Gabriel Medina Carried The Olympic Torch

One of the Olympics’ (many) kinky traditions is a continent-crossing torch relay in the lead up to the games. Lit in the Greek town of Olympia (birthplace of the games), this year the torch was relayed across Greece, then travelled through Switzerland to visit the United Nations and the Olympic Museum, before landing in host country Brazil. The torch then embarked on a 95-day relay across Brazil, handed from bearer to bearer. One of whom, was Gabriel Medina.

Now, there are around 12,000 Brazilian torchbearers in total. It has a long way to travel and the carrying stints are short. But, it’s still a rather large honour. And the first 10 bearers, of which Gabriel was one, are the biggest names.

Brazil’s first (and only) female Olympic boxing medalist, Adriana Araújo, handed Gabs the torch for a light jog, before he passed it onto two-time Olympic volleyball champ Paula Pequeno.

It’s perhaps a little strange that Adriano De Souza, the current world champ, wasn’t given the honour of being one of the first 10 torchbearers. But, Gabriel was Brazil’s first World Champ… so he… (sorry:) is the trailblazer. Yep, went there.

Will this honour have any bearing on Gabriel’s performance at the fast-approaching Oi Rio Pro? No. Probably not. Will this post get us unblocked from his Instagram? No. Definitely not.