The Winter Olympics found their end on the Sunday 22th of this month, and yet, we can’t quite forget the athletes who warmed our hearts during the last fortnights of events in Milano-Cortina. Team Brazil has outdone itself for the first time in history: 14 athletes have competed for the country, a raise of 40% compared to the last edition of the Games in Beijing 2022.
BREAKING THE ICE
During the games, the Brazilian committee was present in five different sports: alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboard, skeleton and bobsleigh. The best result on the cross-country skiing was reached with Manex Silva, who was the first Brazilian in history to reach the top 50.
While the female athlete Eduarda Ribeira was able to reach the 72th position, the best classification in South American history in the Olympics.
The bobsleigh quartet, with Edson Bindilatti, conquered 19th place in the male competition, the best classification for the country yet, surpassing the 20th place in the 2022 Beijing Games.
Nicole Silveira was in her second Olympics, competing in the skeleton: she was able to get to the finals, and ended up in 11th place, a higher result compared to her prior one, and the third best result of Brazil in the Winter Games.
But in the alpine skiing is where Brazil truly shined: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen won first place in the giant slalom of alpine skiing, and this was the first time in 100 years that the country, and any South American country, ever reached the podium in a Winter Olympics.
THE NEXT STOP: THE FRENCH ALPS
In an interview, Lucas talked about how he sees the record and the medal as a platform to reach younger generations, and how he hopes that he can “inspire some kids out there that, despise what they wear, despite how they look, despite where they come from, they can follow their dreams and be who they really are.”
With Pinheiro Braathen’s medal, Team Brazil is the 48th nation to go to a podium in a winter edition, in comparison to countries like Iceland, Greece, Georgia, Ireland, Serbia, Turkey and Lithuania, which never did so.
The Brazilian Olympic Committee has also spoken on their views of this Games, and how they’re “extremely glad with the results obtained by the athletes in Milano-Cortina”, and that “all of them have represented Brazil very well.”
They also believe that the 2026 Games will be a lever to newer and better results in the French Alps in 2030. Alongside with that now, Brazil has participated in 24 summer editions and 20 winter ones, and has a total of 171 medals: 41 golds, 49 silvers and 81 bronzes.
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The article above was edited by Camilly Vieira.
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