Rio is a city of contrasts . I'm staying in a clean and safe area with lots of people and activity all about. I've yet to feel unsafe or threatened. No litter on the streets or sidewalks and garbage containers are abundant. It is apparently against the law to throw cigarette butts on the street or sidewalks. Lots of people with dogs, but unlike Paris, they stoop and scoop. There is no dog ... anywhere. There are also lots of one way streets and the traffic seems to be speed along nicely. Even in areas where there is more congestion they weave in and out like water bugs. Jaywalking doesn't appear to be a crime and people do it regularly. You just have to have your wits about you.
At the Archery venue called the Sambodromo (more about that tomorrow) it was interesting. When I eventually found the doping control station after a lot of wandering the venue , an IPC official was there. He's a former senior guy from my Ottawa organization and I had met him once a few years ago at a conference. We are the first picture below.
The archery competition -the field is shown in the second picture- was worthwhile watching and I had never seen one before. They shoot from a distance of 70 metres and shoot 3 arrows in a set. The winner of the set gets 2 points , and 1 point if tied. To win the match you must get at least 6 points so there is a minimum of 3 sets. The score of each shot is announced and shown on a big board so you can easily follow. The action. A perfect shot is 10, then 9 etc... In one set for the gold medal match both competitors shot 3 perfect 10s. The set was a tie. I had the winner who was from Iran. He was forever with the Iranian media and everybody and their brother wanting a picture with him. He was very friendly and eventually Inwas able to extract him from the crowds around him. Tomorrow the competition will feature slightly different bows.
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