Brazil finishes 2013 with 30 medals won in World Championships
The gold scooped up by the Brazilian women's national handball squad in Belgrade, after beating Serbia on 22 December 2013, corresponded to the country’s thirtieth medal won last season in World Championships or equivalent competitions. From this total, twenty-four podium finishes were achieved in sports that are part of the Olympic programme, with seven gold, eight silver and nine bronze medals won. Therefore, last season represents Brazil's best ever post-Olympic year in history.
The success achieved by the Brazilian women’s handball national team is the result of a lot of effort and dedication by athletes and all technical staff. However, the result was also possible because of investments being made by the federal government in this, as well as other sports.
Since the preparation stage for the 2012 London Olympic Games, the Brazilian women's national handball team has been awarded R$ 5.4 million in resources. Specifically for the Rio 2016 Games, the women’s and men’s national squads will be awarded R$ 3 million in resources from the Ministry of Sport, as well as funds from state owned companies: R$ 4.4 million from Banco do Brasil and R$ 2 million from the Postal Services, totalling R$ 9.4 million.
In 2009, Brazil finished the season with nine medals won in World Championships or equivalent competitions. In fact, according to Ricardo Leyser - National Secretary of High Performance Sport of the Ministry of Sport -, after Rio de Janeiro earned the right to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Brazilian sport went up a notch, which enabled the federal government to transfer new resources to different sports.
In addition to high performance sports, these resources are being transferred to construction projects and for finding/up-keeping talent with the aim of ensuring that the 2016 Olympics leave a great legacy behind for Brazil in all sense of the word. An example of this is the 285 Sport Initiation Centres which are being built throughout the country in 2014.
A milestone year for sport
Handball’s great result brings to an end a brilliant season by Brazilian athletes in 2013. Heroes like Gymnast Arthur Zanetti and swimmer Cesar Cielo, who are both Olympic champions, improved their track record this season. Zanetti is also world champion now. While Cielo, in addition to his Olympic medals and world records in sprint events, has won his third world title in the 50m freestyle and his second in the 50m butterfly.
On the sea, two-time sailing Olympic champion Robert Scheidt (age 40), surprised everyone winning the gold medal at the World Championship in the Laser class. He had not competed in the category since 2005, when he decided to compete in the Star class.
Most of the athletes who stood out in the year are beneficiaries of the Athlete Grant Programme. The programme is part of the Brazil Medals Plan, implemented by the Ministry of Sport focusing on the 2013-2016 Olympic cycle.
Performance improvement in individual as well as team sports
Several successful athletes in 2013 are in fact young new promises, like Sarah Nikitin (eighth place in the Archery World Championship) and Fernando Reis (seventh in the over 105kilo category in the weight lifting World Championship). They achieved Brazil's best results to date in their respective sports.
At the Canoe Sprint World Championship, Isaquías Queiroz won the bronze in the C1 1000m (Olympic event) and the gold in the C1 1500m (non-Olympic event). At the Canoe Slalom World Championship, Ana Sátila – age seventeen – won the bronze in the Junior World Championship and finished 12th in the adult category. Boxer Robson Conceição won the silver medal in the 60kg category at the World Championship this year. In addition to him, Guilherme Dias also managed a podium finish, scooping up the bronze in the 58kg category in the Taekwondo World Championship.
The performance of Brazilian female judo athletes deserves a mention, as our athletes shone at the World Championship held in Rio de Janeiro. They won five medals in Olympic events, among them the first ever gold, scooped up by Rafaela Silva in the 57kg category. Rafael Silva won the only medal for the men, scooping up the silver in the over 100kg category.
Brazil also shone in open water swimming, with Poliana Okimoto winning three medals (gold, silver and bronze) and Ana Marcela Cunha two (silver and bronze) at the World Aquatics Championship in Barcelona. All of this without taking into consideration the performance boost achieved by the men in the sport, with Samuel de Bona winning Brazil’s first ever gold medal at a stage of the Swimming World Cup.
In the modern pentathlon, bronze medallist at the 2012 London Games Yane Marques won Brazil's first ever silver medal in World Championships. In sailing, in addition to Robert Scheidt, young sailors Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze, both 22, won the silver in the 49er FX and finished the year on top of the world ranking. Still in sailing, Jorginho Zarif (21) made history by winning the World Junior and Adult Championship titles in the Finn class, feat which earned him the Olympic Brazil Award, sponsored by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).
The success of Brazilian athletes in 2013 shows that the country is on the right track to ensure that the national delegation is well prepared for the 2016 Games. The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) conducted a study and found that for a country to finish the 2016 Olympics in the top ten positions, it will need to win between 23 and 30 medals. Therefore, the 24 medals scooped up by Brazilian athletes in Olympic events at World Championships in 2013 are a good result for the country.
Denise Mirás/Ministry of Sport (ME)
Brazil’s medals in World Championships in 2013
Results (30 medals - 9 gold, 10 silver, 11 bronze)
HANDBALL
Women’s World Championship in Serbia
Held between 6 and 22 December
Gold – Brazil (Olympic sport)
WATER SPORTS
World Championship in Barcelona
Held between 19 July and 4 August
SWIMMING
Gold - Cesar Cielo – 50m butterfly (non-Olympic event)
Gold - Cesar Cielo – 50m freestyle (Olympic event)
Bronze - Felipe Lima – 100m breaststroke (Olympic event)
Bronze - Thiago Pereira – 200m medley (Olympic event)
Bronze - Thiago Pereira – 400m medley (Olympic event)
OPEN WATER SWIMMING
Gold - Poliana Okimoto – 10km (Olympic event)
Silver - Poliana Okimoto – 5km (non-Olympic event)
Silver - Ana Marcela Cunha – 10km (Olympic event)
Bronze - Ana Marcela Cunha – 5km (non-Olympic event)
Bronze - Allan do Carmo, Poliana Okimoto, Samuel de Bona – 5km relay (Olympic event)
ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS
World Championship in Antwerp (Belgium)
Held between 30 September and 6 October
Gold – Arthur Zanetti – rings (Olympic event)
BOXING
World Championship in Almaty (Kazakhstan)
Held between 4 and 20 October
Bronze - Éverton Lopes – 64kg (Olympic event)
Silver - Robson Conceição – 60kg (Olympic event)
CANOE SPRINT
World Championship in Duisburg (Germany)
Held between 27 August and 1 September
Gold - Isaquías Queiroz in the men’s C1 500m (non-Olympic event)
Bronze - Isaquías Queiroz in the men’s C1 1000m (Olympic event)
JUDO
World Championship in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
Held between 26 August and 1 September
Women
Gold - Rafaela Silva, up to 57kg (Olympic event)
Silver - Érika Miranda, up to 52kg (Olympic event)
Silver - Maria Suelen Altheman, over 78kg (Olympic event)
Silver – team (non-Olympic event)
Bronze - Mayra Aguiar, up to 78kg (Olympic event)
Bronze - Sarah Menezes, up to 48kg (Olympic event)
Men
Silver - Rafael Silva, over 100kg (Olympic event)
MODERN PENTATHLON
World Championship in Kaohsiung (Taiwan)
Held between 15 and 21 August
Silver - Yane Marques (Olympic event)
SAILING
Finn Class World Championship in Tallinn (Estonia)
Held between 23 and 31 August
Gold - Jorge João Zarif (Olympic event)
49er FX Class World Championship in Marseille (France)
Held between 21 and 29 September
Silver - Martine Grael/Kahena Kunze (Olympic event)
Laser Class World Championship
Held between 17 and 23 November
Gold - Robert Scheidt (Olympic event)
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
World Championship in Stare Jablonki (Poland)
Held between 1 and 7 July
Silver - Ricardo/Álvaro Filho (Olympic event)
Bronze - Lili/Bárbara Seixas (Olympic event)
TAEKWONDO
World Championship in Puebla (Mexico)
Held between 15 and 21 July
Bronze - Guilherme Dias - 58kg – (Olympic event)
