The gala night of Brazilian sport had Caio Bonfim and Maria Clara Pacheco as protagonists. They were elected, this Thursday (11), the best male and female athletes of the year, respectively, at the Brazil Olímpico Awards. The 2025 edition of the event was held in Cidade das Artes, which is located in Barra da Tijuca, west of Rio de Janeiro.
Winner of the award in 2024, Caio was once again included in the ceremony thanks to his gold medal at the World Athletics Championships, held in Tokyo (Japan) in the 20 kilometer (km) race walking event. He also took silver in the 35 km. The marcher’s mother, Gianetti Bonfim was also a winner at the event, chosen as best coach of the year.
Maria Clara, in turn, was world taekwondo champion in Wuxi (China) in the up to 57 kilograms (kg) category, repeating Natália Falavigna’s feat after 20 years. She also finished the season as number one in her category in the rankings.
This year’s event also recognized, for the first time, two winners of the Fan Athlete award – one male, the other female. The online vote, carried out through the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) website, elected tennis player João Fonseca and volleyball winger Gabi Guimarães, respectively.
The 2025 edition saw the creation of new awards: Best Club, Highlights from the Youth Games (men’s, women’s and delegations) and the Junior Pan-American Games and Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima Medal. The latter, created to recognize Olympic spirit and values, was given to the team of rowers who, despite one of their oars being broken, won the bronze medal at the Junior Pan in the Quatro Sem race (four athletes in the boat competing without a coxswain). The quartet was formed by Andrei Alves, Diogo Gonçalves, Kayki Siqueira and Miguel Marques.
One of the most traditional awards at the ceremony, the Adhemar Ferreira da Silva Trophy, was given to sailor Robert Scheidt, owner of five Olympic medals, two of which are gold. The honor pays homage to Brazilian sports idols. The New Athlete trophy in 2025 went to Rebeca Lima, who was world boxing champion in the under 60 kilos category.
Winners of the Olympic Brazil Award in 2025
Athlete of the Year – Female: Maria Clara Pacheco, from taekwondo
Athlete of the Year – Male: Caio Bonfim, from athletics
Team of the Year: Rhythmic Gymnastics – Ensemble (Nicole Pircio, Paula Caminha, Duda Arakaki, Sofia Madeira and Mariana Gonçalves)
Best Coach: Gianetti Bonfim, from athletics
Best Trainer: Diego Guimarães Ribeiro, from taekwondo
Adhemar Ferreira da Silva Trophy: Robert Scheidt, of sailing
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima Medal: Rowers from Quatro Sem do Pan Júnior (Andrei Alves, Diogo Gonçalves, Kayki Siqueira and Miguel Marques)
Fan Athlete – Female: Gabi Guimarães, from volleyball
Fan Athlete – Male: João Fonseca, from tennis
Revelation Athlete: Rebeca Lima, from boxing
Junior Pan American Games Highlight: Stefanie Balduccini, from swimming
Highlight Youth Games – Women: Clarisse Rocha Valim, from judo
Highlight Youth Games – Men: Davi Souza de Lima, from athletics
Highlight Youth Games – Delegation: São Paulo (1st), Rio de Janeiro (2nd) and Paraná (3rd)
Best Club: Esporte Clube Pinheiros
Open Waters: Ana Marcela Cunha
Athletics: Caio Bonfim
Badminton: Juliana Viana
3×3 basketball: Gabriela Guimarães
Basketball: Yago Mateus
Baseball: Victor Coutinho
Boxing: Rebecca Lima
Canoeing Slalom: Ana Sátila
Canoeing Speed: Jacky Godmann and Gabriel Assunção
BMX Freestyle Cycling: Gustavo Bala Loka
BMX Racing Cycling: Paola Reis
Road Cycling: Tota Magalhães
Mountain Bike Cycling: Ulan Galinski
Cycling Track: João Vitor da Silva
Cricket: Laura Cardoso
Snow Sports: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (alpine skiing)
Ice Sports: Nicole Silveira (skeleton)
Climbing: Anja Köhler
Fencing: Isabela Carvalho
Flag Football: Karol Souza
Soccer: Martha
Artistic Gymnastics: Flávia Saraiva
Trampoline Gymnastics: Camilla Gomes
Rhythmic Gymnastics: Nicole Pircio, Paula Caminha, Duda Arakaki, Sofia Madeira and Mariana Gonçalves
Golf: Fred Biondi
Handball: Bruna de Paula
Equestrian – Dressage: João Victor Oliva
Equestrian – Complete Equitation Competition (CCE): Marcio Jorge
Equestrian – Jumping: Stephan Barcha
Field Hockey: Yuri Van Der Heijden
Judo: Daniel Cargnin
Lacrosse: Titus Chapman
Weight Lifting: Laura Amaro
Artistic Swimming: Gabriela Regly
Swimming: Guilherme Caribé
Modern Pentathlon: John Xavier
Water polo: João Fernandes
Rowing: Beatriz Tavares
Back rowing: David Faria de Souza
Rugby: Thalia Costa
Ornamental Heels: Anna Lúcia dos Santos and Luana Lira
Skateboard: Rayssa Leal
Softball: Mayra Sayumi Akamine
Squash: Diego Gobbi
Surfing: Yago Dora
Taekwondo: Maria Clara Pacheco
Tennis: João Fonseca
Table tennis: Hugo Calderano
Archery: Marcus D’Almeida
Sports Shooting: Felipe Wu
Triathlon: Miguel Hidalgo
Candle: Matthew Isaac
Beach Volleyball: Carol Solberg and Rebecca
Volleyball: Gabi Guimarães
Wrestling: Pedro Henrique Rodrigues
