The Olympic Games were born in ancient Greece and were so named because they were held in the Greek city of Olympia. It was not until 1896 that the dispute began to be conducted every four years with different modalities, as we know it today.
Despite being old, the Olympics did not accept the participation of women in the edition held in Paris until 1900. That same year, British tennis star Charlotte Cooper won the gold medal in her category and made room for other women to compete in the event in subsequent years.
In addition to Charlotte, Ukrainian Larisa Latynina was the woman who won the most medals in Olympic competitions. During the period in which she competed, between 1952 and 1966, the gymnast won 18 medals, nine of which were gold. His record was only broken in 2012 by swimmer Michael Phelps.
Sport and women’s empowerment
Women won the right to participate in the Olympics and show their sporting skills years after the first modern edition of the event. For this reason, sport has been seen around the world as a form of empowerment for women, demonstrating that their rights and freedom to participate in different social spheres are achieved.
In Brazil, swimmer Maria Lenk was the first woman to receive the right to participate in the Olympics. In 1932, she overcame the 1941 law banning women from sports and entered the Los Angeles contest. At just 17 years old, Maria Lenk marked Brazilian women’s history in the Olympics and was considered the pioneer of modern swimming.
Know a little about the history of women at the olympic games, we see how difficult it was for them to participate in this event. To celebrate all these achievements, there’s nothing better than getting acquainted with the Brazilian athletes who will represent the country in the Tokyo 2020 disputes and prepare the crowd for them!
Brazilian athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
At the Tokyo Olympics, Brazil is represented by a total of 302 athletes in the male and female categories. Meet below 21 of the 141 women who will wear the shirt of the Brazilian delegation at the Olympics.
1. Ana Cristina – @ana.cristina.desouza
Ana Cristina, just 17 years old, is a revelation of Brazilian volleyball and one of the promises for the team to take home the gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Ana is the daughter of former volleyball player Ciça and with the sport in her family, started training at the age of 10 and already joined the Brazilian under-18 team at the age of 14.
2. Ana Marcela Cunha – @anamarcela92
Water marathon competitor Ana Marcela started swimming at the age of two, when she took her first swimming lessons. Since then, her passion for the water has earned her the award for the best open water swimmer in the world six times. In Tokyo, Ana will contest the medal in the water marathon events.
3. Aline Furtado – @aline.rfurtado
Rugby player Aline Furtado was born in the city of Socorro, in the interior of São Paulo, and when she was called up to the Tokyo Olympics, she said in interview fulfilled a dream. Rugby, which has only been played in four Olympic editions, returned to the sporting event in 2016 in the “sevens” modality, with seven players per team.
4. Bia Ferreira – @ beatrizferreira60kg
Daughter of former boxer Sergipe, Bia Ferreira impresses wherever she goes: since she started competing, she has participated in 25 disputes and won in 24 of them. The boxer, who finished the year 2020 in first place in the world ranking of the category, is one of the promises to win Olympic gold in Tokyo 2020.
5. Duda Arakaki – @dudaarakaki
Maria Eduarda Arakaki will compete with the Brazilian team in the group modality of rhythmic gymnastics at the Olympics. She learned the sport at the age of six and by the age of nine she had already won a national competition in the sport. Since then, Duda has taken his place in the category and made history alongside the Brazilian team.
6. Duda Lisbon – @santoslisboaduda
Born in Sergipe, Duda Lisboa started to show up after playing three world championships in the same year. All this at only 15 years old! In 2017, Duda started training with Ágatha Rippel and together they plan to win the gold medal for Brazil in the Olympics.
7. Flavia Saraiva – @flavialopessaraiva
Inspired by Daiane dos Santos, gymnast Flavia Saraiva has been conquering her space in the modality since 2013, when she started competing internationally. The young woman, who has already collected several awards and lessons, is looking for gold in the solo category at the Olympic Games in the Japanese capital.
8. Ant – @official_formiga
Veteran of the Olympic Games, Formiga will compete in Tokyo 2020 in the seventh edition of the sporting event. In addition to the women’s soccer team, the Salvador-born Bahian has already won many medals and is looking for another one in the Japanese capital. She is still the only male and female athlete to have competed in 7 World Cups.
9. Gabriela Chibana – @gabrielachibana
Judoka Gabriela Chibana was the last to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In addition to sports, the São Paulo native is also passionate about health and graduated in Nursing in 2019. The love of judo is a family tradition that motivates her even more to win the gold medal for Brazil.
10. Giulia Takahashi – @_giuliatakahashi
Giulia Takahashi will be the reserve of the Brazilian table tennis team in the Tokyo 2020 disputes. Giulia is only 16 years old and impresses by being third in the world in her category. His sister, also passionate about the sport and well placed in the world rankings, will represent Brazil at the Olympics.
11. Iêda Guimaraes – @iedaguimaraess
At the age of 19, Iêda Guimarães is the only Brazilian athlete to qualify for Tokyo 2020 in the modern pentathlon modality. The category, which unites fencing, swimming, horseback riding, running and laser shooting, was included in the 1912 Olympics, but it was not until 2000, at the Sydney Games, that women were allowed to participate in the sport.
12. Ingrid Oliveira – @ingrid.oliveira96
Ingrid Oliveira, one of the most important names in diving, is one of the Brazilian athletes representing Brazil in Tokyo 2020. The carioca was the winner of the Grand Prix of Bolzano, Italy in 2021 and is one of the bets in the modality to the Olympic gold.
13. Isadora Pacheco – @isapachecoskt
Born in Florianópolis, Isadora Pacheco has been participating in the Brazilian Skateboard Circuit since she was 9 years old and at the age of 11 she also started working on the World Circuit. The Tokyo 2020 games will mark the debut of skateboarding at the sporting event and Isadora will join the rest of the team in pursuit of Olympic gold in the sport.
14. Jaqueline Mourao – @jaquelinemourao
Cyclist Jaqueline Mourão is passionate about sports and has already done swimming and athletics. She started her cycling career at the age of 15 and her most recent title is the bronze she won at the Pan American Games in Lima in 2019. She is the only qualified Brazilian woman to compete in the Olympics in the mountain biking category.
15. Leticia Bufonic – @leticiabufoni
Skateboarder Letícia Bufoni is one of the favorites to bring Olympic gold to Brazil at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Before the competition, she won her sixth gold medal at the X-Games in California. Moreover, at the age of 28, Letícia is also considered a veteran and living legend of skateboarding.
16. Marta Vieira – @martavsilva10
Marta Vieira is a striker for the women’s soccer team and has been considered the best player in the world in the category six times. Together with the Brazilian team, she won the gold medal at the 2003 and 2007 Pan American Games. With 15 goals, Marta is also considered the top scorer in the history of the women’s world cups.
17. Nathalie Moellhausen – @nathaliemoellhausen
In fencing, Nathalie Moellhausen is the Brazilian pledge to win gold at the Olympics in the Japanese capital. Nathalie, born in Italy, decided in 2014 to defend the Brazilian team in this modality. Together with Brazil, she has already won several medals and is looking for more prizes in Tokyo 2020.
18. Pamela Rosa – @pamelarosaskt
At just 21 years old, Pâmela Rosa is the leader of the world ranking for skateboarding in the street modality. The Paulistana got to know the sport by chance through friends of her brothers and eventually fell in love with the category. In addition to the Brazilian team, Pâmela is one of the bets to inaugurate the sport at the Olympics and bring gold to Brazil.
19. Rayssa Leal – @raysalealsk8
Rayssa Leal is the youngest Brazilian athlete to compete in an adult Olympic competition. At just 13 years old, she is one of the favorites to win gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Born in Maranhão, the young woman already won second place at the 2019 São Paulo World Cup and in 2021 she took the bronze medal at the Rome World Cup.
20. Silvana Lima – @silvanalimasurf_
Silvana Lima, from Ceará, started surfing professionally in 2006. Since her start in the sport, she has been considered the best Brazilian surfer eight times, in addition to being second in the world championship twice. She will represent Brazil at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics with Tatiana Weston-Webb.
21. Stephanie Balduccini – @sbalduccini
At age 16, Stephanie Balduccini will be the youngest Brazilian swimmer to compete in an Olympic competition. The young woman’s career came to prominence in 2019, when she won seven of the Brazilian youth championship’s ten matches in the category. In Tokyo she will participate in the women’s 4×100 freestyle together with Etiene Medeiros, Ana Vieira and Larissa Oliveira.
Girls can be athletes – and anything they dream of
Brazilian athletes are inspiration for the new generation of girls, who will feel represented in the sports world by these incredible women. And what about encouraging this girls empowerment by reading too?
With the personalized book “Rebels in Sports” the child becomes the protagonist of the story and, together with the tightrope walker Madame Saqui, discovers that he can practice any sport he wants! In addition, reading provides contact with inspiring stories of many women around the world who changed sports with their talent and daring.
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