If the much-desired sixth in a men’s soccer World Cup did not come to Qatar in 2022, the year was one of demonstrations of strength by Brazil in other Olympic sports such as gymnastics, surfing, skateboarding, judo and water marathons.
An athlete who had a brilliant 2022 was Rebeca Andrade. The 23-year-old gymnast, who secured two Olympic medals (one gold in vault and one silver in the all-around) at the Tokyo Games, was the main name of Brazil at the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup held in November in Liverpool (England). In the competition held at Terra da Rainha, she won gold in the general individual and bronze in the ground.
THE INDIVIDUAL GENERAL WORLD CHAMPION IS OURS! ????
? Ricardo Bufolin/CBG pic.twitter.com/gVSgIBMMcN
— Brazilian Gymnastics Confederation (@cbginastica) November 3, 2022
Another young Brazilian to reach the top of the world in her modality was Rayssa Leal. Also in November, but in Rio de Janeiro, the 14-year-old from Maranhão secured the Super Crown (super crown, in the literal translation) in the final race of the World Skate Street League (SLS). With that, she became the youngest skater to be crowned champion of the female circuit of the modality (disputed on a track with street elements) and was the first to win the four stages of the season. Before that she won in Jacksonville, Seattle and Las Vegas (all in the United States).
IT’S GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! ????
Rayssa Leal is champion of the 2022 Super Crown, in Rio de Janeiro: 21.1
And it was with a lot of emotion, in the last maneuver!
The ♀️ ? put on a show once again! pic.twitter.com/gpAMX2H3X2
— Team Brasil (@timebrasil) November 6, 2022
Surfing is yet another modality in which Brazil appears with great possibilities to shine at the Paris Games, in 2024. This is because in 2022 the country secured the fourth consecutive title of the WSL (World Surfing League). This time the champion’s trophy went to Filipe Toledo from São Paulo, who in September defeated Italo Ferreira from Rio Grande do Norte in a Brazilian final at the WSL Finals, on Lower Trestles beach, California (USA).
FILIPE TOLEDO IS THE 2022 WORLD CHAMPION! 7️⃣7️⃣????
The dream came true: Filipe Toledo beats Italo Ferreira 2-0 in the Title Clash at #RipCurlWSLFinals and becomes WORLD CHAMPION for the 1st time in his career.
An EPIC season for the Ubatuba location. #WSLBrasil pic.twitter.com/Gx4L0F5MZd
— WSL Brasil ?? (@WSLBrasil) September 8, 2022
In the water, but without a board, Ana Marcela Cunha won for the sixth time the title of the 10km race of the World Water Marathon Circuit. The feat was achieved after the Bahian woman finished the last stage of the circuit, held in Israel, with a silver medal, guaranteeing first place in the tournament’s general classification. In addition, she shone at the World Championships in Budapest (Hungary) with two golds (5km and 25km) and a bronze (10km).
It is also worth highlighting the last act in Nicholas Santos’ career in the pools. At the age of 42, the São Paulo native from Ribeirão won gold in the 50-meter butterfly at the Short Course World Cup, held in Melbourne (Australia) in December, and later announced his retirement.
THE BIGGEST WE HAVE! ??
You were and always will be a giant, @nicholassantos1
????#nataaco #yakultbrasil #fluidrabrasil #speedoMSport #Estacio #FinaMelbourne2022 pic.twitter.com/37sjzgtKnz
— CBDA (@CBDAoficial) December 14, 2022
In judo, the year was for women, with Mayra Aguiar winning an unprecedented third world championship. The feat occurred in the light heavyweight category (78 kilos) at the World Championship in Tashkent (Uzbekistan), in which Rafaela Silva reached the top of the world in the category up to 57 kilos for the second time.
IT’S GOOOOOOOOOOO! ??
Mayra Aguiar is THREE WORLD JUDO CHAMPION!
Victory against Zhenzao Ma ?? (78kg) in a sensational waza-ari at the Tashkent World Cup ??
This woman doesn’t get tired of making history!! ??? pic.twitter.com/gIUlAhXfod
— Team Brasil (@timebrasil) October 11, 2022
The big name in athletics in Brazil that year was Alison dos Santos. The athlete, who is known as Piu, secured the title of the World Championship in the 400 meters hurdles event in July in the United States and made history again in September in Zurich (Switzerland) by winning, undefeated, the title of the season. 2022 of the Diamond League (Diamond League), the main athletics competition circuit on the planet.
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CHAMPION ?
WORLDWIDE ??
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｡*･｡ pic.twitter.com/7IMGfwa8xO— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) July 20, 2022
Who also evolved a lot in 2022 was the tennis player Beatriz Haddad Maia. The 26-year-old from São Paulo ended the season in 15th place in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) singles ranking, gaining 67 positions compared to December 2021. In doubles, the rise was even more impressive, leaving the 485th place to 13th. No wonder, she was named by the entity as the tennis player that evolved the most during the year.
Bia Haddad Maia ONLY! ??
The tennis player who evolved the most in 2022 DELIVERED EVERYTHING to the courts and will still do much more.
Let 2023 come! ??? pic.twitter.com/9I3LkzpcGk
— Team Brasil (@timebrasil) December 15, 2022
The important changes in positions in the WTA rankings were only possible due to the conquest of four titles in the year. In singles, she was champion of the WTA 250 (third level) of Nottingham and Birmingham (both Great Britain). In doubles, in addition to also winning in Birmingham, alongside Chinese Zhang Shuai, she lifted the WTA 500 trophy (second level, intermediate) in Sydney (Australia), with Kazakh Anna Danilina as her partner. Another outstanding campaign was the runner-up, in the individual, of the WTA 1000 (highest level) in Toronto (Canada).
In team sports, volleyball deserves a special mention. On the beach, Duda and Ana Patrícia were in the highest place on the podium of the Beach Volleyball World Cup after defeating the Canadians Bukovec and Brandie by 2 sets to 0 (partial 21/17 and 21/1), in June in Rome (Italy) ). Already on the courts, the team commanded by coach José Roberto Guimarães managed to stay with the runners-up in the League of Nations and in the World Cup even going through a renewal process in which the winger Gabi and the central Carol appear as exponents.
IT’S PRAAAAAAAAAAAAAATA! ??
The women’s national team is world runner-up in volleyball!
?? 0 x 3 ??
(24/26, 22/25 and 17/25)The title didn’t come, but the campaign was fantastic all the same! ? pic.twitter.com/MwzwAu9zWF
— Team Brasil (@timebrasil) October 15, 2022
To close, it is worth mentioning the good campaign of the men’s basketball team in the AmeriCup, the Copa América of the modality. Brazil piled up victories until the final, in which it ended up losing to arch-rivals Argentina. Despite the narrow setback in the decision, the team made a good impression in the competition played in Recife.
