(WORDS OF OLYMPIANS)
(HORTENCIA MARCARI)
(THE QUEEN)
(THE OLYMPIC GAMES, RIO 2016)
Hortência Marcari.
An athlete won't be complete
without participating in the Olympics.
They don't even have to win a medal.
Of course a medal is great.
But simply participating in the Olympics
is fundamental for an athlete.
(SAO PAULO, BRASIL, 1970S)
I started playing basketball in 1974.
It was love at first sight.
Hortência Marcari!
After two years of playing basketball,
I made it to the national team.
I wanted to be a complete player.
I wanted to be the best at shooting three-pointers.
And the best at shooting two-pointers.
To not miss any free throws.
I wanted to be fast.
I wanted to defend.
I wanted to compete with the best.
So where are the best?
They are the great Olympic Games.
(SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA, 1988)
I tried my best for Brazil to qualify, but we never could.
I wanted it so bad.
I could not even watch that Olympics
because I was so sad I was not there.
(BARCELONA, SPAIN, 1992)
The first time Brazil qualified for the Olympics
in women's basketball was 1992.
Hortência Marcari.
You are wearing your country's shirt.
You are carrying a nation.
The magnitude of it is unbelievable.
It is the maximum.
The first game was against Italy.
We won.
We started to believe in ourselves.
There is so much happening at the same time,
you can get lost.
Our fundamentals were not good.
I was not very good either.
We lost the other three games.
It hurts me a lot because it was my first Olympics.
The thing I wanted most in life.
I don't deal well with losing.
When I lose, the pain is so terrible
that I don't want to feel it.
I always had a dream of being a mother.
I stopped playing so I could get pregnant.
My son was born in February '96.
And then the pressure began
to return and compete in the Olympics.
I had just retired, just had a baby.
I spent a year without picking up a ball.
I was 36 years old.
There was no way.
I felt the pressure - not only from the fans,
but from the media as well.
I got back on court to practise.
Something very strange happened to me.
My body did not react according to my head.
I had to adapt.
I did not want the world to see me playing mediocre basketball.
I had three months to get in shape,
work with weights, get my muscles back to normal.
(ATLANTA, USA, 1996)
And now, for Brazil...
A forward, wearing number four...
Hortência Oliva.
I played with Paula and some of the other girls
for about 20 years.
One look and we knew what to do.
We took it game by game.
Step by step.
(BASKETBALL WOMEN PRELIMINARY, BRAZIL 69, CANADA 56)
I didn't play in all the games because I hurt my ankle.
The game I didn't play,
that was the hardest.
When you are inside the court, you can do something.
But sitting on the bench, you can't.
(2ND HALF, ITA 73, BRA 73)
Come on, baby. Come on, baby.
Come on, baby.
Brazil!
We won by two points.
(BASKETBALL WOMEN 1/4 FINAL, BRAZIL 101, CUBA 69)
With every win, we felt stronger.
Not even my five-month-old son, who was in the bleachers,
could take my focus.
(BASKETBALL WOMEN SEMIFINAL, UKRAINE 60, BRAZIL 81)
The United States team was very strong.
They were playing at home and had a great team.
Lisa Leslie.
Teresa Edwards.
I wasn't feeling 100%.
Usually when Paula started well and I didn't,
she would get me up and I would get better.
When she was down, I would bring her up.
But that day, Paula didn't have a good start.
And I didn't have the strength to pull her up.
It wasn't like other times.
We faltered for a moment, and USA got 20 points ahead.
(BASKETBALL WOMEN GOLD MEDAL MATCH, BRAZIL 87, UNITED STATES 111)
The Americans were better, so we have to praise their worth.
It was them that won, and not us that lost.
When you step on the court,
you can't ever leave saying, "I could have done better."
(BRAZIL, SILVER)
Hortência Oliva.
What matters is that we did everything we could
on the court.
(HORTENCIA OFFICIALLY RETIRED FROM BASKETBALL AFTER THE 1996 OLYMPIC GAMES)
(IN 2005, SHE WAS INDUCTED INTO THE BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME)
(HER SONS JOAO AND ANTONIO ARE BOTH COMPETITIVE DRESSAGE RIDERS)