>> live from your olympic station. 7 news takes you into the olympic zone. brought to you in part by dunkin donuts. >> reporter: ashton eaton earned the distinction of being the world's greatest athlete by 2012 london games. brazilians love soccer and volleyball and combined 2 sports to invent foot bally. and we'll take a step back in time to a magical place in rio where presidents, poets and even the queen of england have dined. i'm joe amorosino. it wasn't the olympic debut that

rio. losing that match in the round of 32 last wednesday gave him something to think about. dersh wits is heading home with his head held high. >> reporter: for many people attending harvard is a dream for 25 year old eli he put that dream on hold in order to pursue the olympic podium. it's been called physical chess. 2 people, 2 swords, one winner. >> it takes physical and mental dominance in order to win or to be the best or to be a champion. >> reporter: and eli has worked hard to master boat. >> i'm excited about seeing where my hard work can get me. >> reporter: the sherborn native

>> as a kid you see people with metal swords in their hands and they don't get in trouble. i didn't see why any kid wouldn't want to do it. >> reporter: after finishing his freshmen year at harvard university he made the decision to take a year off to focus on his olympic dream. >> it's a tough year of training with ups and downs. >> reporter: as for what s list. >> the only thing i will not share with everyone is the music before competitions. that's my one secret. >> reporter: i was able to get one song out of him. >> i can tell you one song that has made it through every play list i've ever had that's international love by pitbull. >> reporter: it's back to real life for him.

year at harvard. nancy chen 7 news. >> anchor: with the reintroduction of golf to the olympic program since 1904. and 19 year old fen on lidiaco. kelly till man has her story. >> slice. it's smaller than me. >> reporter: even in a sport accustomed to on to the scene there's something distinct about lidia coe's story. less of a mission than what was meant to be. coe was born in south korea and introduced to the game while she was 4 living australia. >> she's a golf a holic. she gave me one of her clubs and i had a swing at it and hit the

>> reporter: a year later lidia and her family moved to new zealand. and she began hitting the ball more frequently with the clubs her aunt had given her. >> we were there and lidia and her father were in the bar next door. how old would she have been. >> she couldn't have been more than 7. like a rubber band going around. at the end of each swing she'd look up and do see who was watching. >> reporter: soon coe threw herself into the game completely. >> where she was 9 or 10. initially it was those goals like becoming a tournament winner or getting a single handicap. and then playing the lp a tour. and then becoming world number 1. it was all those things. >> that young to have won this

pieces that come together to create a player like her. >> when it was announced i said hey, i want to get myself to rio no matter what. >> lidia's was totally embraced the opportunity. she said winning a gold medal would be better than winning a major. >> michael phelps in the final race of his invincible. >> to say you're an olympian is a whole different feeling. >> something about the way she plays you sense you're seeing somebody special. it's neat for women's golf it's neat for golf. >> reporter: coe shot under her round today. coming up on the 7 news olympic zone. it's not soccer. it's not volleyball.

forward. nancy chen takes a leap of faith

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>> reporter: checking the medal count. team usa continues to blow away the field in rio. 28 gold, 30 silver and 28 medal count with 86 total. china in second with 52. great britain rounds out the top 3 with 50 medals. what do you get when you mix the 2 most popular sports in brazil and sand. you get foot volley. jill martin couldn't resist

sun soaked beaches on the city's legendary surf side play ground. but the beaches of rio aren't just about sun bathing. they're about sports. so what happens when soccer and volleyball merge together? you get foot volley. >> you can use your thighs. you can use your knee. >> reporter: anything but your hand. >> anything but your hand. >> reporte a native brazilian and captain of his foot volley team in the u.s. it's not an olympic sport right now. sergio hope its will be. >> every time you play you get better. >> reporter: the game was invented here on rio's sandy beaches in 1965 because fuji ball or soccer as we call it was banned. they devised this alternative.

cordination for the ball. don't get down on yourself in the beginning. it is hard. >> reporter: you have to be an athlete smart and not a cluts. >> exactly. >> reporter: so i wanted to give it a go. i recruited former nfl linebacker da hanny jones. he knows how to tackle. but can he foot volley? even though you're a after getting my gear down and da honey off. good luck. after talking a big game i had little success. >> it's all right. >> reporter: i tried. but then i put my best foot forward and got my head in the

woo. good game, guys. i think i pulled something. >> you did? >> reporter: 1, 2, 3, rio. >> reporter: you may not be familiar with the sport. foot volley does have a bit of a following in the united states. the pro foot volley tour was in florida in 2008. up ne zone check in with decathlete ashton eaton who is hoping to out do his gold medal winning performance in the london games. a place steeped in old world history and traditions

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2012 decathlon gold medalist ashton eaton is far from satisfied. more on eaton's quest for back to back gold medals in rio. >> gold medalist and olympic champion ashton eaton. >> reporter: that feeling of being on top of the podium isn't the only thing that motivates eaton. >> i'm driven of my curiosity of how good can i be. i still feel i could do better than i have. it's the aim to reach that point where you know what i don't think i can run faster than that. >> reporter: maybe eaton will break the barrier in rio. eaton hopes to inspire those watching. >> i want them to feel like they're witnessing the result of what happens when somebody commits their life to something.

's display. the outcome of what humans can do when they commit to fully do something. >> reporter: the eaton family ranked in hardware in rio. his wife took home a bronze for canada in the women's hep tath lon. nancy chen 7 news. >> reporter: sarah true missed the podium in the women's triathalon by 10 seconds. that near miss made the hampshire medalist realize medaling in rio was a real possibility. here's more in tonight's fast 5. >> game of thrones. we always have eggs and apples and pickles.

was like 6 months old. yeah, which is crazy. maybe not celebrity in the big world but ashton eaton is a decathlete. and i would love to meet him because he seems really cool. i won't wash my hair for a couple days because i'm worried my swim cap will fall off if my hair is too clean. >> reporter: drew will way on the medal standop saturday. on the 7 olympic zone take you to an old world cafe that served presidents, introducing dunkin's new cold brew coffee, steeped slowly in cold water for small batches with an ultra-smooth, full-bodied flavor. discover the craft of cold brew today and keep on.

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astronauts and became an olympic sport in australia. nancy chen found out first hand trampolining involving more than just jumping up and down. >> reporter: many of us had a chance to jump on a trampoline in our lives. at the olympics the athletes take it to new levels and i got a chance to try it out. they flip tumble and twist while high in the air. >> you're jumping in the air and there isn't anything until graft kicks in. >> reporter: they are trampolinists. holland massachusetts native sean kennedy was on the national trampoline team for 2 years. leaping with the world's best. sometimes up to 25 feet in the air. but today. are you allowed to do cart wheels on this? coaching me on the basics. >> put your hands by your side so you have control. when you stand up put them over your head if you can.

attention. >> make sure you're in the middle in a good spot and when you're ready to sit down. >> reporter: supposed to be sitting down. we got off to a good start. here we go. >> there you go. perfect. >> reporter: it was time to take it to the next level with straddle jumps. >> bring your feet up to your hands touch your toes. >> reporter: what am i supposed to do with my legs? >> you want underneath them. >> reporter: okay. it didn't exactly work out. but maybe just maybe the full turn would be my salvation. >> i like to start with my hands by my upon sides and when i'm ready to turn i put my arms up. >> reporter: then it was my turn literally. like that. it's okay. we're okay.

coach's report card wasn't the best. >> everything could use work. >> reporter: do i have the qualities of being a great athlete. >> i don't know about being a great athlete but. >> reporter: that has me leaping for joy. what do you think? i feel like i'm flying. >> reporter: so apparently i don't have a chance as a future trampolinist. thanks to sean for teaching me. in rio nancy chen 7 news. >> reporter: more difficult than it looks. one of the joys of visiting a new city is stumbling on a rare place that speaks to a city's character and culture a place that takes visitors back to another time in rio history. >> reporter: under the glow of warm light columbo comes to

specialty suites. they stay because it's magical here. people have gathered in this french and portuguese cafe in downtown rio. in the early days men dressed in suits and ladies wore hats. no one knows the stories these walls can tell like this man. orlando has worked here for 64 years. and invited me to share some holy cow. that's good. that might be the winner. as you might guess the stories he shared were just as sweet. i've been here since i was a kid he says. 14 years old. i adore this place. we are all family here. i started by sweeping the floors. then i cleaned the bathrooms,

orlando has served poets and presidents and even the queen of england. but it was the woman who took the seat at orlando's table in 1962 that proves there's magic here. i met my wife at columbo he says. she ordered the shrimp epianada. we didn't have it. but we did get married. orlando and his wife celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary. we took the tiny elevator upstairs to glimpse the kitchen where the culinary magic happens chocolate, pateries and art. with the olympic spirit in the air in rio we spotted this photograph of orlando carrying the olympic torch. a proud moment for the 78 year

>> reporter: orlando admitted the olympian he wanted to meet most was sirina williams. he remains a big fan of the champion. coming up on the 7 news olympic zone we'll have a preview of

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>> reporter: welcome back to the 7 news olympic zone. here's bob costas with a look at what's next on primetime on 7 nbc. >> reporter: from rio de janeiro bob costas with the olympics. from the track to the beach and points in between. the world's fastest man u sane bolt returns for the semifiables. one step closer to another historic 3 pete jamaican contingent. in the womens 100 meter hurdles an american team will try to power the field. it's all coming up in prime time. >> that's all our time for this half hour. thanks for joining us. for all the latest olympic news you can always log on whdh.com.

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they're going to play the star spangled banner again. ? ? as an olympic games proceeds, it only becomes all the more apparent how much every instant matters. how thin the difference can be between triumph and disappointment. when he's on the track, hundredths of a second may as well be an eternity and no one