After the Olympic Games in Tokyo, the COB (Olympic Committee of Brazil) enters the Paris-2024 cycle once and for all and has an operation ahead of this year that, in terms of number of participants, will be even greater than that of Japan.
As of this Tuesday (23) competitions for the Junior Pan American Games will begin, in Colombia. The main venue is Cali, but there are events spread across other cities in the Valle del Cauca region. The official opening will be held on Thursday (25) and the closing is scheduled for December 5th.
The Brazilian delegation has more than 350 athletes in 38 sports. The main objectives of the participation are to gain experience among the young competitors and to obtain places in the Pan American Games of Santiago-2023, destined to the champions of individual events and of some team sports.
Each modality defined the age limit of its participants. In general, the event is intended for athletes up to 23 years old, but there are smaller ceilings, for example in artistic gymnastics (U-15 for women and U-18 for men).
Like so many sporting events around the world, the junior version of Pan had its first edition postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic. From June it passed to September and then to November.
“Participation is interesting in the sense of providing maturity gain and the possibility of having a mid-level competition in America,” said COB sports director Jorge Bichara. “It’s an opportunity for them to evolve and gain more international experience.”
In the director’s view, the suspension of competitions in the last two years may have delayed sports development in some cases, a liability that the Pan will help to reduce. “A year of absence in this age group, at the time the athlete is being trained, has a great impact on sports evolution. Now we have an attempt to recover these effects of the pandemic among young people,” he stated.
Care related to the prevention of coronavirus remains among the main focus of attention of the COB. Beatriz Perondi, an infectious disease specialist present in Japan, will be with the delegation again.
In addition to the entire test protocol and the use of masks, the committee says that most representatives will be vaccinated against Covid-19. All participants over the age of 18 must be immunized to enter Colombia.
“We understand that one of the successes we had in Tokyo was the vaccination of a large part of our team. Now we are working with many underage athletes and our recommendation is that they take at least one dose of the vaccine”, said the medical coordinator of the COB, Ana Carolina Corte.
In the Brazilian delegation there are 12 athletes who were also at the Tokyo Games, among them Kawan Pereira, finalist in diving in Japan, and promising swimmers like Breno Correia and Stephanie Balduccini, in addition to skateboarder Pâmela Rosa.
Pamela’s call-up was announced before she conquered the second world title in the Street League, on the last 14th, in the USA. After an ankle injury thwarted her favoritism at the Olympics, the 22-year-old skater hopes to earn a medal as a national representative.
“I’m very proud to serve my country. I was invited months ago and accepted right away. If I have the opportunity to represent Brazil, whether in any competition, I want to be always present,” she said.
In no sport will the Brazilian delegation have names with such expressive results as in skateboarding. In the men’s street competition (there will be no park competition, the other Olympic category) there will be another skateboarder in a big phase. Lucas Rabelo, 22, couldn’t get a spot in Tokyo, but has just been runner-up in the Street League world.
In volleyball, some clubs chose not to release names that could stand out in the men’s and women’s (under-23) teams, such as the striker Ana Cristina, from Fenerbahçe, silver medalist in Japan. Due to the postponements, the Pan coincided with the club competition season.
The women’s team will be commanded by Wagão, while José Roberto Guimarães continues in the Superliga with Barueri, and the men’s team will have its main commander, Renan Dal Zotto.
The Pan Júnior competitions can be seen for free on the Olympic Channel in Brazil, COB’s streaming platform available on the website and application. The forecast is for up to six hours of live shows per day, spread over two different signals.
The first broadcast will be this Tuesday, with the match between Brazil and Cuba for the women’s handball tournament, at 19:00 (GMT).
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