Brazilians fight to break African hegemony in São Silvestre after 2020 without proof

There is an African proverb, according to marathon runner Daniel Nascimento, 23, which says: whoever wants to go fast must run alone, but whoever wants to go far must go in a group. For him and Grazieli Zarry, 23, the maxim helps explain the hegemony of Africans in São Silvestre, the most famous street race in Brazil, which returns in its 96th edition on Friday (31). The two athletes are Brazil’s main hopes of retaking the podium.

“It would be nice if everyone helped each other,” reflects Zarry. She says, however, that, in Brazil, it’s every man for himself.

The last Brazilian winner, Marilson Gomes dos Santos, took the title in 2010. Among the Brazilians, the last was Lucélia Peres, in 2006. Since then, Ethiopians and Kenyans have shared the last ten victories in the competition.

Kenya leads the sum of expired editions – there are 15 for men and 14 for women. Brazil comes next in the men’s, with 11 wins, and in third in the women’s, with 5 – two less than Portugal, with 7 titles among women.

“Brazil is the country of football, Africa [o continente] of athletics”, says Daniel at a press conference on Thursday (30). He says he started training in Kenya to be among the best, but he does not forget the Brazilian history in athletics: “They learned with us from 1995 to 2000 Now we have to go get it [a excelência] to bring again”.

Traditional to the point of being on the tourist calendar in São Paulo, São Silvestre returns to the streets of the city center after the first cancellation in the history of the competition, last year.

The official return of the race will feature top names among the elite athletes. In addition to Daniel and Grazieli, there are Elisha Rotich, Kenyan record holder for the Paris Marathon in 2021, Sandrafelis Chebet, also Kenyan and winner of the 2018 race, and Ethiopian Belay Bezabh, winner in men’s 2018.

Some stars start with the general public, such as Emerson Iser Bem, champion in 1997, and Marílson dos Santos, three-time champion and last national athlete to win the competition, in 2010.

The rise in Covid-19 cases in Brazil, with an increase of 50% compared to the previous two weeks, to about 6,000 daily cases, did not prevent the city from maintaining the race – nor the athletes from wanting to run.

This is the case of Sandrafelis Chebet, who told a press conference on Thursday (30) that life cannot stop because of the pandemic.

For the event’s safety, protocols were adopted, in the case of masks, which are still mandatory in open spaces, which must be used in the start and finish concentrations. During the race, use is optional, although recommended.

Another adaptation to the pandemic is the need to prove at least one dose of the vaccine against the coronavirus – in case of lack of one of the doses of double vaccines, it is necessary to present a negative test for the disease. The regulation of the event stipulates that both the vaccination passport and the tests must be presented at the time of collection of the athlete’s kit, which includes gifts from sponsors and the edition t-shirt.

The presence of the audience on Avenida Paulista, which usually offers water to runners in another traditional aspect of the competition, was suspended to avoid crowding.

The race begins with the start of disabled runners at 7:25 am, followed by the elite women, with 20 athletes, at 7:40 am. The male elite, with 21 athletes, and the general squad, with 20 thousand participants, will start at 8:05 am.

Enrollers were limited because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2019 there were 35 thousand runners, 15 thousand more than in 2021.

Last year the race was suspended for the first time in history. Since its debut, in 1925, not even the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 and the Second World War were able to prevent the test from being held.

For Brazilians Daniel and Grazieli, the suspension meant more training time – often done with masks, following the protocols of the place where they were at the time. “I didn’t stop with the pandemic, the hard work continued,” said Grazieli, this Thursday (30).

São Silvestre, named in honor of the saint on the 31st, the date it has been held since its inception, is an undertaking by journalist and entrepreneur, who is passionate about sports, Cásper Líbero. Upon seeing a night race in which runners carried torches to light the route in Paris, the communicator decided to implement a similar idea in Brazil.

Thus was born what is now the most famous street race in the country: exclusively male and Brazilian participants running for 8.8 km during the night in São Paulo.

Over its 96 editions the competition has undergone a series of changes. From 1945 onwards, foreigners from South America were allowed to participate and, given the measure’s popularity, in 1947 it became effective for runners all over the world.

The female presence only began in 1975, in the wake of the Year of Women declared by the UN (United Nations).

The biggest change, however, came after 1988, when the race began to conform to the rules of the then IAAF (today, World Athletics, the body that manages athletics worldwide). The route is now 15 km long, the minimum established to appear on the official calendar, and the race is now a day race – controversial among fans of the event, as it was considered one of the milestones of the São Paulo New Year’s Eve.

Faced with the cancellation of the race in 2020 as a result of the pandemic – at the time, vaccines were not yet available – some amateur runners organized their own race, at night, in which they would run all year round. “There is a rescue of São Silvestre that I saw on television as a child”, said runner Demetrius Carvalho in an interview with Folha last year.

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See the complete route of São Silvestre

• Start: Av. Paulista x Rua Augusta
• Of. Dr. Arnaldo
• Maj. Street Nathaniel
• Rua Des. Paulo Passalaqua
• Of. Pacaembu
• Gal. Viaduct Olímpio Silveira: passage
• Av. Dr. Abrahão Ribeiro
• Av. Norma Giannotti
• Of. Rudge
• Orlando Murgel Viaduct
• Of. Rio Branco
• Of. Ipiranga
• Av. São João
• Alameda Barão de Limeira
• Of. Duke of Caxias
• Rua Rego Freitas
• Gal. garden
• Rua Bento Freitas
• Largo do Arouche
• Av. Vieira de Carvalho
• Republic square
• Of. Ipiranga
• Av. São João
• Rua Counselor Crispiniano
• Ramos de Azevedo Square
• Rua Xavier de Toledo
• 9th of July viaduct
• Jacareí Viaduct
• Rua Santo Amaro
• Maria Paula Street
• Of. Brig. Luis Antônio
• Arrival: Av. Paulista, 900