Brazilian volleyball team and judo delegation arrive in Paris

Confident of reaching the Olympic podium, the Brazilian women’s volleyball team arrived in Paris on Monday (19), one week before the opening ceremony of the Games, along with part of the national judo delegation. The athletes went straight to the Olympic Village, where the artistic gymnastics team, which arrived the day before, is already installed – it was the first Brazilian delegation to inaugurate the large space reserved for athletes, in Saint Ouen, north of Paris. Brazilian volleyball team and judo delegation arrive in Paris

LOOK AT THEM! 😁💚💛

Our women’s volleyball team has just arrived at the Olympic Village!

There’s not much left #Paris2024! pic.twitter.com/lt3EiLIqsh

— Time Brazil (@timebrasil) July 19, 2024

“Very high expectations. We shared the flight with the judo team, we met Rafaela Silva, we are already living a bit of that experience. We are very motivated. The team has grown a lot since LNV [Liga das Nações de Vôlei]. It was an important Olympic cycle, we went through many difficulties and the team became stronger. We didn’t come to the Olympic Games just to participate. Our goal is to win the gold medal”, said Gabi Guimarães, captain of the team.

Second in the world rankings – behind only Italy – the women’s team will debut in the Games against Kenya on July 29 (a Monday) at 8 am (Brasília time), in a match for Group B, which also includes Poland and Japan. The team’s other games will be against Japan on August 1 and against Poland on August 4. The volleyball tournament in Paris brings together only 12 countries. Group A includes France, the United States, China and Serbia, and Group C includes Italy, Turkey, the Netherlands and the Dominican Republic. The top two teams in each group and the two best third-placed teams qualify for the quarterfinals.

“We are in the mix. There are seven or eight teams in the women’s competition that can fight for a medal. There is a great balance of forces in the world. The important thing is that Brazil is one of them. We recently saw the participation in the Nations League. We had three consecutive victories, then two defeats, including in the dispute for third and fourth place. [lugares]. But today Brazil is second in the ranking. It’s even. We know where we are,” analyzed José Roberto Guimarães, coach of the national team, which is making its 10th Olympic appearance in Paris 2024.

Two-time Olympic champion (Beijing 2008 and London 2012), the team also has a silver (Tokyo 2021) and two bronze (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000).

First Brazilian judokas in Paris

Six of the 20 judokas called up to represent Brazil in the Games will arrive in Paris this morning. The delegation, which includes Natasha Ferreira (48kg), Larissa Pimenta (52kg), Rafaela Silva (57kg), Michel Augusto (60kg), Willian Lima (66kg) and Daniel Cargnin (73kg), went straight to Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois for acclimatization before heading to the Olympic Village on July 31.

Is our judo team happy? 😁😆

The judokas of the #TimeBrazil have already arrived in Paris and are ready to experience great moments.

You can let me know that Paris is already being invaded by Brazilian charisma and happiness, huh! 💚💛 pic.twitter.com/Pz6ntfN5El

— Time Brazil (@timebrasil) July 19, 2024

Gold medallist at Rio 2016, Rio native Rafaela Silva highlighted the importance of keeping her mind focused in the days leading up to her debut at the Games.

“This last week we are more focused on the strategy, waiting for the draw that will take place on the 25th, focused on weight loss, which is fundamental, because any detail makes a difference. You can’t perform a miracle in a week. So, I believe that we have to keep doing what we have been doing and take the utmost care of ourselves to avoid any kind of surprise”, explained the athlete, who this season won gold in April, at the Pan-American Judo Championships, and a month later won silver at the Grand Slam in Astana (Kazakhstan).