When the final penalty kick left the right foot of Brazil forward Neymar on Saturday night, swimmer Yusra Mardini clutched her older sister Sarahs hand. In the moment, Yusra was torn. Since she was a young girl growing up in the Syrian capital of Damascus, she has been a fan of Spanish football club FC Barcelona, which Neymar joined in 2013. She calls him her idol and says he, along with her other idols Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, made her believe she, too, could one day become an Olympian.But tonight, she said, I am cheering for Germany. Germany, now, is my home.One year ago on this day, Mardini, 18, and her sister became heroes to 18 people and symbols of hope to refugees around the world. Since being named to the 2016 Refugee Olympic Team, a first-of-its-kind team comprised of 10 refugees from four nations who competed at the Rio Summer Games under the Olympic flag, Mardinis story has garnered international attention. In Rio, she met swimmers Missy Franklin and Conor Dwyer and was overcome with emotion the first time she dove into the Olympic pool and realized she was swimming in the same water as Phelps.My life has changed completely, said Yusra, who competed in the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter butterfly. It is incredible.No. It is unbelievable, Sarah corrected. One year ago today, we were in the boat. She looks down at her white iPhone, then picks it up and lights up its display. Yusra, look what time it is: 8:16 p.m. One year ago at this time, we are still in the water.The Mardini sisters story is as improbable and inspiring as any to come out of these Games, yet one that likely would never have been told if not for Yusra being identified as a candidate for the Refugee Team. After the war in Syria destroyed their familys home and the swimming facility where they trained, their parents agreed to allow Yusra and Sarah to flee the war-torn nation with two of their fathers cousins and a friend.They flew to Istanbul, Turkey, took a bus to Izmir with a group of about 30 refugees and smugglers and waited for four days before boarding a dinghy with 18 other refugees, including a 6-year-old boy, bound for the Greek island of Lesvos.On their first attempt at the crossing, they were stopped by border agents and turned around. On their second trip, the engine on their dinghy broke and the boat began to take on water. It was dark, the waters choppy and only the Mardinis and two men on board the boat knew how to swim.In the beginning, Sarah told me, Dont help anyone. Just go. Swim with me. If we drown, we drown, Yusra said. But then she was the first one who got out of the boat to push.For three-and-a-half hours, the sisters swam, fighting the current and the weight of their clothing, pulling and pushing the boat to help it remain on course. The two men also jumped into the water to help and took turns pushing the boat, but they eventually gave up, too exhausted to continue.They couldnt handle as much because they are normal people, Yusra said. We can handle more because we are sports people. At first, no one wanted us to jump in the water because we are girls. When we get in the water, the guys from Somalia were like, My god, you are brave. I was like, Shut up now. Please shut up. Dont tell me Im courageous. When we arrive safely, then say whatever you want.Throughout the swim, the Mardinis said there were times they werent sure theyd made the right choice to leave Syria, when they didnt believe they would make it to Lesvos alive.We missed home, Sarah said. You think, I dont want this trip. You are in the middle of the sea. No one is hearing you and no one is helping you. So you keep going.Around 10 oclock that night, the group arrived on the shores of Lesvos, safe but staring down months of grueling travel on foot and by bus. The Mardinis eventually arrived in a refugee camp in Berlin, where an Egyptian interpreter connected them with a swim coach who agreed to train the girls who had saved a boatload of people. It had been months since that night in the Mediterranean Sea, and the sisters wanted nothing more than to return to the water and to once again train in the sport they loved.In the water that night, I thought it would be a shame if we die in the water and we are swimmers, Yusra said.No, Sarah corrected. That it would be a shame to let the people with us die and we are swimmers. We didnt care about ourselves.For both sisters, swimming has been their passion and competing in the Olympics a childhood dream. Now that Yusra is an Olympian, they say their work has only begun. On Monday, Sarah, who speaks multiple Arabic dialects and English, will return to Greece, where she is volunteering to greet refugees upon their arrival and provide them with food, water and guidance. She has also started her own human rights organization in Berlin, which she named RTR, for Refugee to Refugee.I hurt my shoulder that night in the water, so for months I could not train with my sister, Sarah said. I decided to do something with my mind. Now I am a human rights activist. I want to give something back to others like me and my sister, not just from Syria but from all over the world. We have our papers and our family in Berlin. We have everything, so I want to give back to the others. I will be the wall they will rest on.Yusra, too, wants to help refugees, and she wants to become an activist who fights for the right for girls to participate in sports. She says already, she has received many emails and Twitter messages from women and young girls from around the world who say theyve been inspired by her story, and she makes a point to respond to every message.In Syria, the girl who does sport, she is called a whore by people, Yusra said. This is how closed their minds are in how they think. We fought all the time to swim. But we were lucky. We came from a good family. My mom and dad, they support us. But now we are still fighting and doing our best to rise women up in any way we can.One year ago, it would have been impossible for Yusra and Sarah to imagine their lives today, to believe they would be watching the final football game of the Rio Olympics from white leather chairs at a party thrown by Visa, Yusras Olympic sponsor, at an opulent hotel overlooking Copacabana Beach.One year ago, it was difficult for the Mardini sisters to imagine a future at all. Fausse Yeezy Pas Cher . 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Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr says its absurd to cast Kevin Durant as a villain because he left the Oklahoma City Thunder as a free agent and joined the Warriors this summer.To think of Kevin Durant or Steph Curry or any of our guys as villains, its kind of absurd. Especially Kevin, Kerr said Sunday in an interview on ESPN Radios TMI with Michelle Beadle and Ramona Shelburne. This is one of the most likeable people in this league. Hes just an awesome human being. What he did in Oklahoma City was just amazing for that community.Kerr added: Circumstances kind of dictate, I guess, that some people are going to see him as a villain. But its only because he decided to go elsewhere to play. He wanted to change his scenery, he wanted a new challenge. More than anything he wanted to play with our guys. He loves Draymond [Green] and Steph and Klay [Thompson] and Andre [Iguodala]. Seeing those guys in New York, he loved seeing the chemistry that exists and he wanted to be a part of it.Durant said last month that he didnt leave the house hed rented in the Hamptons for 48 hours after he announced his decision because he knew how strongly fans would react to him leaving.For a few days after, I didnt leave my bed, because I was like, If I walk outside somebody might just hit me with their car, or say anything negative to me, Durant said last month at Team USA training camp in Las Vegas.I mean, Ive been somewhere for so long, and then to make a change like that, [which] nobody knew was coming, that nobody didnt think I would do, of course I didnt know how it would be received afterward. But at some point, I just said, Look, man, life goes on. Life moves on, and I cant hide forever, so I just had to face it.Durant was warmly received by his new home crowd at Oracle Arena last month when Team USA played an exhibition game against China, but he was booed at Staples Center before Team USAs exhibition game in Los Angeles a few days earlier. Fans in Oklahoma City notoriously burned Durants jersey after he decided to sign with the Warriors.Durant also has drawn criticism from former players like TNT commentators Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller.I was disappointed. I was disappointed like I was disappointed when LeBron [James] went to Miami, Barkley said on ESPN Radios Mike & Mike last month. Kevin is a terrific player. Hes a good kid. But just disappointed with the fact that he weakened another team and hes gonna kind of gravy-train on a terrific Warriors team.dddddddddddd Just disappointed from a competitive standpoint. Because just like it meant more to LeBron to win one in Cleveland, it would mean more to Kevin to win one in Oklahoma than it would be in Golden State.Barkley, of course, was part of a superteam himself during his NBA career when he was traded to the Houston Rockets in 1996 after he said hed retire if the Phoenix Suns didnt trade him to a contender.People are going to view him however they want, Kerr said Sunday. But we all know what kind of person he is and what kind of impact hes had around the league.Kerr was also asked about the recent series of mishaps All-Star forward Draymond Green has gone through this summer. Green had to pay $560 for a noise violation in a plea deal to settle a misdemeanor assault-and-battery charge in East Lansing, Michigan. Then last week he accidentally posted a lewd picture of himself on the social media app Snapchat.Kerr said both he and Warriors general manager Bob Myers have been in touch with Green throughout the summer.With Draymond hes obviously the one guy that sort of walks the line, tows the line, hes had some issues during the season, whether its being demonstrative on the floor or the locker room or whatever, or getting suspended, Kerr said Sunday. But the thing with Draymond, and I learned this from [Michigan State coach] Tom Izzo ... He said Draymond is going to make you pull your hair out sometimes, but hes such a great guy and a team guy and hes got such a huge heart that hes always going to come back around. He said, The big thing with Draymond is challenge him and be up front with him. Dont be afraid to yell at him. Thats the way weve kind of approached it.Draymond and I, weve gotten into it many times ... but theres never any lingering ill will. Bob and I try to keep the momentum going. Every once in a while theres a hiccup and we address it ... but he always gets back on track.As for the lewd photo on Snapchat, Kerr made light of Greens statement at the time by joking, All I know is Im one click away from making a horrible mistake, I know that. Thats what I learned from Draymonds mistake. Were all one click away. ' ' '