AUGUST 22, 2008

Formula 1's Olympic gold

Brazil's Maurren Higa Maggi won the gold medal in the women's long jump at the Olympic Games in Beijing. She became the first ever Brazilian woman athlete to win an Olympic gold. Maggi is nicknamed "The Phoenix" because of her ability to come back from adversity.

Brazil's Maurren Higa Maggi won the gold medal in the women's long jump at the Olympic Games in Beijing. She became the first ever Brazilian woman athlete to win an Olympic gold. Maggi is nicknamed The Phoenix because of her ability to come back from adversity. Her career has been a rollercoaster included poor performances in Sydney in 2000 and then a failed drugs test meant that she missed Athens in 2004 and decided to retire, married F1 driver Antonio Pizzonia and had a child (although the marriage later broke up). She returned to competition in 2006 and in July last year won gold in the Pan-American Games in Rio de Janeiro.