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SAO PAULO -- Rugby player Isadora Cerullo never lived in Brazil. Fencer Ghislain Perrier speaks very little Portuguese. Golfer Miriam Nagl played abroad most of her life.Theyll still be parading under the host nations flag at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Games come Aug. 5.Cerullo, Perrier and Nagl are among several athletes who will be fulfilling their Olympic dream because of Brazils shortage of athletes in sports it automatically qualified for as host. Without an Olympic tradition to fall back on, the country was left to rapidly recruit an international band of athletes for events such as field hockey, golf, rowing, wrestling and rugby.Their ties, in many cases, are weak. Some have lived away for most of their lives but were born in Brazil. Some were born abroad but have Brazilian parents or grandparents. Some had almost no links to the country but were hired by local federations and became naturalized.I would have very slim chances of participating in the Olympics if I hadnt made the switch to play for Brazil, said Nagl, a Brazilian-born golfer who left the country when she was 8 years old and had always played for Germany. When this idea came up and I realized that I had a chance to make it to Rio, I started dreaming about being at the Maracana Stadium during the opening ceremony.The 35-year-old Nagl, who plays in the Ladies European Tour and is No. 445 in the womens world rankings, said she hadnt given much thought about representing her native country until being contacted by golf officials after Rio was awarded the games.By making the switch, I gave myself a chance to be in the Olympics, but I also thought about how this could be good for Brazil, about how I could become a good ambassador and help the game develop, she said.Brazil had only two foreign athletes in its delegation at the 2012 London Games -- American basketball player Larry Taylor and Chinese table-tennis player Gui Lin. Now about 20 international athletes will be taking advantage of the many extra spots available for the home nation in Rio.Rugby is one of the sports in which Brazil lacks tradition but will compete anyway. Hoping to put on a good show in front of the home fans, the local federation launched a worldwide campaign -- entitled Brazilian Rugby Players Wanted -- to attract athletes playing abroad.A few who responded to the campaign will be in Rio, including American-born Cerullo, who has Brazilian parents but had never visited the country until after contacting Brazilian rugby officials. Two Brazilian brothers who lived in France also made it to the team, as well a Brazilian-born athlete who lived and played in Argentina. England-born Juliano Fiori and France-born Laurent Bourda-Couhet, who has a Brazilian mother, will also play.Brazils fencing team earned eight additional spots as hosts and included three international players for the games. Among them are Ghislain Perrier, who was born in Brazil but left the country as a baby after being adopted by a French family, and Italian-born Nathalie Moellhausen, who competed for Italy at the 2012 London Games but chose to be with the hosts in Rio to fulfill the wish of her Brazilian grandmother.I dont have many connections to Brazil, admitted Perrier, who has lived and trained in France most of his life. I spent vacation in Brazil a few times, but I know only a few people there.The fencing team will also have Marta Baeza, who was born in Brazil but had been competing for Spain, and reserve team member Katherine Miller, who was born in the United States.Another foreigner, Hungarys Emese Takacs, tried to make the team but she was dropped after her citizenship was contested in court by a Brazilian athlete who had been left out of the squad. Takacs was accused of faking her marriage in Brazil to become naturalized.She had the legal documents but we always suspected it was a fraud, the Brazilian who had lost her spot, Amanda Simeao, told local media. She was married to a Brazilian but had a boyfriend in Hungary.Takacs denied wrongdoing but lost her battles in court.Another controversial case was water polo goalkeeper Slobodan Soro, a Serbian whose naturalization process was approved just before the games. He and center Josip Vrlic of Croatia were hired to play for Brazil despite not having direct connections to the country. They were among five foreign-born players picked to play for the Brazilian team by Croat coach Ratko Rudic, the gold medalist with Croatia at the London Games.The others were Spains Adria Delgado, who has a Brazilian father; Italian-born Paulo Salemi, son of a Brazilian mother; and Cuban Ives Gonzalez, who is married to a Brazilian. The team also has Brazilian-born Felipe Perrone, who used to play for the Spanish national team before joining the hosts for the Rio Games.They have been playing for Brazilian clubs for some time, this is not something that just happened, said Ricardo Cabral, who is in charge of Brazils water polo team. We created an Olympic project to help the sport develop and make Brazil more competitive. Because of the Olympics in Rio, there is more investment available and we want to take advantage of that to give the sport more visibility.---Tales Azzoni on Twitter: http://twitter.com/tazzoni . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/tales-azzoni Fjallraven Kanken Backpack Cheap . Already owning gold from competition in Vancouver in 2010, Loch posted a combined four-run time of 3:27.526. That included a track-record third run of 51. Fjallraven Kanken Cheap . The International Olympic Committee released the official list of bid cities on Friday after the deadline for applications had passed. The candidates -- all previously announced in their own countries -- are: Almaty, Kazakhstan; Beijing; Krakow, Poland; Lviv, Ukraine; Oslo, Norway; and Stockholm. http://www.cheapfjallraven.net/ . "I wrote 36 on my sheet at the beginning of the game," the Cincinnati coach said, referring the yard line the ball would need to be snapped from. Cheap Fjallraven Backpack . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. Fjallraven Kanken Backpack Sale . -- Catcher Brett Hayes has agreed to a $630,000, one-year contract with the Kansas City Royals, avoiding salary arbitration. RIO DE JANEIRO -- The words, scrawled in marker on the tops of his sneakers, remind Kevin Durant why he started playing basketball in the first place.Even in the Olympics, its just a game.On his left sneaker, Durant scribbled, Have Fun. On the right one, Smile.I forgot to write it last night, Durant said grinning on Thursday.Thats about the only thing he didnt do. Durant scored 27 points with seven rebounds and six assists in a quarterfinal blowout of Argentina. He also executed a two-crossover, Euro-step, one-legged fadeaway in the lane, a sequence of intricate basketball moves that might make an Olympic gymnast envious.With the U.S. team needing a lift, something to shake it from this South American slumber and re-direct the angst aimed at the 2016 collection of NBA All-Stars after three lackluster victories, Durant delivered.This is the stage he thrives on, said U.S. point guard Kyrie Irving. You can count on KD being KD in the biggest moments, which we have all come to respect and kind of rely on.Durants performance against Argentina pushed the U.S. a step closer to its third straight gold medal and set up a semifinal showdown on Friday with Spain, the two-time defending silver medalist hoping a third time is championship charmed against the Americans.After deferring to his teammates and taking just 10 shots in the previous two games, Durant was in attack mode from the outset against the Argentines, who jumped out to a 19-9 lead before the U.S. erupted on a 27-2 run and into Rios semis with a 105-78 win.This was the Durant everyone had been waiting for, the one who shot the U.S. to a 2010 world championship in Turkey, scored 30 in the gold-medal game in 2012 and has reached double digits in all 14 Olympic games hes played.Durant had not been himself earlier in the tournament, and maybe its not a coincidence that the U.S. team had not played up to expectations -- as unrealistic as that sometimes seem -- while squirming through pool play undefeated.But when the stakes got higher, Durant again raised his game and perhaps motivated his teammates. Hes averaging 18.5 points and shooting 66 percent (18 of 27) on 3-pointers.I dont think I inspired them just because I scored points, he said following practice at the Flamengo Club, a short drive from scenic Leblon Beach. I just think my energy, my aggressiveness and jusst being excited to play, I think that rubbed off on everybody and I just try to display that every time I play.ddddddddddddI got away from that the last couple of games, but I just always try to stay conscious of just smiling out there, having fun. My smile is contagious and my energy and enthusiasm for the game is contagious and I try to spread that to my teammates.That smile disappeared for a short time earlier this summer.Durants decision to leave Oklahoma City as a free agent and sign with Golden State, forming a super team with Stephen Curry and U.S teammates Draymond Green and Klay Thompson, brought criticism and questions about him for the first time in his career.Durant was branded a quitter, unable to win a championship without help. He was called soft, overrated, insecure and worse. The noise was deafening, and Durant found the only way to drown it was to ignore it.It took me some time to get used to everything on the outside of a game, whether it was media or fans and their points of view, he said. What I had to learn over the last few years was just to relax, dont care if I missed a shot or if I turned the ball over or if I dont box out and someone scores on me. I cant worry about that stuff and that just keeps me calm in those moments.When the U.S. team convened for training camp in Las Vegas, center DeAndre Jordan offered Durant some advice.I told him, `You gotta worry about you, said Jordan, who had his own free agency fiasco in 2015. You cant worry about what other people say. They dont have to play in that city or play for that team. Its ultimately whats best for Kevin. And once I told him that, he kind of relaxed a little bit. Im happy for him.Durant seems at ease, finally at peace with his decision. Hes enjoyed his time with Thompson and Green, and believes their Olympic chemistry will carry over once theyre with Curry.For now, though, Durant is focused solely on this team, which is taking its cues from a player who once he steps onto the floor morphs from laid-back to into an offensive juggernaut.When hes attacking, it sends a lightning bolt through the team, Jordan said.The Americans were looking for direction, and Durant is showing them the way.Smiling every step. ' ' '