The Ryan Lochte saga really ended the Rio Olympics with a whimper. It also had the residual effect of pushing aside true stories about terrible things that actually happened to people during their time in Brazil. One example is the Brazilian volunteer who was robbed after Team France’s win over Venezuela in group play.
Brazil native Vitor Galvani, who made a 12-hour trek from his hometown to be a part of the festivities, reportedly had his cellphone stolen by a group of teenagers who also pulled a knife on him. When the French national team found out about the robbery, their leader, Spurs guard Tony Parker, made a special gesture to replace Galvani’s phone. Here’s what happened, by way of Ben Rohrbach at Yahoo Sports:
At first, the Brazilian declined, not wanting to distract from France’s quarterfinal matchup against Spain. But Parker insisted. Not only did the Spurs star provide Galvani with a new phone, he delivered a bag full of Olympic swag, including Beats By Dre headphones and Lacoste sunglasses. When Galvani joked he’d be robbed again, Parker arranged for a car and security to ensure he made it home safe.
“I wept like a child,” Galvani told O Globo, ” I hugged him — I could see the person he is.”
But they didn’t stop there. Apparently, Team France has something akin to a swear jar that players must pay into when they are late to practice or guilty of other violations. At the conclusion of the games, Boris Diaw called Galvani up and notified him that they were donating those funds to him to help pay for his travel expenses.
Now that’s the Olympic spirit at work.
