RIO DE JANEIRO -- Michelle Carter loves to let the tension build.At the Olympics, she took it to extremes.The American shot putter waited until her last throw Friday night to knock off arguably the best woman to ever compete in the event -- two-time defending champion Valerie Adams of New Zealand.Now, Carter has a gold medal to go with the silver one her longtime NFL defensive lineman father, Michael Carter, captured in the shot put at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.It marks the first gold by an American woman in the event and just the second medal all-time. She joins an exclusive club that, until Friday, only included Earlene Brown, who won bronze at the 1960 Games.Its not over `til its over, said Carter, who has a fashion line called Shot Diva. I knew it was a good throw, but I didnt know how far it could be.Let the record show that the throw went 20.63 meters (67 feet 8 \\ inches) to overtake Adams and break her own American record. Adams had the final attempt of the evening, but couldnt come close to equaling the mark. Anita Marton of Hungary was third.That was a big throw, said Adams, who was going for an unprecedented third straight Olympic title in the event. You can never underestimate anybody, especially Michelle. Shes one of these people that can pop out anything, especially in the last round.You have to expect the unexpected.This really shouldnt have been that unexpected. Carter won the title at world indoors in March on her last throw. She also won at U.S. trials a month ago on her last throw.Just something they practice, her father said.She has more, too, Michael Carter proudly boasted. I said, `If you do what I ask you to, you can throw far. How far is up to you.Im numb right now.Michael Carter was a defensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers on three Super Bowl-winning teams. He said this doesnt compare with all those rings or even his own Olympic medal. Its way better.Growing up, Michelle Carter didnt know her dad threw the shot, only that he played football.In seventh grade, Carter expressed a desire to try the shot put. At first, dad was a little hesitant, thinking she was only trying to follow in his footsteps.She wasnt.He worked with her through a record-breaking high school career, and thought his coaching days were done once she went to the University of Texas. But he was asked to help out, so he drove from Dallas to Austin -- some 340 miles roundtrip -- every two weeks to offer some guidance.Carter has blossomed into one of the worlds top throwers. She set the American outdoor record of 20.24 meters (66 feet, 5 inches) in 2013 and broke the nations indoor mark with a throw of 20.21 (66-3 }) to capture her world title in March.When healthy, Adams has been almost unbeatable in the event. Shes a star in New Zealand, though she may only be the second-best known of her 17 brothers and sisters outside of her country. Her youngest brother, Steven, is a center for the Oklahoma City Thunder and famous for his distinctive mustache.Its been a tough road lately for Adams, whos had five surgeries over the last three seasons, including knee surgery this time a year ago that had her wondering whether she would be ready for the Olympics.She was, but couldnt bring home a third straight Olympic title.Its a very hard thing to do and come away with, she said. I want New Zealand to know I threw my heart out there.I gave it my best shot. This is the best I came up with today. Its a little bit disappointing. Under Armour Outlet Stores . Louis Blues teammates who would also be participating in the Olympics, Alex Pietrangelo felt right at home, no different in some ways to the travel experience of any old road trip – save for the length of the journey, that is. Under Armour Curry One Basketball Shoes . 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Rio de Janeiro was awarded the 2016 Summer Olympic Games seven years ago, Wagner Bastos was a hotshot car salesman for Rio Citroen-Peugeot. Some months he earned 17,000 Brazilian reais -- about $5,200 now and much more back then.But Brazils fortunes -- and Bastos -- have taken a sickening tumble. His last monthly paycheck in June was for 1,400 reais ($425) -- too little to cover his rent or school fees for two children. So Bastos, 54, quit and started driving a taxi.I needed cash urgently, he says.In the past, hosting the Olympics often allowed newly prosperous countries to strut on the world stage and showcase their glitziest cities. Think Tokyo in 1964 or Seoul in 1988.And in 2009, when Rio won the competition for this years Summer Games, the picture looked similar. Brazils emerging market economy was sizzling -- one of the worlds economic superstars, along with Russia, India, China and South Africa.But the 16 Games come at a dire moment for Brazil, which is enduring myriad calamities: A deep recession. A political crisis. Widespread street protests. Reports of filthy waterways. And a health emergency caused by the Zika virus.There have been political and economic problems in other (Olympic) host cities, says Andrew Zimbalist, an economist at Smith College who has studied Olympic Games. But the combination here has probably been as foreboding as any I have seen.Brazils economy shrank 3.8 percent last year and will likely contract an additional 3.3 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund. The economy was rocked by a plunge in prices for iron ore and other commodities it exports, partly a result of slowing demand as Chinas powerhouse economy decelerated.In the booming mid-2000s, Brazilians celebrated their collective arrival in the middle class by borrowing heavily to buy cars, refrigerators and iPhones. Now, like Americans after the devastating 2008 financial crisis, they face diminished livelihoods.A political crisis has compounded the economic troubles. President Dilma Rousseff was suspended in May for allegedly violating budget laws. She is awaiting a trial this month in Brazils Senate that will determine whether shell be permanently ousted.Business investment has been paralyzed by an investigation into corruption at the state-owned energy giant Petrobras. Once worth more in the stock market than either Microsoft or Wal-Mart, Petrobras has been reduced to selling assets -- from oil fields to corporate subsidiaries -- to raise cash to offset lower oil prices.The Olympics might be making things even worse. To prepare for the Games, the state of Rio spent heavily. When it ran into financial trouble, the federal government stepped in to help share the costs, thereby deepening the countrys budget woes.The Brazilian real has plunged 47 percent against the U.S. dollar since Rio was awarded the 16 Games in October 2009. The weak real makes imports costlier and helps escalate inflation, which was running at an annual 8.8 percent in June.High inflation means Brazils central bank cant slash interest rates to juice the economy for fear of sending inflation even higher. As a result, the central bank has kept its key rate at a punitive 14.25 percent.Nationally, since the end of 2014, more than 5 million people have lost jobs. Unemplloyment has nearly doubled to 11.dddddddddddd.3 percent.The anemic job market has depressed real estate. Gone are the bidding wars for choice apartments in Rios seaside neighborhoods. Office rents plunged 6.1 percent in Rio from the fourth quarter of 2015 to the first quarter of 2016, making it the worlds third-worst office market in that period, according to the real estate firm JLL.Leo Ickowicz, who is Brazilian but has worked for two decades in South Florida real estate, has experienced the transformation. At the height of Brazils boom in 2010, when the economy grew a blazing 7.5 percent, many Brazilian clients sought to capitalize on the currencys strength to buy Miami real estate as an investment or vacation property.Now, his firm is busier than ever. Inquiries have quintupled. But his clients have a different goal this time: They want to leave Brazil for good. His company has had to add relocation services to meet the demand -- everything from help in applying for visas and selecting schools to offering psychological aid to families victimized by Brazils violent-crime epidemic.Despite the litany of bad news, the Brazilian stock market has surged 30 percent this year. Investors have detected signs of hope. Commodity prices have stabilized, and investors have expressed confidence in the economic policy team assembled by interim President Michel Temer, which says it will get government spending under control.The IMF has also slightly upgraded its outlook for Brazil, predicting that the economy will shrink 3.3 percent this year, compared with its earlier forecast of a 3.8 percent contraction, and will return to growth in 2017.Investors appeared heartened when the economy shrank just 0.3 in the first three months of 2016 from the fourth quarter of 2015. It was the best quarterly performance since the end of 2014.But the economy was still 5.4 percent smaller than it had been a year earlier. And May retail sales were down 9 percent from a year earlier.I dont see where growth is going to come from, says Monica de Bolle, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. People are still being fired. We do not know when the labor market is going to stabilize... I do not see anything coming from consumption.De Bolle says that while shes impressed with Temers economic team, she wonders whether it can get its plans for spending cuts through a dysfunctional National Congress.The overall situation is still extremely murky and very, very uncertain, she says.Bastos, the former car salesman, is trying to adjust.His wifes job at a construction company looks wobbly now that the massive buildout for the Olympics is drawing to an end. He has stopped shopping at the supermarket in his middle class neighborhood and now drives across the city only once a month to pick up necessities at a wholesale market.Family vacations? A distant memory. He thinks hell have to get used to a more modest lifestyle.This isnt something that we can fix in one or two years, Bastos says. Itll take Brazil at least 10 or 15 years to get back to where we were.---Wiseman reported from Washington.---Follow Paul Wiseman on Twitter at https://twitter.com/PaulWisemanAP Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '