Usain Bolt dances the samba with Rio's youth

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt dances the samba with underprivileged children in Copacabana a day before he races in a 100-meter "Mano a Mano" event. Gavino Garay reports.

Published

5 months ago

Categories

World, Sports

Topics

South America, World, Sports

People

Usain Bolt

Places

Brazil, Copacabana Beach

Transcript

It's time to Samba in Rio -- with world record sprinter Usain Bolt, no less. The six-time Jamaican Olympic champion spends the day dancing with children along Rio's Copacabana Beach. The kids come from an underprivileged Favela neighborhood. This eight-year-old whose part of the Miratus project says his moves are better than Bolt's. RAFAEL ROSA DE MELO, SAYING: "It was the first time Bolt learned to dance samba, so can you believe it, I dance better. Yup, I dance better than him." While in Brazil, Bolt will race in a 100-meter "Mano a Mano" event two years before the Rio 2016 Olympics. But that's not the only race he took part in. Towering over the group of youngsters, he offers them a lesson in sportsmanship. A group from a local NGO known as the Maritus Project, says this type of interaction has a big impact on the kids. (SOUNDBITE) (Portuguese) INSTRUCTOR FROM THE MIRATUS PROJECT, ALEXANDRO CARLOS DOS SANTOS SILVA, SAYING: "We talk a lot about the best athletes in the world and we talk about Bolt too. And for them [the children] to have this contact, to be able to touch Bolt, samba with him, ask to samba with him; it's fantastic. This just strengthens what we teach them. This will make them work harder to do all that." The NGO helps kids stay in school and excel in sports.