The Rio Farce, Late Morning Day 2: The Good News and The Bad News

Start with some good news:

• Historic moment yesterday in the Olympic pool, and I'm not talking the three world records.  I'm on the other side of the spectrum.  For a scant few minutes, one of the members of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team had the fastest time in the women's 100 meter butterfly prelims.  The winner of the first heat of the prelims was the ROA Team's Yusra Mardini -- who, in slightly more than one minute, won the heat with the slowest swimmers.  No prayer to advance -- again, I don't give a damn.  This Olympic Champion (as are the other nine members of the ROA Team) went out there and showed she could go with some of the best in the world.

And now, the bad:

• More drama for the Australian team:  A couple of their coaches were robbed on Ipanema Beach yesterday at knifepoint.
• I erred in the total recap -- China also had 5 total medals on Saturday.  An early-Sunday air-pistol gold for China has given them six medals, leading the table in that regard.
• One of the rowing boats SANK during Day One of competition yesterday, prompting many of the athletes to believe the course was flatly un-competable.  Day Two was postponed.  No racing today.  A power outage plus high winds have felled the event for today.  (Information on today from Inside the Games)
• Because of those same winds, tennis is also being delayed as of this writing.
• Announced this morning:  The International Paralympic Committee has chosen to do what the International Olympic Committee chose not to:  Russia is fully and completely DISQUALIFIED from the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.  According to Inside the Games, Russia has 21 days to appeal and has done so to the Council for Arbitration of Sport.
• Speaking of doping, swimmer Yulia Efimova of Russia swam the second-best time in heats of the 100m breaststroke for women. She did so to significant jeers, because she's twice been banned for doping, and was only reinstated after the Council for Arbitration of Sport refused to allow the IOC or FINA to reban her after she's served her penalties.  Americans are first and third in round one -- semifinals tonight.  (Wayne Drehs of ESPN)
• INCOMPETENCE!!!  As if it wasn't bad enough that the French gymnast suffered probably the most graphic injury in Olympic history, the paramedics who put him on a stretcher to take him to the hospital DROPPED HIM!!!  (Inside the Games)