Around 20 thousand athletes will participate this Friday (31), in São Paulo, in the 96th São Silvestre International Race. The first to start at number 2,000 on Avenida Paulista will be wheelchair users, at 7:25 am (Brasilia time). At 7:40 am, the Elite Women’s race starts. The elite male and general squads will start facing the 15 km of the most traditional hiking race in the country at 8:05 am.
The race has been played since 1925 and started to receive athletes from abroad in 1945. Last year, the race was suspended for the first time, due to the new coronavirus pandemic (covid-19). To be held in 2021, the organization established a sanitary protocol in which competitors must be vaccinated and wear masks, obligatorily, at the start and finish times and in the concentration area. It is recommended that protection is also maintained during the journey.
Fast
Brazil lives a long fast in the elite squads. The last victory of an athlete in the country was in 2010, when Marilson dos Santos won the third championship. Since then, Kenyans Edwin Rotich (twice), Stanley Biwott and Kibiwot Kandie and Ethiopians Dawit Admasu (twice, the second being Bahrain), Tariku Bekele, Leul Aleme and Belahy Bezabh have won the men’s competition .
Bezabh, in fact, is back in this year’s edition and emerges as one of the favorites. Another highlight is the Kenyan Elisha Rotich, who, this year, not only won the Paris Marathon, one of the most traditional in the world, but also broke the record of the French race.
Among women, the drought of victories is even greater. The last to arrive there was Lucélia Peres, in 2006. Ethiopian Yimer Wude Ayalew (three times champion) and Kenyan Alice Timbilili (twice), Pasalia Chepkorir, Priscah Jeptoo, Maurine Kipchumba, Nancy Kipron, Jemima Sumgong, Flormena Cheyech, Brigid Kosgech and Sandrafelis Chebet have been the winners since 2007. Winner in 2018, Chebet will attempt the double this Friday.
bets
The main bet to end male African supremacy on the streets of São Paulo is Daniel Ferreira do Nascimento. The 23-year-old was the best placed Brazilian in the last edition, in 2019, in seventh position. The evolution since then is significant, so much so that Danielzinho – as he is known – qualified for the Olympics in Tokyo (Japan) and reached, in December, in the Spanish city of Valencia, the second best time for an athlete in the country in the marathon.
“I’m in great shape, great moment, working hard on the psychological part. I want to do my test, without looking at my opponents. In the last São Silvestre, I had returned to the sport six months ago. I didn’t expect to be the best Brazilian. opportunity to evolve and time to adjust some things,” said Daniel, at a press conference this Thursday (30).
In the female category, Andreia Hessel (winner of the São Paulo International Marathon in 2018), Tatiele de Carvalho (five-time champion of the Troféu Brasil de Athletics in the 10 thousand meters) and Grazielle Zarri (best Brazilian in the last São Silvestre, in 11th place) are the main players. candidates to rein in African rule. In recent weeks, Grazielle has set life’s best marks in ten-kilometer and half-marathon (21 km) races.
“I’m in a process of evolution, but I’m well prepared. In the second half, I had an important sequence, which gave me confidence to get well in the race. I’ll bet on balance, dosing the pace well and saving my leg for the end, especially for the rise of [Avenida] Brigadeiro [Luís Antônio]”, said the long-distance runner, who also participated in the press conference.
Daniel and Grazielle, by the way, are lovers. After São Silvestre, they plan to train together from 2022 in Kenya, where the Brazilian spent a good part of this year preparing.
“Even at a distance, we manage to remain united. It’s a foundation. One holds the other, gives strength, helps to better understand our world. From the moment Daniel entered my life, the two evolved a lot as people, beings The tendency is for us to improve even more, because the two will work together,” said Grazielle.
“In the last São Silvestre, we were still just friends, but we’ve lived together since 2013. Cândido Mota [cidade-natal de Grazielle] is next to Paraguaçu Paulista [onde nasceu Daniel], so we come together from the base. I have to take her [para o Quênia], as it is the country of champions. And also to kill the longing”, completed Daniel.
Recycling
For the second consecutive edition, São Silvestre will have an action for recycling plastic cups. The project of the Plastic Movement Transforma, in partnership with the organization of the competition, foresees the collection and sending of the glasses distributed to the runners to a transformer, to turn into ten thousand organizing boxes, which will be donated to public entities in São Paulo. In 2019, the initiative resulted in 900 trash cans, delivered to schools in the interior of São Paulo.
