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August20,2016in#Rio2016//RiosHometownOlympiansShowcaseFavelasAthleticPotential
August19,2016in#ParticipationWatch//NearRedevelopedOlympicBoulevard,ResidentsPaintWalls
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Home#Rio2016RiosHometownOlympiansShowcaseFavelasAthleticPotential

Rios Hometown Olympians Showcase Favelas Athletic Potential

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WhenRafaelaSilvathrewherhandsintotheairtocelebratehervictoryintheOlympicgoldmedalmatch
ofwomensjudo,residents,athletesandcoachesthroughoutRiosfavelascelebratedwithher.
Muchhasalreadybeenwrittenabout24yearoldRafaelaandwhathervictoryrepresentsforBrazil,thecityof
Rio,andfemaleathletesacrossthecountry.Herhighprofileachievementhasopenedadialogueabouthow
RafaelasidentityasablackwomanbornandraisedinCityofGod,oneofthecitysmostwellknownfavelas
defiesBrazilshistoricpowerstructures,especiallyimportantinthelightoftheracistattacksdirectedagainsther
onsocialmediaaftershewasdisqualifiedfromthe2012LondonGames.Rafaelasdecisiontopubliclydisclose
herrelationshipwithhergirlfriendjustdaysafterhervictoryaddedanotherlevelofidentitypoliticstowhatwas
alreadyasignificantaccomplishmentinraisingtheprofileofunderrepresentedandmarginalizedgroupsin
Brazil.
But,whileRafaelareceivedthemostmediaattention,shewasnttheonlyathletefromRiosfavelascompeting
intheseOlympics.Thehometownteamincludedanumberofathletesacrossadiverserangeofsportswhohave
livedandtrainedinfavelas.

TheOlympicsandpreviousmegaeventshavehadcatastrophiceffectsformanyfavelaresidents,fromforced
evictionstoreducedaccesstotransportationanddeadlypoliceviolence.Yettheopportunitytorepresenttheir
communitiesinfrontofanationalaudienceaswellasmillionsofviewersaroundtheworld,providedachance
forRiosathletestoshowcaseanotherexampleofpositivevaluecomingfromfavelasandtheirresidents.

Patrick Borges and Michel Loureno Boxing

PatrickandMichelgrewupinVidigalintheSouthZone,wheretheybegantheirtrainingatthe
communitysInstitutoTodosnaLuta(AllintheFightInstitute)boxinggymMichelat10yearsoldandPatrick
atage13.Theirtrainer,thefounderofTodosnaLuta,RaffGiglio,describesthetwoyoungathletesasapositive
exampleforyouthintheircommunity.
IveseensomanycommentsonFacebookinthelastfewdays,everyonesaying,youaretheprideofthe
community,'hesays,smiling.Everyoneheresaystheyareasourceofprideforourcommunity.Theyrean
examplethatitspossibletomakeit.
InstitutoTodosnaLuta
aboutamonthago

81

23

Raff,51,aformerboxerhimself,begantrainingchildrenandyouthinVidigalin1993,whenhemovedhis
boxinggymtothebottomofthehillandprovidedadditionalboxingclasses,freeofcharge,toyouthfromthe
communitywhocouldnotaffordtopayforinstruction.ThoughTodosnaLutaonlyformallyregisteredasan
NGOsixyearsago,Raffandotherinstructorshavebeenprovidingthistrainingformorethantwodecades.
Theprimarygoaloftheorganization,Raffsays,istoencouragepositiveyouthdevelopment.Lifeskillscome
first,athleticskillssecond.
Ithinkdevelopinggoodhumanbeingsisevenmoreimportantthanbeingagoldmedalist,hesays.Thisis
veryimportant.Andifsomeonealsohastalent,thentheycanbecomea[professional]athlete.

Whenheandothertrainersdospotpromisingtalent,likePatrickandMichel,theyentertheminaspecial
trainingprogramtopreparethemforcompetitionatthehighestnationalandinternationallevels.
Asteenagers,PatrickandMichelwatchedthesuccessofEsquivaFalco,amiddleweightboxerfromEsprito
SantostatewhotrainedatTodosnaLutafrom20072008,beforejoiningtheBraziliannationalteam.In2012,
EsquivawonthesilvermedalattheLondonOlympics,inspiringhisyoungerfriendstoaimforthewinners
podiumintheirhomecity.
Inthe2016Olympics,Michel,now25,reachedthequarterfinalboutinhisweightclassjustonestepawayfrom
atleastabronzemedalbeforebeingeliminatedbytheeventualgoldmedalwinner,JulioCsarLaCruz,from
Cuba.Patrick,23,whorankedeighthintheworldinhisweightclass,losthisfirstmatchtoColombianYuberjen
Martnez,whowentontowinthesilvermedal.

Still,Raffsays,thoughneitherboxerwonanOlympicmedal,theirachievementsareworthcelebrating.

Ifeelcompensated,Ifeelrewarded,hesays.MyrewardcamewhenIsawourathletes,whocamehereas
childrenandtodayaremen,Olympicathletes,participatingintheOlympics.Regardlessofmedals,justthefact
ofbeingthere,anathletereachingthatlevel,formethatisalreadycompensationenough.
DuringtheirOlympicbouts,Raffsays,thewholecommunitythrewapartyandgatheredtowatchthem
fight.BothboxersnowliveinSoPaulo,wheretheytrainwiththeBraziliannationalteam,butoftenreturnto
Vidigaltovisitfamily,friends,andtheirformergym.
Theyhavehomes,family,everythinghere,saysRaff.Whentheyhaveafreeweekend,orholidays,they
cometoVidigalandstayhere,theycometotrainattheacademy.TheirhomeisVidigal.TheyliveinSoPaulo
becausethatstheirworkplace,thatswheretheirofficeis.Theirhomeishere.
AccordingtoRaff,theathletesarealreadybeginningtoprepareforthe2020OlympicsinTokyo.Thistime,he
expectsbothofthemtobringmedalshometoVidigal.

Ygor Coelho and Lohaynny Vicente Badminton

YgorCoelhodeOliveirasfather,SebastioOliveira,foundedtheMiratusBadmintonAssociationinthe
Chacrinhafavela,locatedinJacarepaguinRiosWestZone,in1998.Miratushasreceivedplentyofattention
duringthisOlympicseasonfromoutletsincludingCNNandtheNewYorkTimes,andasoneofthefive
organizationswithafeaturefilmintheReimagineRioFilmFestival.Sebastioinstructs200playersbetween
theagesof4and20throughaninnovativetrainingregimethatcombinesbadmintonwithsambaaddinga
uniqueRiotwisttothetraditionalpracticeofjumpingrope.AccordingtoSebastio,thechildrenfoundjump
ropeboring,butsambahasmanagedtoholdtheattentionofmorethan3,000studentsovertheschools18years
ofexistence,andthetechniquehasalreadyproducedtwoOlympicathletes.

19yearoldYgorwasthefirstmantorepresentBrazilinOlympicsinglesbadminton.Heisalreadyasixtime
championinthePanAmericanjuniorboyssingles,andhaswonthePanAmericanchampionshipinmixed
doublesfourtimesplayingwithhisOlympiccounterpart,20yearoldLohaynnyVicente.
Lohaynny,thetoprankedBrazilianfemalebadmintonplayer,isalsoagraduateofMiratus.Shewonsilverand
bronzemedalsinthe2015PanAmericanGamesthesilvercameplayingwithheroldersister,Luana,whohas
beenherdoublespartnersincethetwobegantrainingatMiratus.TheVicentesistersjoinedtheschoolwhen
theymovedtoChacrinhain2002,leavingtheComplexodoChapadointheNorthZonefollowingthedeathof
theirfather,whowasinvolvedindrugtrafficking.

ThoughneitheroftheMiratusgradstookhomeamedalattheRioOlympics,theystillenjoyed
deafeningsupportfromtheirhometownfans.AtYgorsfinalOlympicmatch,whichhelostto14thranked
GermanMarcZwiebler,thestandingroomcrowdcheeredandchantedhisnameforseveralminutesafterthe
matchended.
Lohyannywaseliminatedintheearlyroundsofthecompetition,butsaidshewasproudtobethefirstBrazilian
womantorepresenthercountryinOlympicbadminton,andhopedtoinspireotherchildrenfromfavelasto
believeintheirathleticdreams.
Itsgoodforpeopletoseethat,independentofsocialclass,peoplecanachievewhattheywant,shetoldGlobo
inaninterviewfollowingthematch.
MiratusalongwithitsfamousalumniisfeaturedinBad&theBirdieman,oneofthefivedocumentaryfilms
recentlypremieredatReimagineRio.

"Bad & the Birdieman" lm trailer

Giovanna Pedroso Diving

OneofthelesserknownlocalathletesintheRioGames,17yearoldGiovannaPedrosogrewupintheChcara
doCufavelaintheSouthZone.Giovannabegantrainingingymnasticswhenshewasfouryearsold,but
switchedtodivingwhenshewastenafterparticipatinginDivingfortheFuture,aprogramsponsoredby
BrazilsSportsMinistryandtheBrazilianConfederationofAquaticSports,whichofferspublicschoolstudents
theopportunitytopracticediving.
Intheyearssince,GiovannahasrisentorepresentBrazilontheworldstage,winningthecountrysfirstever
silvermedalinthesynchronized10meterplatformeventatlastyearsPanAmericanGamesinToronto.She
andherteammate,IngriddeOliveira,finishedeighthinthe10meterplatformcompetitioninRioandhave
decidednottocompetetogetheranymorefollowingapersonaldisagreement,buttherewilllikelybemanymore
opportunitiesforhertocontinuedivingforBrazilinthefuture.

Kazan2015 Giovanna Pedroso (10m prelim)

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ThisarticlewaswrittenbyNatalieSouthwick,andpublishedonAugust20,2016.
in#Rio2016,*Highlight,byInternationalObservers,FavelaQualities
Tosearch,typeandhitenter

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