A young Saudi judo fighter's decisive defeat on the mat Friday is being hailed as a victory for women in the conservative Gulf kingdom, a step that would have seemed unimaginable if thousands of fans at the sprawling ExCel Center and millions at home hadn't seen it with their own eyes.
Olympic judo champion Sarah Menezes revealed on Sunday that her parents tried to stop her from taking up the sport which they believed was for men only.
In a tin-sided warehouse north of Boston, above Stewy's Custom Cycles along a steep staircase lined with Olympic posters, Kayla Harrison found sensei Jimmy Pedro Jr. and, through him and his dojo, a gentle way back from sexual abuse.