugal em 8º lugar

I will start back with the Opening Ceremony and all I can really say is, it was absolutely awesome! We sat in the National indoor stadium for about 2 hours waiting, before lining up and marching into the ceremony. I missed almost all the ceremony as we only saw snippets on the big screens, but it sounded quite spectacular. It was pretty awesome as we lined up and I was presented with the Korowai (Maori Cloak) the team did a haka for me, which started off a pretty amazing occasion. We meandered towards the birds nest with thousands of Chinese lining both sides cheering and waving and saying things like “welcome to Beijing” “hello New Zealand” “Do you like Beijing”. As we neared the stadium I was given the New Zealand Flag and Dave Currie was marshalling the troops, trying to get us to line up and march in, in an orderly fashion.

As we got into the tunnel we could hear the roar of the crowd and watched as each country marched out. I was busy trying to control the flag which seemed to keep wanting to get tangled up. The moment finally came as we marched into the stadium, it was the most amazing feeling. I was so proud to be leading the team out, but also just completely dumb struck by the amount of people and the cheering. I didn’t know where to look and it is certainly an occasion I will remember for the rest of my life. The feeling was just unreal, I just wanted to keep marching around the track looking at everything again and again. I am so glad I was just apart of such an occasion and obviously carrying the flag made the moment that much more special.

Once we marched in and were marshalled to our position we had some photos, admired an amazing stadium and caught up with a few of the athletes from other countries we knew. There were speeches and the raising of the Olympic flag and then it was time to make my way toward the exit so I could get a quick get away and a good nights sleep before the heats the next day. It was amazing making my way through the crowd and looking at all the colours and outfits each different country had. I went straight through the middle of the US basketball team got a few high fives and checked out their bling (jewellery for all those oldies like me) before getting to the gate where I stayed to watch probably the highlight of the ceremony for me, the lighting of the flame.

It was incredible as we tried to work out, firstly how the flame would get to the roof, then watched as it was run around the stadium 70M above the ground with images of the torch relay projected onto the roof behind the man carrying it. He finally got under the flame and lit a fuse, at first it burnt slowly then fizzed up and around and lit the flame. I was absolutely buzzing and then power walked myself out the exit to the first bus as the fireworks exploded everywhere. The whole experience was just awesome and certainly something that will remain with me as a highlight of my life as long as I live.

Thankfully with my quick exit I was in bed 15minutes after the flame was lit and by the time I woke in the morning, had had a good 9 hours sleep and was ready for what I’m really here for, rowing. The heat was really just a formality. Being the top seed I got the easy heat with no one else ranked in the top 12 in the world. The race thankfully didn’t hold any surprises apart from a delay at the start as we waited for the Chinese sculler to show up, he never did so we started without him (he was later disqualified from the double, which he was also doing due to rules regarding qualification, so a pretty bad error on the Chinese teams behalf). Once the race started I got a small lead and slowly increased it as I went. I got to the end with plenty in reserve for the rest of the week (but the slowest heat winning time of the day).

That meant I qualified for the Quarter finals on Monday, so first goal successfully achieved. It was great to get out there and get the Olympics under way, especially with that race, as there was absolutely no pressure from any other scullers which will certainly increase round by round. New Zealand rounded out the day very successfully with wins to Emma Twigg, Men’s Pair, Woman’s Double, Men’s Double and second places to the Woman’s Pair and Men’s four. The Men’s Lightweight double then backed that up with a win on Sunday in their heat to progress everyone to their next respective rounds.

I will be back with the Quarters results after the race on Monday

Mahe

Noticias relacionadas

• Olympic Bronze
• Semis (Im in the final, just!)
• Quarter Final
• O erro olímpico
• Pequim – Portugal em 8º lugar

Filomena Franco irá representar Portugal nos Jogos Paralímpicos Pequim 2008 em Skiff feminino (1XA). A atleta apesar de não ter conseguido a qualificação, foi convidada pela FISA depois da desistência da atleta canadiana.

Esta será a estreia do Remo numa edição dos Jogos Paralímpicos.

Noticias relacionadas

• Filomena Franco disputa final B
• Olympic Bronze
• Semis (Im in the final, just!)
• Quarter Final
• Opening ceremony and heats

A culpa, convém defender antes da argumentação, não é de Pedro Fraga, nem de Nuno Mendes. Esclarecido este ponto, vamos ao essencial. A modalidade de remo alcançou uma prestação de alto nível entre a delegação nacional, só comparável ao sétimo lugar de Ana Hormigo (judo), ao oitavo de Ana Cabecinha (atletismo) e às boas prestação de alguns dos velejadores (falta-me, no momento em que escrevo, a tabela de resultados para frisar com precisão). Melhor do que Fraga e Mendes só fizeram três atletas: o azarado Gustavo Lima (vela), a um ponto da medalha de bronze, e a excelência desportiva de Nelson Évora (atletismo) e Vanessa Fernandes.

O bom resultado do remo não teve, contudo, visibilidade mediática. Houve um ligeiro fogacho no dia da final B, de pronto ofuscado pelo anúncio de despedida de Francis Obikwelu. De resto, a modalidade não aproveitou um momento único para conquistar notoriedade, deixando-se ofuscar por diversos factores, como resultados surpreendentes (a não-qualificação de Naide Gomes em atletismo), críticas infundadas (Telma Monteiro, judo) ou «bocas» disparatadas (Marco Gomes, atletismo).

A pouca visibilidade dedicada aos dois remadores foi bem aproveitada quando, antes de terem resultados (bons ou maus) a justificar, disseram de sua justiça em relação à forma como foram tratados pela Federação. Não interessa, agora, se tinham ou não razão no que disseram. O que importa é que, à parte essas declarações, não mais se falou do remo nacional.

A culpa, reafirmamos, não é dos tripulantes do «double». Uma organização que se preze tinha tido atenção a esse «pormenor» fundamental que é a comunicação, sobretudo quando está em causa a participação no maior evento desportivo do mundo, logo que o que capta mais atenções e, por inerência, movimenta mais dinheiro a nível de patrocínios, publicidades e gestões de direitos diversos. É fácil, agora, apontar o dedo à Federação, tanto mais que a prestação dos dois remadores nacionais pouco mais mereceu do que umas linhas diárias no sítio oficial. Em contraponto, basta ver o comportamento da Federação Portuguesa de Canoagem, que criou um blogue de forma aos interessados poderem acompanhar o dia-a-dia dos atletas nacionais.

Eu recuso-me, porém, a acusar a Federação. Tem a sua dose, sim, mas fundamentalmente os responsáveis são todos os envolvidos no remo nacional, de atletas e treinadores e dirigentes. Falta uma cultura de comunicação, de partilha de opiniões ou de debate, que resulta numa total ignorância de aproveitamento das escassas oportunidades mediáticas. Mesmo ainda antes de assegurada a presença olímpica, era obrigatório ter «treinado» os atletas a lidar com a atenção mediática. Sendo eles os «heróis» da façanha, precisam de saber como explicar o que sentem, o que querem, o que precisam. Além disso, era preciso um «gabinete sombra» a fazer pressão junto da Comunicação Social, de forma a não desperdiçar qualquer minuto de mediatismo. Não se pode esperar que um jornalista «desportivo» consiga distinguir um voga de um proa quando, durante os três primeiros anos do ciclo olímpico, nem sequer há quem acompanhe a modalidade.

A cultura e inteligência dos dois remadores (não é por acaso que ambos se licenciaram mesmo sem abandonar a modalidade) permitiu-lhes ter o discernimento de, além de não caírem na ratoeira de prometerem medalhas agora em Pequim (um clássico deste Verão), anteciparem as condições necessárias para poderem tentar as medalhas em Londres 2012. Pedro Fraga e Nuno Mendes estão mais soltos e fluentes a nível de expressão do que há quatro anos, mas continuam a ser uma excepção neste capítulo. É preciso estimular a comunicação interna para se saber o que dizer para fora da modalidade.

O que deve, pode e vai fazer o remo para Londres 2012?

João Miguel Ribeiro
Jornalista de remo e Técnico de Comunicação Social.

Noticias relacionadas

• Pequim – Portugal em 8º lugar
• Pequim – Portugal na Final B
• Pequim – Provas de remo adiadas
• Dupla nacional inicia Jogos Olimpicos
• Os Olimpicos na imprensa nacional

Portugal voltou a usar a sua imagem de marca – uma ponta final demolidora – para passar do quinto para o segundo lugar nos últimos 500m. A equipa lusa arrancou em 5º lugar, na frente do Canada e a 3 segundos dos lideres, Nova Zelandia. Aos 1000m as posições eram praticamente as mesmas e Portugal mantia-se à mesma distância dos seus adversários, mas com maior vantagem sobre o Canadá.
Na entrada para os últimos 500m de prova, Portugal já se encontrava lado a lado com a França e a apenas 2 segundos da Alemanha(2º) e Austrália(3º). Por fim, com uma ponta final fantástica, Pedro Fraga e Nuno Mendes recuperaram mais dois lugares e alcançaram o 2º lugar da Final B.

Os dois remadores do Sport Club do Porto finalizaram assim a sua primeira participação nos Jogos Olimpicos com um 8º lugar e conseguindo conquistar ainda 1 ponto para a equipa de Portugal nos Jogos Olimpicos de Pequim.

Uma excelente participação dos dois atletas no regresso do remo português aos Jogos Olimpicos.

Noticias relacionadas

• O erro olímpico
• Pequim – Portugal na Final B
• Pequim – Provas de remo adiadas
• Dupla nacional inicia Jogos Olimpicos
• Os Olimpicos na imprensa nacional

Nuns Jogos Olimpicos já com algumas surpresas, a equipa portuguesa alterou a sua táctiva de regata para dar o tudo por tudo pelo sonho de se qualificarem para a final A.

Na semi-final, Portugal largou mais rapido do que o normal acompanhando as outras equipas. Aos 500m, apenas 2 segundos separavam o lider (Grécia) e o último classificado (China).

A meio de prova Portugal encontrava-se em 6º e perdia 3 segundos para o terceiro classificado (Nova Zelandia).

Aos 1500m, Grécia e Dinamarca destacavam-se na liderança, com outras 3 equipas (China,Nova Zelandia e Austrália) a discutirem o 3º lugar e Portugal mais atrás em 6º lugar.

No final, a Grécia vencia a semi-final, com os Campeões do Mundo (Dinamarca) em 2º lugar e a China em 3º. Ficaram de fora da final A a Nova Zelandia (4º), Austrália (5º) e Portugal (6º).

Portugal disputará amanha pelas 7h40 (hora de Portugal) a final B, juntamente com a Nova Zelandia, Austrália, Alemanhã, França e Canadá.

Noticias relacionadas

• Pequim – Provas de remo adiadas
• Dupla nacional inicia Jogos Olimpicos
• O erro olímpico
• Pequim – Portugal em 8º lugar
• Remo Pequim – Portugal vence repescagem

Esta paragem pode ser benéfica para Nuno Mendes e Pedro Fraga. Segundo o presidente da Federação de Remo, a pausa de um dia permite aos atletas portugueses recuperar energias e coloca-os em situação de igualdade com outros atletas que não precisaram de fazer repescagem.

Noticias relacionadas

• Pequim – Portugal na Final B
• Dupla nacional inicia Jogos Olimpicos
• O erro olímpico
• Pequim – Portugal em 8º lugar
• Remo Pequim – Portugal vence repescagem