Brazil's Bruno Soares looks back to Olympics held on home soil
WASHINGTON — A reflection on Rio would not be complete without acknowledging the chaos left behind. Tennis player Bruno Soares hails from Belo Horizonte, Brazil, just six hours north of the Magnificent City, and is still based there. While most of the world moved on after the Rio Olympics, he has had an up-close view of a country that's struggling.
“I love my country. It’s full of corrupt people, our politics. It’s tough to talk about, and it’s disgusting what they do, but we have an amazing country,” he said recently while in town to play for the Washington Kastles. “We know if you’re not prepared well enough to host the Olympic Games, it’s going to do some damage on the economy, and that’s what happened.”
The city reportedly spent $12 billion on the Games and still owes millions more. The country has been several business and political leaders jailed in the wake of a widespread corruption scandal, and last week lawmakers came close to voting out their president for the second time in less than a year.
While the turmoil in Rio has continued, Soares still was in awe of seeing his country host the Games. The opening ceremony of the Rio Games was held one year ago Saturday.
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“The opening ceremony was out of this world — the atmosphere and the feeling to walk in last and then hear the crowd going nuts, it was unbelievable,” said Soares,a two-time Olympian, who also played in this week's Citi Open with doubles partner Jamie Murray. “Walking into the stadium, we’re all singing the national anthem, Brazilian songs, that was such a great experience for me.”
Though Soares did not reach the podium in Brazil, he found success just a few weeks later. He and Murray took the men’s doubles title at the 2016 U.S. Open, their second major of the year. The pair has won twice in 2017, bringing Soares to 25 career doubles titles. They will begin their defense of the U.S. Open title in late August.
