Chile cheers Olympic first

 

By Clinton Porteous

BBC correspondent in Santiago, Chile

 

 

 

Full Olympic tennis results

Chile is celebrating its first ever Olympic gold after Nicolas Massu and Fernando Gonzalez won the final of the men's doubles competition in tennis.

Olympic fever has gripped the nation after Gonzalez earlier won a bronze medal in the men's singles.

 

And Massu will soon compete in the men's singles final against the unseeded American Mardy Fish.

 

Moments after Chile won its first gold medal, people took the streets and drivers started honking their horns.

 

Many households were watching their television all day as three local TV channels broadcast the Olympic tennis from Athens.

 

Football is the dominant sport in Chile, and four years ago Chileans celebrated when their football team won a bronze medal at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

 

But their tennis players have now delivered the nation's first gold medal and there could be more to come.

 

Massu seals golden double

 

 

Nicolas Massu collected a second gold medal of the Games when he followed up Saturday's men's doubles victory by beating Mardy Fish in the singles.

After joining Fernando Gonzalez to earn Chile's first Olympic title in the early hours of Sunday morning, he dug deep to hand his country another.

 

Tired Massu, seeded 10th, took the first set 6-3, as unseeded American Fish made a string of unforced errors.

 

Fish took the next two sets 3-6, 2-6 but Massu hit back 6-3, 6-4 to win.

 

Bleary-eyed Massu was clearly fatigued after his fifth-set marathon doubles success against Germany's Nicolas Kiefer and Rainer Schuettler.

 

That three-and-a-half-hour epic had only ended at 2.40am on Sunday morning and after the medal ceremony and doping controls, the clay-court specialist had not had much sleep before he was back in action.

 

But he took his time between points and had a massage on his left leg at end of the fourth set and managed to see his way through another five-set thriller which lasted four hours.

 

Fish's faltering start allowed Massu to break in the second and fourth games and race to a 5-0 lead.

 

Fish held his serve in the sixth and eighth games and in between broke Massu in the seventh to reduce the Chilean's advantage to 5-3.

 

But Massu finally served out for the first set in the ninth game with two set points to spare.

 

The second set was a tight affair, with both players holding serve until the eighth game when Fish broke.

 

That gave the American the impetus he needed to go on and take that set and the next.

 

But just when Massu looked down and out he fought back to take the fourth set on the stroke of three hours.

 

The fifth set was a nail-biter with both players losing their two opening service games.

 

But as the pressure mounted the mistakes crept back into Fish's game and Massu quickly took advantage and went on to seal the match.

 

 

 

 

 

More than 20 games in one week....... 6 hours playing on Saturday-Sunday and today 4 more........ and gold yesterday :smug: :smug:

and I couldn-t find one of the medal they got in doubles :dozey:

Oh congrats :cool:

Thanks! :D

A smae you missed it though :P

Oh, is that the firt gold medal of Chile??

I know. I got really into some of the events but didn't watch the tennis :rolleyes: Glad your country won medals though :cool:

Yes, it's my country's first Gold Medal...... well we got two, in doubles and singles (smae people, playing 2 games daily)

lmao first gold medal?

haha

 

i saw that and was rooting for germany

lmao first gold medal?

haha

 

i saw that and was rooting for germany

 

Most people in England were....the bastards knocked out Tim Henman...but congratulations :lol:

lmao first gold medal?

haha

 

Well it's really important for countries in Latin America, Africa and sometimes Asia, countries where the sports aren't supported by goverments. People in those countries don't see sport like something u can to do with life, it's more like a hobby, exactly becuz the goverments don't foment those kind of activities.

 

Am I wrong Sternly?? :rolleyes:

:rolleyes: they still knocked out Tim Henman

 

nah im happy Chile got golds

You are not Charles.

 

You see us, Eric, as something of 'lower quality', or as it happens in my country, of lower-class. We are not a developed country, but not because of that, we are any less or any better. In my country, sport is not something you can make profit from (as a player); it's a hobby, an not even that, because there is few people who actiolly practises a sport. Sport in my country is expensive. I play hockey, and I have to play for a private club, where I pay everything and the level is low; since sport goes towards a minority, the numbers of competitors is very few and they are no good, and If there is one good, suppose my hockey team, we don't have anyone to practise with.... there are like 3 decent clubs, and they are really far (about 2 hours, back and forth 4 hours, for one single game) and you have them only in big cities, let's say 10 to 12 places. And If you want to get a higher level, you must go to Argentina or Europe, we do a tour in Argentina, then the U.K and then South Africa to rise our level of competition, and that's payed by us mainly. So, If you think that that repeats in every single sport here, apart from Footbal, which is played everywhere, you must realise by now that sport is not something you can live of here, therefore, we don't have many profesional players, or the ones we do, are because their family was rich enough to maintain them and 'secure' them their future.

 

So when this happens, there is a national pride and happiness; we know our goverment is not going to change, at least not in the near future, we know we won't 'catch you up', for instance, but we feel that what we did was much better that what your country did. We had two players, and they played in singles and doubles, 2 games daily each, yesterday Gonzalez played for 3 hours, finished the 3rd set 16-14 and like 3 hours later, played 3 hours again, against a German team that had it all; they should had won, because they weren't tired, they had practise and support, they are good players, but they didn't. That's why we get so happy about it; because you have it all, all except the heart.

 

We had a swimmer, a girl, competing. We knew she was not going to win, but still she went and everyone was starring at her, and we knew she, and she did too, that there was no chance, but stand up and work really hard to represent the country; do you think Phelps was swimming for his country or for his own pride?

 

I know they did it also for their pride, and self-confidence, Tennis is a tough game, but they also did it for 'us'. Nationalism in Latin America is very strong; regarless of who you are, when this happens, we all feel like one, we are one Nation, united, in this case, for the sport.

 

And that's something you are never going to feel or know, independent of how many medals you have, and earn in the future. It just won't happen.

Congratulations Carla. I know that's something that I can't really relate to, but if it makes people happy there, then I'm happy too. :cool:

Thanks :D

and Thanks for that aswell :)

Congrats! That's great! ;)

You are not Charles.

 

You see us, Eric, as something of 'lower quality', or as it happens in my country, of lower-class. We are not a developed country, but not because of that, we are any less or any better. In my country, sport is not something you can make profit from (as a player); it's a hobby, an not even that, because there is few people who actiolly practises a sport. Sport in my country is expensive. I play hockey, and I have to play for a private club, where I pay everything and the level is low; since sport goes towards a minority, the numbers of competitors is very few and they are no good, and If there is one good, suppose my hockey team, we don't have anyone to practise with.... there are like 3 decent clubs, and they are really far (about 2 hours, back and forth 4 hours, for one single game) and you have them only in big cities, let's say 10 to 12 places. And If you want to get a higher level, you must go to Argentina or Europe, we do a tour in Argentina, then the U.K and then South Africa to rise our level of competition, and that's payed by us mainly. So, If you think that that repeats in every single sport here, apart from Footbal, which is played everywhere, you must realise by now that sport is not something you can live of here, therefore, we don't have many profesional players, or the ones we do, are because their family was rich enough to maintain them and 'secure' them their future.

 

So when this happens, there is a national pride and happiness; we know our goverment is not going to change, at least not in the near future, we know we won't 'catch you up', for instance, but we feel that what we did was much better that what your country did. We had two players, and they played in singles and doubles, 2 games daily each, yesterday Gonzalez played for 3 hours, finished the 3rd set 16-14 and like 3 hours later, played 3 hours again, against a German team that had it all; they should had won, because they weren't tired, they had practise and support, they are good players, but they didn't. That's why we get so happy about it; because you have it all, all except the heart.

 

We had a swimmer, a girl, competing. We knew she was not going to win, but still she went and everyone was starring at her, and we knew she, and she did too, that there was no chance, but stand up and work really hard to represent the country; do you think Phelps was swimming for his country or for his own pride?

 

I know they did it also for their pride, and self-confidence, Tennis is a tough game, but they also did it for 'us'. Nationalism in Latin America is very strong; regarless of who you are, when this happens, we all feel like one, we are one Nation, united, in this case, for the sport.

 

And that's something you are never going to feel or know, independent of how many medals you have, and earn in the future. It just won't happen.

 

VIVA Mex...duhh :rolleyes: CHILE CABRONES!!!!!!!!!!!! :cool:

 

both massu and gonzalez deserved more than 'gold' after those marathons! :D

It's a latinamerican honor!!!!! :rolleyes:

too much to read...must read anyway

yeah! you have to......

otherwise I'll eat you up :surprised:

:stunned:

:lol:

otherwise I'll eat you up :surprised:

 

:o :o

:pimp2:

I'll eat you alive :blush: