Rio de Janeiro: Brazil thieves steal, then return, footballer's medal Thieves in Brazil stole a gold medal won by a member of the soccer mad country's woman's football team — then gave it back. The criminals' own goal began Friday when two armed men assaulted soccer star Tamires Britto outside a relative's home in Sao Paolo, stealing her handbag from her car, then carjacking a neighbour's vehicle.

Tamires, 27, won the medal as part of the victorious women's squad at the recent Toronto Pan American Games. After the robbery, she commented wistfully on the sense of security she enjoyed in Canada compared to crime-ravaged Brazil, which will host next year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.