Daily Headlines: June 2, 2014

* Spain: King Juan Carlos I of Spain will abdicated his throne after nearly four decades that included numerous accomplishments like promoting better political, economic and cultural ties with the Latin America.

* Colombia: 2013 Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana of Colombia became the first Latin American cyclist to win the Giro d'Italia while his compatriot, Rigoberto Uran, finished in second.

* Mexico: President Enrique Peña Nieto announced that the government would spend some $4.5 billion to modernize ports throughout Mexico.

* Latin America: Mexico’s Luis Montes and Ecuador’s Segundo Castillo will miss the upcoming World Cup after they both collided with each another during a friendly match on Saturday.

Video Source – euronews via YouTube

Online Sources – CNN; The Latin Americanist; ESPM; SI.com; LAHT

London Calling: Ouro

The first gold medal won by a Latin American athlete at this year’s Olympics came from a tenacious Brazilian martial artist.

Sarah Menezes won the under-48kg women’s judo gold on Saturday after beating defending champion Alina Dumitru of Romania in the final.

Menezes, who upset world number one Tomoko Fukumi to reach the gold medal bout, fought a tough and defensive bout against Dumitru. The patience from the twenty-two-year-old paid off when she threw the Romanian twice in the final minute.

“I feel like I’m floating!” said Menezes to the Brazilian press after capturing the gold. Her victory was the pinnacle of a judo career that she admitted started “as a joke” thirteen years ago.

Menezes wasn’t the only Brazilian to obtain a medal on Saturday. Felipe Kitadei, who superstitiously touched the judo ring before each one of his bouts, won bronze in the under-60kg men’s category. Swimmer Thiago Pereira finished behind Ryan Lochte of the U.S. and won silver in the men’s 400-meter individual medley.

In other Olympics results from Saturday: