NFC Ring to be made available for Visa-based payments

Olympic athletes in Rio enjoyed a particularly high-tech way of paying for things through an NFC Ring, which is now being made available to regular folks who want to pay with their Visa in true futuristic style.

Engadget reports that the NFC Ring can be tapped at store terminals when conducting Visa-based transactions. It is currently up for pre-order through this link. It will cost around $53 (£39.99) and can be customized to fit different finger sizes. Shipments are expected to roll out by December.

Some of the establishments that currently support the NFC Ring are Starbucks, McDonald’s, Subway and H&M.  Alfred Bayle

source: technology.inquirer.net

Borrowed medal? No thanks, Henderson wins own Olympic gold

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil—Jeff Henderson had an Olympic gold medal in his grasp. Just not one he could call his own.

With a pressure-packed jump on his last try of the night, the American long jumper changed all that. He won his own gold medal in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday and returned the one he carried for motivation to its rightful owner.

And now both Henderson and his coach, 1984 triple jump champ Al Joyner, really have something to celebrate.

“He said, ‘I want you to give me back my gold medal and keep your gold medal,'” Henderson recounted. “I gave it back before I went out there. I knew I was going to win.”

He was clutch on his last attempt. It’s becoming an American trend. The night before, Michelle Carter won the shot put on her final attempt.

Henderson rocked back and forth before starting down the runway. He flew into the air and when he landed in the sand, he instantly knew that was good enough for gold. His jump of 8.38 meters surpassed South Africa’s Luvo Manyonga, who finished with silver. Defending champion Greg Rutherford of Britain was left with the bronze.

“I came here to win,” Rutherford said. “I’m going away disappointed.”

Just imagine how Jarrion Lawson feels. The American had the last jump of the evening and thought his was well out there — maybe even gold-medal worthy — but he dragged his left hand in the sand before landing.

That was the spot to where officials measured. He finished in fourth place.

“I still think I had it. Maybe I hit my hand, maybe I didn’t,” said Lawson, who was an All-American at the University of Arkansas. “Just can’t argue with technology.

“But I think that was a No. 1 jump.”

History will reflect Henderson as the winner, though. He said Joyner had used a similar ploy as motivation before — with his late wife, Florence Griffith-Joyner.

It certainly got Henderson’s attention.

“He’s always like, ‘You’re a champion. Believe in yourself,'” explained the 27-year-old Henderson, who’s from McAlmont, Arkansas. “The last jump I was just like, ‘OK, just keep everything the same, don’t change nothing.’

“I knew it was the winning jump after I saw it.”

How’s this for a little more history: Henderson captured gold medal No. 999 for the United States in the Summer Olympics. He was about 30 minutes shy of winning the magical 1,000th, but it went to the women’s 4×100-meter medley relay swim team.

“Feels amazing,” Henderson said. “To be in that group and that category is awesome. To have that, 999, I didn’t know that. It feels like I’m in a dream, honestly.”

Still think the long jump is boring, Carl Lewis? The track icon recently took issue with his former event and the lack of more star power. Henderson has no issues with Lewis’ sentiment.

Although, he will give his good friend some good-natured ribbing.

“I know Carl Lewis, he’s biting his tongue right now,” Henderson said. “I have nothing against Carl. Wait to see what he says after this.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Nadal notches Olympic gold, ‘unforgettable’ return

RIO DE JANEIRO—Rafael Nadal described his second Olympic gold as “unforgettable” after marking his return from his latest injury misery by partnering close friend Marc Lopez to the men’s doubles title in Rio.

The 30-year-old Spaniard added the 2016 doubles crown to his 2008 singles gold in Beijing by defeating Romania’s Florin Mergea and Horia Tecau 6-2, 3-6, 4-6.

Nadal is just the fourth player to win gold in Olympic singles and doubles after Serena and Venus Williams and Chile’s Nicolas Massu.

The former world number one and holder of 14 Grand Slam titles was playing his first tournament since May when a wrist injury forced an early retirement from the French Open.

“It was an amazing experience, especially doing it with one of my best friends, with Marc, it’s something unforgettable for me, for both of us,” said Nadal.

“To win a gold medal after two months and a half with no practice, with no preparation, just working in the gym, is something that is a dream.

“The moment was unbelievable, and we had fun. We fight hard.”

Nadal’s participation in the Olympics was in doubt until the last minute but now he has one gold and the prospect of another in the men’s singles where he’s reached the semi-finals.

Earlier Friday, he defeated Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 for his 800th career singles win.

He will face Juan Martín Del Potro of Argentina on Saturday for a place in the championship match.

“It’s a dream to win for my country. I didn’t come here just to carry the flag at the opening ceremony,” added Nadal.

‘Happiest man on earth’

For 34-year-old Lopez, it was a second major title of 2016 after he partnered compatriot Feliciano Lopez to the French Open title in June.

“Sharing these feelings with Rafa is really a dream come true,” said Lopez, who has now won five doubles titles with Nadal.

“All the things we have done together, I am the happiest man on earth.”

Tecau paid tribute to Nadal whose all-court skills proved crucial.

“You don’t see this in singles, but he volleys really well. He moves a lot at the net, puts a lot of pressure, defends really well,” said Tecau.

“He can hit an angle in every shot. And he’s all over the court. You have to play with precision and play to win most of the time. Otherwise you’re going to give him a lot of shots and that’s what he likes. Then he takes control of the points.”

The Spanish pair had cruised through the first set of the final 6-2 on the back of breaks in the fifth and seventh games.

But Mergea and Tecau, giving Romania their first ever Olympic tennis medal, hit back, focussing their attack on Lopez.

They broke for a 3-1 lead and saved two break-back points in the ninth game to level the final on a chilly night in the Brazilian city.

Mergea and Tecau, both 31 and born within a week of each other, sensed victory when they nipped ahead at 4-3 in the decider with Lopez again broken.

But the Spanish duo regained the break at 4-4 when Tecau was broken. Nadal then held for a 5-4 lead.

The Romanian pair saved two championship points in the 10th game but a wild Tecau smash gave Nadal and Lopez the title after two and a half hours of action.

The Spaniards’ all-out attack and rock-solid defence were crucial forcing their opponents into making 46 unforced errors and having to save 12 of 16 break points they faced.

America’s Steve Johnson and Jack Sock defeated Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil, the Canadian seventh seeds, 6-2, 6-4 to claim the bronze medal.

source: sports.inquirer.net

French gymnast’s horrific leg break chills gymnastics arena

RIO DE JANEIRO — French gymnast Samir Ait Said landed awkwardly on a vault, and a sickening snap echoed throughout the arena. A split second later, he was clutching his contorted left leg, his tibia fractured and his Olympics over.

Said was trying to fly over the vault and complete two backflips in a pike at men’s qualifying Saturday. The injury highlighted the dangers of a sport that steps into the world’s spotlight every four years and led some to question if the current scoring system is making gymnasts push themselves too far.

Said was attempting his second vault when he crumpled. He used one hand to hold his leg just below the knee and put the other one to his head as he grimaced in pain in the moments just after the fall. Medical personnel rushed to help him, placing him on a stretcher and carrying him off the podium to loud applause from the crowd.

“It is catastrophic … our mental state is very bad but we each have a target and we have to carry on for ourselves,” teammate Cyril Tommasone said.

The International Gymnastics Federation moved away from the 10.0 scoring system a decade ago, favoring a new format that splits each gymnast’s score into two parts. The first score is based on the difficulty of skills a gymnast completes. The second score is based on how well they execute them.

Many gymnasts try to pack as many skills into their routine as they can to pile up points. German gymnast Fabian Hambuechen, a four-time Olympian and two-time medalist on high bar, wonders if the sport has become almost too dangerous, with gymnasts attempting skills they haven’t yet mastered, a stark contrast from the old system that put an emphasis on perfection instead of daring.

“It’s a pity that gymnastics developed like that,” Hambuechen said. “It’s always more, more difficulty, more risk, higher. Everyone wants new records and stuff so it’s getting dangerous. That’s what really is annoying. I don’t like the system anymore. So I hope that it will change after Rio again.”

He misses the days before the difficulty score was implemented and thinks returning to the old scale would make things safer for the athletes.

“I’m one of the guys who still loves the 10.0,” he said. “That was a simple system. It was like everyone had the chance to get the high score of 10.0 with different ways. Now everyone knows if you want to have a high “D” score you have to do these skills and these skills are sometimes too dangerous for some people.”

French team leader Corrine Moustard-Callon didn’t have many details on Said’s injury, but lamented the terrible way his Olympics ended after years of hard work.

“He made a technical mistake,” Moustard-Callon said. “He is in the hospital with a doctor now. We will give more news when we have it. We don’t know what happened, except that it was his tibia. We will do more exams to see if it is just the bone.”

Said’s injury wasn’t the only one that ended Olympic hopes. Germany’s Andreas Toba tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the floor exercise.

“I cried like a little kid,” Toba said. “The injury on my knee is big, but the emotional injury is way bigger.”

Toba competed in the pommel horse after the injury, a gutsy move that impressed his teammates and the crowd.

“That was amazing,” Hambuechen said. “It’s an honor to have someone like him on the team.”

Many of the gymnasts who were competing in the same division were jarred by Said’s injury, but none were particularly surprised. While the dangers of contact sports like football are constantly talked about, people sometimes don’t think about the risks gymnasts take when propelling their bodies through the air.

“Everybody knows gymnastics is the hardest sport in the world,” American gymnast Danell Leyva said. “And if you don’t know it, you don’t know about gymnastics.”/rga

source: sports.inquirer.net

Olympics: Record-smashing start for Aussie women

Australia’s women lowered the 4x100m freestyle world record to capture their country’s second gold on the opening night of swimming competition at the Rio Olympics.

Emma McKeon, Brittany Elmslie, Bronte Campbell and individual world record-holder Cate Campbell clocked 3min 30.65sec to hold off the United States, who claimed silver in 3:31.89 with Canada third in 3:32.89.

Australia improved on the world record of 3:30.98 set by an Australian quartet at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on July 24, 2014.

“Definitely my favorite race ever, in an Olympic final with my sister and two girls I have known since I was 12, 13 years old and a gold and a world record. You can’t ask for more,” said Bronte Campbell. “Every kid dreams of it, it’s what we always hoped for.”

Elder sister Cate, who set the individual 100m free world record in July, said the Aussies’ status as favorites hadn’t led to over-confidence.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Rio opens today 31st Olympic Games

RIO DE JANEIRO—As the virulent Zika virus lurks like a nasty ghost in many neighborhoods, Brazil is set to sweep all its present troubles under the carpet of universal sporting unity on Friday night (7 a.m. Saturday in Manila), when it rings up the curtain on the 31st Olympic Games in this epicenter of samba.

An expectedly sizzling four-hour program that marries this Portuguese-speaking nation’s Afro-influenced culture with its perky sounds and rhythm, will welcome officials and some 15,000 athletes from 204 nations, including 13 from the Philippines, to the quadrennial competition.

Preliminary hostilities in women’s football and three other sports, out of the 41-sport Summer Games roster, may have commenced ahead of the grand opening ceremonies in Rio’s massive football mecca, Maracanã Stadium, but the bigger battles for medals will be fought starting

Saturday.

Three Filipinos—boxer Charly Suarez, swimmer Jessie Khing Lacuna and tablenetter Ian Lariba—plunge into action less than 12 hours after the Maracanã bash, with Lariba the only one guaranteed to remain in the hunt even if she drops her first match.

First-time Olympian
To first-time Olympian Lariba belongs the honor of bearing the Philippine tri-color at the iconic 74,738-seat stadium during the parade of delegations.

As the country’s first-ever Olympic bidder in table tennis, she was picked for the task over three-time Games campaigners Marestella Torres-Sunang (long jump) and Hidilyn Diaz (weight lifting).



Security measures

A massive security force rollout involving 22,500 Army and Força Nacional soldiers will ensure that the Games, many to be fought in Rio’s hastily finished, mountain-embraced Olympic Park, is safe for both athletes and fans.

On the day of the opening ceremonies, the Athletes Village will be cordoned off, not unlike Wednesday night when a bomb scare prevented Olympic chief of mission Joey Romasanta, three members of the PH team and about a thousand other athletes from entering the heavily guarded compound for over an hour.

Opening ceremonies

Football great Pelé, the brightest among Brazil’s retired galaxy of sports heroes, will light the Games cauldron.

Just like “The Greatest,” world boxing champ Muhammad Ali, before him in Atlanta 1992, Pelé will carry the torch with the flame lit by the sun at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, where the maiden modern-day Olympics was staged.

Subdued mood

Renowned Brazilian film director Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”) and producer Daniela Thomas have conspired to create an opening extravaganza budgeted at a tenth of the Danny Boyle’s London show for the 2012 Olympics.

But the mood around Rio was a bit subdued on the eve of the first Olympics to be held in South America.

There was a palpable sense of fear and uncertainty among the athletes and Rio’s population as the virulent Zika virus shadowed the city.

The air was heavy as well with accusations of treachery among the country’s politicians over botched economic initiatives related to the construction of Olympic facilities.

Tourist hub

All Filipino athletes, including golfer Miguel Tabuena who arrives here on Saturday, will see action in controversial, over-the-budget competition venues located in the tourist hub of Ipanema on the coast of Copacabana.

The Olympic Golf Course is part of reclaimed land that borders Rio’s sprawling Olympic Park.

“Our 13 athletes are well prepared,”

Romasanta said. “There’s nothing more we could ask of them. They are here because they are the best in the Philippines and because they fearlessly answered the call of national duty.”

Romasanta did not show it, but he was still hurting from the last-minute withdrawal of Angelo Que and Dottie Ardina.

The two golfers feared catching the Zika virus, which is borne by a breed of mosquito that multiplies in the tiniest pool of water and defies many of the insecticides deployed against it.

Avoiding the virus may yet be another battle that competing athletes would have to contend with. TVJ

source: sports.inquirer.net

Bouchard confirms she’ll play in Rio

Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard will play at the Rio Olympics next month, after weighing the risks posed by the Zika virus and security concerns in Brazil.

“It was a hard decision for me and I definitely thought about all the pros and cons,” Bouchard told the media at the weekend as she prepared to play in the WTA hardcourt tournament in Montreal.

“But at the end of the day, I knew in my heart I didn’t want to be sitting at home watching the Olympics on TV. Also knowing I might have two or three Olympics in my career, I felt that the decision to go was the right one.”

Bouchard is currently ranked 42nd in the world.

Her compatriot Milos Raonic, Romania’s Simona Halep and Czechs Tomas Berdych and Karolina Pliskova have all decided not to play in Rio, with Zika among the biggest concerns.

The mosquito-borne virus has been leaked to birth defects and, more rarely, neurological problems.

The men’s golf competition in Rio has been even harder hit than tennis by the withdrawal of the world’s top players.

Top-ranked Australian Jason Day, Americans Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy have all elected to miss golf’s return to the Summer Games after 112 years.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Neymar, Costa star in Brazil lineup in Rio Olympics

Strikers Neymar and Douglas Costa head a young Brazil Olympic football squad looking to bounce back from humiliation in the Copa America Centenario, stand-in coach Rogerio Micale announced Wednesday.

On home soil in next month’s Games in Rio two years after their devastating 7-1 semi-final loss to Germany, Brazil are bidding to add Olympic gold to their three silver medals, two bronze and five World Cup titles.

Barcelona’s Neymar, Costa of Bayern Munich and goalkeeper Fernando Prass, 37, are the only players aged over 23 in the squad.

It is Prass’s first international call-up. Micale hailed his “leadership profile” and the “excellent season” he has had as captain of Palmeiras.

The Spanish champions allowed Neymar, 24, to play in the Olympics but not this month’s Copa America, in which Brazil were knocked out at the group stage.

“Neymar is different. He is one of the best players in the world. Any national team would want to have a player of his profile,” Micale told a news conference.

“He will mean a lot for the team. I hope he will be able to help the younger players.”

The Copa humiliation got coach Dunga fired. Corinthians boss Tite was named to replace him, but Micale will lead the team at the Olympics before Tite takes over.

Micale selected Paris Saint Germain defender Marquinhos but chose to drop his PSG teammate Thiago Silva.

Brazil face South Africa, Iraq and Denmark in the group stage at the Olympics, which run from August 5 to 21.

Brazil squad for 2016 Olympics:

Goalkeepers: Fernando Prass (Palmeiras), Uilson (Atletico Mineiro)

Defenders: Luan (Vasco), Rodrigo Caio (Sao Paulo), Marquinhos (Paris SG/FRA), Douglas Santos (Atletico Mineiro), William (Internacional), Zeca (Santos)

Midfielders: Rafinha (Barcelona/ESP), Rodrigo Dourado (Internacional), Fred (Shakhtar Donetsk/UKR), Thiago Maia (Santos), Felipe Anderson (Lazio/ITA)

Strikers: Neymar (Barcelona/ESP), Douglas Costa (Bayern Munich/GER), Gabriel Barbosa (Santos), Gabriel Jesus (Palmeiras), Luan (Gremio)

source: sports.inquirer.net

US earns Olympic berth with 5-0 win over Trinidad and Tobago

HOUSTON — After scoring three goals against Trinidad and Tobago, Alex Morgan was relieved that the United States was assured a spot this summer in the Rio Olympics.

“We finally qualified,” Morgan said. “We don’t have to talk about qualifying anymore.”

Morgan’s hat trick, the third of her career, highlighted the United States’ 5-0 victory over Trinidad and Tobago on Friday night in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament.

The World Cup champions, ranked No. 1 world, will seek their fourth straight Olympic gold medal and fifth overall.

There were two Olympic berths up for grabs in the North and Central America and Caribbean region. Canada secured the other spot in Brazil with a 3-1 semifinal victory over Costa Rica earlier Friday at BBVA Compass Stadium.

It is the third straight trip to the Olympics for the 11th-ranked Canadians, who will face the United States on Sunday in the tournament’s final match.

The Americans went 3-0 with a 16-0 goal difference in the group stage of the eight-team qualification tournament. They capped the first round with a 10-0 rout of Puerto Rico led by a team record-tying five goals from Crystal Dunn, the last player cut from the roster that won the World Cup last summer in Canada.

The Americans have never lost a CONCACAF Olympic qualifier, going 17-0-1, and they’ve outscored opponents 96-4.

It is the first time Trinidad and Tobago has made the semifinals in qualifying.

“I think we took it to Trinidad and Tobago,” Morgan said. “They’re a really good first-half team but I think as the game wears on they get a little more unorganized. But I think we wreaked some havoc for them in the first half.”

Coach Jill Ellis tinkered with the lineup a bit for the match, sitting Dunn and Ali Krieger, who had both logged a lot of minutes in the tournament.

Overall, Ellis is working with a younger roster than the one that won the World Cup last summer in Canada.

Several players, including Abby Wambach and Lauren Holiday, have retired. Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux are expecting and won’t be available for the Olympics. Megan Rapinoe is recovering from knee surgery.

The youngest on the team is 17-year-old Mallory Pugh, headed to UCLA next season. Pugh started and made an impact early with an assist on Tobin Heath’s opening goal of the match in the 12th minute.

“I felt good,” Pugh said afterward. “I think the whole atmosphere of the stadium and everything was just really cool, and I think that kind of translated into my game. And my teammates, too, just having Alex be so positive, I think that helped a lot, too.”

It was Heath’s first goal for the national team since she scored in the 5-2 World Cup final victory over Japan.

Morgan scored her first in the 30th minute off a header from another national team newcomer, 21-year-old Lindsey Horan. Horan skipped college to play professionally in France but will play this season for the NWSL’s Portland Thorns.

Carli Lloyd, playing on the home field of her NWSL team, the Houston Dash, scored on a header in the 43rd minute for her 23rd goal in the team’s last 18 games. Lloyd has 86 goals for her career.

Morgan added her second in the 71st minute and claimed the hat trick with a goal two minutes later.

U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo saw very little action from T&T, which had no shots on goal.

“I was so mentally focused and prepared. I was hoping for a little bit more from Trinidad. I was hoping that once we went up by a couple of goals they would come at us, that they would press us, and I would be more involved in the game,” Solo said.

Trinidad earned a spot in the semifinal by finishing second in its group with wins over Guyana and Guatemala. The last time the team faced the United States was in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the World Cup in 2014. The U.S. won 1-0.

Afterward, Trinidad and Tobago coach Richard Hood praised his team for the effort, but admitted they were simply outmatched by the World Cup champions.

“In the end we weren’t able to cope with it as well as we’d liked,” Hood said.

source: sports.inquirer.net