Opinion – Edgard Alves: COB studies bases for the Paris Olympics and seeks to surpass Tokyo medals

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The national delegation is still recovering from the journey of the Tokyo Olympic Games, which ended in August, and has already started counting for Paris-2024. This time, preparation time will be shorter than at all other opportunities, as the Olympics in Japan were delayed by a year because of the new coronavirus pandemic.

It is an unprecedented challenge for all delegations, since the cycles have always had four years each since the debut of the Games in the Modern Era, in 1896, in Athens. The Paris Games are scheduled for July 26 to August 11, 2024. With three years to go, the COB has begun work to take its delegation to the French capital.

In fact, even before the Tokyo Games, Brazilians began surveying the Olympic venues in Paris. At different times, three teams from the committee were in France, the last visit being recently.

There was a meeting with the organizing committee and inspections of facilities that can serve as a basis for the national delegation, planning similar to that carried out in Chuo, Japan. members of the Brazilian team will need support in training and in places where the sport’s disputes will take place.

​To reduce costs, the organizing committee takes advantage of the new guidelines of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and will use old, modernized facilities as headquarters for some sports. Temporary, less expensive constructions will be built near the tourist attractions of Paris.

The organizers of the Paris Games are still working on the retouching of a plan to bring the public closer to the competitions. They enhance a proposal of “Urban Games”, concentrating modalities such as climbing, skateboarding and cycling (BMX), among others.

The participation of common practitioners in marathons is also being studied. Specific selectives will target these competitors. On the day of the race, the elite Olympic group will leave much earlier. The total number of vacancies for each country is being studied.

Another novelty is that gender equality so pursued by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) must finally happen, with a balance of competitions that will allow the participation of 50% of men and 50% of women.

The movement is great, without trauma, very different from the moments before the Tokyo Games, full of fear and apprehension due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Regardless of the somewhat calmer times at the moment, the COB’s responsibilities have grown. The reasoning is simple: Brazil won positions in front of its competitors, and in the next competition it will have to improve its performance.

Victories and records, arguably, feed the fans’ joy. Defeats can cause disappointment and sadness. Nobody cheers or hopes for a defeat for their team. Therefore, losing in sport provokes a taste of retreat, setback, failure. Winning encourages a sense of pride in the fan. After success, it is difficult to accept a defeat passively, for both the athlete and the fan.

​The general and Olympic disputes in sport are a source of passion. One of its doors can combine business with pleasure, that is, improving performance to compete while helping to maintain good health. But sporting events are what catch the attention of the general public and arouse emotions.

At the Tokyo Olympics, Brazil was on the podium in 13 disciplines, a mark never reached before. He ended the disputes in 12th place in the medals table, with seven golds, six silvers and eight bronzes, his best campaign.

It was the second time that the host country of the previous event improved its performance in the subsequent competition. Before, only Great Britain had accomplished the feat, in Rio-2016.

According to the evaluation of the COB, one of the assets of the campaign in Japan was the female performance. For the first time, the Brazilians won three gold medals in one edition and totaled nine podiums (with four more silvers and two bronzes).

Altogether, they snatched 42.3% of the country’s medals, surpassing the 41.2% of Beijing-2008 (two golds, one silver and four bronzes).

Over its 107 years of existence (founded in 1914), COB delegations have won 150 Olympic Games medals (37 gold, 42 silver and 71 bronze).

​In this Olympic cycle, Brazil will participate in the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, in 2023. The competition serves as an assessment of the delegation’s preparation stage for the Olympics. Next February is the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, but they are an event of little relevance to national sport because the climate in the country is mild, even in the coldest regions.

`The break in high-performance sport this season finale is only punctuated by sporadic, distant events, such as the men’s boxing World Cup in Serbia, where Brazilians dream of a podium there.

The moment is really for working in the rear, preparing the ground for the sensational combats of the Olympics in about a thousand days.

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