The sprinter Melânia Luz dos Santos will join the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) Hall of Fame. The athlete, who died in 2016 at the age of 88, was a three-time South American medalist, in addition to being the first black Brazilian woman to participate in an edition of the Olympic Games in London (1948). The confirmation of the tribute took place this Sunday (3).
In 2020, the Extraordinary Assembly of the Brazilian Confederation of Athletics (CBAt) recognized Melânia Luz as an emeritus member of the entity, because of her participation in the sport after only 50 years of the abolition of slavery in the country. The family received the honor from the COB in the “In Memoriam” category.
Thus, athletics now has six representatives in the select group of honorees: Melânia Luz, Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (two-time Olympic champion in the triple jump), Joaquim Cruz (Olympic gold and silver in the 800 meters), João do Pulo (two Olympic medals in bronze in the triple jump), Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (Olympic bronze in the marathon) and Sylvio de Magalhães Padilha (Olympic finalist in the 400 meters hurdles and former president of the COB).
In addition to Melânia, Manoel dos Santos (swimming), Marcelo Ferreira (sailing), Ricardo Prado (swimming), Renan Dal Zotto (volleyball), Walter Carmona (judo) and Yane Marques (pentathlon) were inducted into the Hall of Fame that year. The new members will be honored at COB events and will leave their feet or hands immortalized in molds that will be displayed in a future exhibition at the entity’s Training Center.
