Top Brazilian judo fighter comes home to Lebanon for Rio Olympics
Lebanese-Brazilian judoka Nacif Elias switched to Lebanon for the 2016 Olympics after reconnecting with the homeland he left as a child.
BEIRUT — Lebanon has been without a president since May 2014, with Prime Minister Tammam Salam serving as acting president. In May 2016, when Michel Temer became acting president of Brazil, a country some 6,600 miles (10,000 km) from Lebanon, many Middle East media outlets noted the irony of a country in far-off South America being as close to having a Lebanese president as Lebanon itself. Temer is the son of two Lebanese immigrants.
But the connections between these two countries go deep despite geographic distance. And when the 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil kick off Aug. 5, a Lebanon-born and Brazil-raised athlete, the judo practitioner Nacif Elias, will be Lebanon’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
“I wish to get the historical medal for Lebanon. I am ready for that,” Elias told Al-Monitor.
And with a string of victories leading up to the games, all eyes will be on the star Lebanese judoka.
