When I was first told I was going to Brazil, I didn’t know what to expect.
I mean, in my previous 27 years, I had spent a grand total of one week in a non-English speaking country, and that was at a semi-fancy resort in the Dominican.
I was going to a place that, depending on what you read, had Zika, security woes, violence, pollution, body parts on the beach, and weird pizza.
New world record for @AurelieRivard! Demolishes the field in Women's 400M S10 freestyle! #Paralympics #ParaBrazil16 pic.twitter.com/loEU3FLzxk
— A.J. "The Queen of Ice" Andrews ⚧️♀️🏳️🌈 (@A_J_Andrews) September 15, 2016
After two weeks here, I’m happy to say that none of those issues arose. The time I spent in Rio has been pleasant, rewarding and violence-free.
Even if those issues arose, the talks I’ve had with Canadian and British athletes here would have been worth it.
Especially the talk with Jody Cundy and his family. His journey from the high of Time Trial gold in Beijing to the low of being DQ’d in his home country at London could have gone either way in Rio. I’m thrilled that it ended in a triumphant gold medal for Jody.
I will remember my time in Brazil and the people I’ve talked to for the rest of my life.
And aside from the one with the heart of palm on it, the pizza was pretty good.