Olympics: See how medalists, still children, meet their sports idols

The relationship between a fan and an idol can bring back touching memories. What can we say about some children, athletes in training, who today shine in the Olympics as much as their greatest inspirations in sports? More than that: they even surpass their achievements, but without ever forgetting those moments of fan worship and without ceasing to revere them.

A good example is skater Rayssa Leal, a bronze medalist in Paris, whose idolatry had both a first and last name: Leticia Bufoni. Their relationship turned into a real friendship. They met when Rayssa, a seven-year-old girl, was doing tricks dressed as a fairy in Maranhão. A meeting between the two was promoted at that time by a Globo program, and this began a friendship that lasts to this day.

Gymnast Julia Soares did well in Paris, securing another bronze medal for the country, and has always looked up to names like Daiane dos Santos and Lais Souza, with whom she posed when she was very young. At the age of 4, Iryna Ilyashenko, the Ukrainian coach of the Brazilian Olympic gymnastics team, gave Julia the opportunity to train, and she never stopped following in the footsteps of her idols—among them, Arthur Nory, with whom she also asked to take a photo.

Still in gymnastics, Lorrane Oliveira appeared in a Globo report alongside Daiane dos Santos, her greatest inspiration. At the time, Daiane encouraged her to take her career as an athlete seriously and seemed to foresee the success that the girl would have in the sport. “You have a lot of talent and you have to keep at it, because one day you will be a great gymnast and will be on the national team, for sure,” she said.