‎Brazil News

Athletes with Podium Scholarship Win Gold and Bronze Medal at the Games

 

A dawn of emotions brought the country two new medals. One bronze in swimming and the first gold in surfing. As a result, the country has achieved five medals so far in the Olympic Games.

 

Brazil's first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games was won by surfer Ítalo Ferreira, this Tuesday (27). The athlete receives the Bolsa Pódio, the main category of the Bolsa Atleta, an individual sponsorship program of the Federal Government. Italo Ferreira goes down in history as the first Olympic surfing champion, as the sport debuted in this edition of the Olympic Games.

 

“Competition is always a challenge, we will go in and do our best, but along the way there are several barriers, we have to overcome and believe until the end”, said surfer Ítalo Ferreira about the achievement.

 

The champion said he hopes the gold medal will inspire other young Brazilians. “I hope it will serve as an inspiration for everyone who has dreams, who come from below, and who believe until the end, which I did, and take advantage of all the opportunities in life,” he said. Italo is 27 years old and is the current world champion. He came from Baía de Formosa, in Rio Grande do Norte.

 

With the inclusion of surfing in the Games program, the sport became part of Bolsa Atleta. In this cycle, the direct investment in the modality was R$ 1.4 million, enough to grant 56 scholarships to surfers.

Bolsa Pódio provides transfers from R$ 5,000 to R$ 15,000 to athletes who rank among the top 20 in the world and demonstrate consistent international results.

 

swimming bronze

In swimming, military athlete Fernando Scheffer, Army Third Sergeant, also secured a medal for Brazil and brought swimming back to the Olympic podium. The 23-year-old gaucho took the bronze in the 200 meters freestyle.

 

The swimmer is yet another medalist who has the Bolsa Pódio and since 2018 has been part of the High Performance Athletes Program (PAAR), of the Ministry of Defense. His bronze medal is the first that Brazil has won in swimming since the London Games, in 2012. And the first in the competition since silver with Gustavo Borges, in Atlanta, in 1996.

 

Brazil's debut in swimming at the Olympic Games took place in 1920, in Antwerp. But it was only in the edition in Helsinki, Finland, in 1952, that Tetsuo Okamoto inaugurated the history of medals won by Brazilians, with a bronze in the 1,500m freestyle. In total, the modality has already yielded 13 podiums to the country, with one gold medal, four silver and eight bronze.

 

In the cycle between the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021 Games, swimming received an investment of R$ 23.7 million from Bolsa Atleta, used to grant 1,189 scholarships. Of the 26 swimmers in Tokyo, 25 are currently linked to the Federal Government's individual sponsorship program.

 

Armed Forces in support of sport

PAAR was created in 2008 with the aim of strengthening the Brazilian military team in high-level sporting events. Currently, it is made up of 551 military athletes in 30 disciplines. Of this total, 92 boarded for Tokyo. With this number, the Brazilian team that competes for medals has more than 30% military athletes. There are 44 from the Navy, 26 from the Army and 22 from the Air Force.

 

Military athletes enjoy the benefits of a military career such as pay, medical assistance, nutritional monitoring and physical therapists. In addition to sports structures suitable for training in military organizations.

 

Investments

The Federal Government is the largest sponsor of Olympic and Paralympic sport in the country, with an annual investment of over R$750 million. This value houses the tripod that today represents the largest source of investment in Brazilian sports, formed by the Lottery Law, Bolsa Atleta and the Sports Incentive Law.

 

For 2021, Bolsa Atleta has a budget of R$ 143.4 million, which allowed a record number of athletes: 7,197 Brazilians. Added to them are another R$36.72 million aimed at 274 athletes supported by the latest Bolsa Pódio public notice, aimed at those who rank among the 20 best in the world in their sport.

 

medals

The other three medals for Brazilian athletes are in skateboarding and judo.

 

Kelvin Hoefler - the skateboarder won Brazil's first medal in Tokyo, taking silver in the street category. The São Paulo native from Itanhaém receives the Bolsa Atleta in the Podium category, aimed at those who rank among the top 20 in the world in their sport.

 

The skateboard was integrated into Bolsa Atleta after the sport was included in the Olympics and received R$ 3.2 million for the cycle. With the funds, 65 scholarships for athletes were granted