Today’s Video: From Sprinter to Senator

Last Monday we looked at the life of famed Cuban boxer Teófilo Stevenson who was only one of three pugilists to win three gold medals at the Olympics. Over the next few days we’ll look at other athletes from Latin America and the Caribbean who excelled in previous editions of the Summer Games.

It is not unusual for some athletes to enter the world of politics after retiring from the sports scene. Before his tragic death in 2009 Nicaraguan pugilist Alexis Arguello served as mayor of Managua while former Brazilian soccer superstar turned congressman Romario has been very vocal in criticizing the organization of the 2016 Rio Games.

Months before the Beijing Games in 2008, sprinter Ana Guevara retired from the track alleging that she was tired of the corruption and “dirty politics” in Mexican athletics. Since then the outspoken Guevara has not shied away from throwing her hat into the political ring.

In 2009 she attempted to run for local office in Mexico City as a candidate of a leftist alliance but lost by a slim margin. Despite the electoral reversal and having to pay a fine for tax evasion this May, Guevara aimed this year for a seat on the Mexican Congress. She received the backing of several politicos including presidential candidate Andres Manuel López Obrador. Earlier this month, Guevara won and she will be a senator as part of the opposition expected to serve as a counterweight to alleged president-elect Enrique Peña Nieto.

Romario and his shady math

One of the few things I recalled from informal Portuguese classes many years ago was the phrase papo cabeza (misspelled?) which is a not-so-diplomatic way of calling someone daft or stupid. Unfortunately, that phrase is apt for forty-year-old Brazilian striker Romario’s claim that he is two goals away from marking 1000 career goals.

Romario has alleged that he has scored nearly 1000 “first-class goals” in a career that has spanned nearly twenty-five years. However, different sources have disputed Romario by observing that his goal tally is inaccurate and way off the mark. An investigation by soccer magazine Placar says that there are 101 “questionable goals” to Romario’s count, while soccer blog The Offside notes that Romario has only marked 749 goals “in full internationals and competitive club games”.

Still, Romario stands by his goal count by claiming that “these numbers are not mine. The counting was done by professionals.” The only soccer player in history to have marked over 1000 official goals is the legendary Pele and he has disputed Romario’s claim.

Romario papo cabeza, indeed.

Links- New York University, Wikipedia, BBC News, ESPN Soccernet, The Offside, CNN, Edmonton Sun

Image- El Porvenir