The volleyball player Isabel Salgado died in the early hours of this Wednesday (16), at the age of 62, at the Sírio Libanês hospital, in São Paulo. The former athlete was affected by a flu that worsened, leading to an acute respiratory syndrome.
She was fine until last week, according to reports from friends.
The death was confirmed by the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee).
Last Monday (14), Isabel had been announced by the vice-president-elect, Geraldo Alckmin, as a member of the sports working group in the transition of Lula’s government.
Isabel Salgado was born in Rio de Janeiro, on August 2, 1960. She started playing volleyball for Flamengo at the age of 12 and was Brazilian champion in 1978 and 1980. In addition, she defended Brazil at the Moscow Olympic Games (1980) and of Los Angeles (1984).
She was one of the players who paved the way for women’s volleyball in Brazil. She was even the first Brazilian volleyball player to play in a foreign league, in 1980, when she went to Moderna, from Italy.
Isabel migrated from the courts to the sand in 1992 and was world champion of the Miami stage in doubles with Roseli, two years later.
In 2020, he joined former player Walter Casagrande Júnior, a columnist for Folha, and other sportsmen to form the Sport for Democracy movement. Isabel also participated in the Diretas-Já movement, where she met the former athlete when her eldest daughter, Pilar, was still a child.
In an interview with Folha, in 2020, he said that “athletes cannot remain neutral in the face of injustices” and that the position served to “show the government that we are also citizens”.
“I see a great advance among the sports class. We have, for example, the participation of Corinthian Democracy at the time of Diretas-Já, against the dictatorship, in the figure of Sócrates, Casagrande, and others who played a very important role . I remember participating in the Diretas-Já with my daughter Pilar, who was four or five years old, and they are very expensive memories. The process of becoming a democracy was very hard, I was moved by the amnesty of seeing people returning to Brazil and reuniting with their families,” he said.
She is the mother of athletes Maria Clara Salgado, Carolina Solberg and Pedro Solberg, as well as Pilar and Alison, who she adopted in 2015. Isabel formed a duo with Maria Clara and Carolina. Afterwards, she dedicated herself to managing the careers of her athlete children.
Carolina was even warned by the STJ for having shouted “Out, Bolsonaro!” in a post-game interview. She continues to compete at a high level, while Maria Clara has retired.
In update.
As a seasoned news journalist, I bring a wealth of experience to the field. I’ve worked with world-renowned news organizations, honing my skills as a writer and reporter. Currently, I write for the sports section at News Bulletin 247, where I bring a unique perspective to every story.
