RIO 2016

Canada-based gymnast Marisa Dick may have qualified for the Rio Olympics but that may not be the end of the matter.

Yesterday the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee (TTOC) president Brian Lewis said his organisation had the “sole and final and exclusive” authority for the composition of the T&T team for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

The Trinidad and Tobago Gymnastics Federation (TTGF) replaced Dick with Thema Williams on the eve of the Aquece Rio Test Event Sunday on the grounds of injury.

But Williams and her team, including her coach John Geddert and her lawyers, are disputing that assertion and indicated she received medical clearance.

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Truth, wisdom dictates, must invariably lie towards the middle of two polar opposite views. So if two sides are telling you something completely different about a given topic, you can be fairly sure that neither are totally right and neither are totally wrong.

Countries will have their final chance to secure qualification to the Rio 2016 gymnastics competition when the Olympic test event gets underway at the Rio Olympic Arena tomorrow.

Countries will have their final chance to secure qualification to the Rio 2016 gymnastics competition when the Olympic test event gets underway at the Rio Olympic Arena tomorrow.

Gold in the Olympic football has never mattered quite as much to the host nation as it does in 2016 to the Brazilians. Although they have lifted the FIFA World Cup a record five times and have the unique distinction of taking part in every World Cup tournament, they have never been crowned Olympic football champions.

Brazil have vowed to fight a decision by Barcelona which allows Neymar to compete in the Rio 2016 Olympic football tournament but not in June's Copa América Centenario.

Brazil is in crisis. The government of President Dilma Rousseff is teetering on the brink of collapse, barely mourned by a population who equate her term in office with widespread corruption and economic mismanagement. Rousseff’s coalition partners recently pulled out of the government, pushing her ruling party closer to the exit door. Ministerial resignations have become commonplace: last week the Brazilian Sports Minister, George Hilton, departed. Suddenly the preparedness of Rio for the opening of the Olympic Games on Aug 5 has been put into stark perspective. The country appears to be in chaos.

Melissa Tapper has become the first Australian to qualify to compete at both the Olympic and Paralympic Games after sealing one of three qualification berths for Rio 2016 on offer at the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Oceania Championships at the Ulumbarra Theatre in Bendigo.

The 30-year-old from New Jersey will compete in the hijab in Rio. She’s planning to use her profile to combat bigotry – and she wants a gold medal, too