The evaluation of the performance of Brazilian Olympic athletes in 2024 obviously involves their performance at the Olympic Games. In Paris, women showed their strength. One in particular joined a very select historical group in the country, becoming seen as the greatest Brazilian name of all time by some: Rebeca Andrade.
In the Brazilian campaign in the French capital, there were 20 medals, three gold, seven silver and ten bronze. All the golds were won by women: Bia Souza in judo, the duo Duda and Ana Patrícia in beach volleyball, in addition to Rebeca Andrade, winner of the floor test, in artistic gymnastics.
IT’S GOLD FOR BRASIIIIIIL!!! 🥇🇧🇷🥇
The reign of beach volleyball has returned to your home. 👑✅🏐 Ana Patrícia and Duda Lisboa made history on the sands of Paris and won the gold medal for the #TimeBrasil! 🔥
WHAT AN AMAZING MOMENT!
IT’S THE BRASA!!!!!! 💚💛💚💛… pic.twitter.com/hjH3s3zDFB— Team Brasil (@timebrasil) August 9, 2024
During the Olympics, the Brazilian gymnast was elevated to the position of arch-rival of the American Simone Biles, world star of the sport. Direct opponents, the two had great duels and Rebeca, 25 years old, left Paris with four podiums: in addition to gold on floor exercise, she also won two silvers (individual all-around and vault) and a bronze (team competition, together with Flávia Saraiva , Jade Barbosa, Júlia Soares and Lorrane Oliveira).
With her performance in Paris, Rebeca surpassed sailors Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt to become the greatest Olympic medalist in Brazilian history. There are six medals, including the four in Paris and the two in Tokyo. She also surpassed canoeist Isaquias Queiroz, becoming the biggest podium accumulator in the same edition of the Olympic Games in Brazil (Isaquias won three in Rio, in 2016).
Another female medalist in Paris ends 2024 on a high note. Skateboarder Rayssa Leal, 16 years old, bronze medalist at the Games, won her third world championship in street skateboarding in December, after winning the final stage held at Ibirapuera, in São Paulo.
Hungry for the title of my three-time champion! 🤪🏆🏆🏆
📸 Reproduction / @sls#TimeBrasil pic.twitter.com/b7xgELQ88w
— Team Brasil (@timebrasil) December 15, 2024
Also among the highlights in Paris, Caio Bonfim won silver in the race walk, an unprecedented podium for Brazil in this event. At the end of the year, he ended up being crowned the best athlete of the year among men at the Brazil Olímpico Awards. Among the women, as expected, Rebeca was the winner.
In team sports, the women’s volleyball team won bronze. José Roberto Guimarães (women) and Bernardinho (men) continue to lead the national teams. In club volleyball, Cruzeiro won the fifth World Cup.
The men’s basketball team achieved a heroic qualification to the Olympics, disqualifying the home team Latvia in the tournament that gave them a place in the event. Once again led by Croatian Aleksandar Petrovic, who resumed after Gustavo de Conti’s departure, the team stopped in the Olympic quarterfinals, defeated by the famous United States team, which later won gold.
PERSEVERANCE.#TimeBrasil #OlympicGames #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/OLtJJyjbte
— Team Brasil (@timebrasil) August 1, 2024
Among the names that did not reach the podium in Paris, some had seasons of ups and downs. In tennis, for example, Bia Haddad reached the top 10 in the world in October. She closed the year in 17th place, but in recovery, after reaching the quarterfinals of the US Open, the best result for a female tennis player from Brazil since 1968. In addition, Haddad won the WTA 500 title in Seoul, Korea from the South.
Hugo Calderano, fourth in table tennis in Paris, finished the season seventh in the world rankings, the seventh consecutive year in which he has finished among the top ten on the planet.
Paris was not the only city that hosted an Olympic Games in 2024. Gangwon (South Korea) hosted the Winter Youth Olympic Games and Brazil made history there. In January, Zion Bethônico, from Santa Catarina, aged 17 at the time, won the country’s first medal in a Winter Games of any kind. He won silver in the snowboard cross event.
The country may soon see the count rise. Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, son of a Brazilian mother and a Norwegian father, changed his role in alpine skiing and started defending Brazil. The athlete, multiple champion when he represented Norway, has already achieved some impressive results, such as second place in the giant slalom in the Colorado (United States) stage of the World Cup. The promise is that the country will be among the top places in the sport in the coming years. The next edition of the Winter Olympic Games will take place in 2026, in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Milan (Italy).
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