In a videochat, Arthur Zanetti and Bruno Prada talk about their Olympic achievements

Detalhes

Publicado em Sexta, 10 Agosto 2012 17:01

Brazilian medallists at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Bruno Prada and Arthur Zanetti, as well as the National Secretary of High Performance Sport of the Ministry of Sport Ricardo Leyser, took part in an online chat with internet users this Friday (10.08).  The athletes told of how they were received in Brazil and talked about their training routine in order to reach the dreamed of Olympic medal. The broadcast with the medallists - beneficiaries of the Athlete Grant Programme - was promoted by the Ministry of Sport, in partnership with EBC, the Brazilian Public Broadcasting Company.

"The Olympics was a totally new experience for me and seeing how my work was acknowledged is very important for Brazilian gymnastics", stated Arthur Zanetti, who has put his name in the history of Brazilian sport by winning the country?s first gold medal in the gymnastics event.  The athlete beat Chinese gymnast Yibing Chen and won the men?s rings final last Monday (06.08). "In competition you can make mistakes or be successful.  I worked on my emotions before reaching the final and when the time came I managed to remain controlled, calm and was able to perform really well. Before getting up on the rings I think about which moves I am going to perform perfectly and while up there, until the end of the exercise, the only thing I think about are the elements", stated the gymnast when emphasising the importance of the psychological work done with high performance athletes.

For Bruno Prada, who won the bronze together with Robert Scheidt, the support high performance sports has received has been essential for their development and for more medals being won. "We have a lot of support from the federal government, through the Athlete Grant Programme, the federation, sponsors. This is my second Olympic medal and it is thrilling", said the athlete, who also won silver in Beijing 2008.

According to Secretary Ricardo Leyser, the experience acquired in London will assist in the excellent delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Rio in 2016. "We have been studying what the British have done in terms of number of medals. The idea is to apply it according to our sport tradition: seeing where we have athletes and people working to support and bring home medals.   The British experience is very important.  We need to look at the junior levels and make the most of Arthur?s achievement for example, to develop gymnastics in Brazil. It is time to invest in sport and the Ministry of Sport is capable of doing so", he said.

Medals
At 22, Arthur Zanetti is the first Brazilian gymnast to finish first.  From the city of São Caetano do Sul, in the state of São Paulo, the gymnast had already placed fourth in the qualifiers on the 28th of July, scoring 15,616 point in the rings.  In the final, the athlete scored 15,900 points, beating his Chinese opponent, who scored 15,800 and ended up with the silver.

Sailor Bruno Prada, together with Robert Sheidt, finished the ten regattas in the Olympics with a bronze medal in the star class.  This was Brazil 17th medal in sailing.

The decisive regatta took place in Weymouth bay and was won by Swedes Fredik Loof and Max Salminen, who were in third position, but ended up taking the gold home. The silver medal ended up with the British duo Ian Percy and Andrew Simpson who were leading the competition until Sunday (05.08).

Ascom - Ministry of Sport
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