283: Costa Rica's best athelete carries hope to Olympics

This is a lovely story, about determination to succeed against the odds but with the love and support of one's family. It's from the BBC, who are running a series currently on athletes overcoming significant challenges to get to the Olympics in Beijing. (That reminded me of the earlier RTBH post about Oscar Pistorius, the South African 'blade runner', who sadly just missed the Olympic qualifying time for the 400m the other day and will now compete in the Paralympics.) Today's linked article is about Costa Rican sprinter, Nery Brenes, who has been hailed as the best athlete ever to emerge from the small Central American nation. He comes from the run-down port of Limón, which is currently plagued with gang violence. He trained as a youngster on a track that is now overgrown and struggled to get financial support for many years - though his family believed in him, as did his coach. He made it to the World Indoor Championships earlier this year, where he came fourth in the 400m, then donated his prize money to poor families in Limón. What an inspirational athlete. I'll definitely cheer him on in August! (Picture from BBC online.)