Edgard Alves, journalist of reference in Olympic sport, dies at 73

Died this Friday (4) the journalist and columnist of leaf Edgard Alves, victim of a heart attack at age 73.

Throughout his career in journalism, Edgard participated in the on-site coverage of seven Olympics (Montréal-1976, Moscow-1980, Atlanta-1996, Sydney-2000, Athens-2004, Beijing-2008 and Rio-2016) and four editions of Pan American Games.

Born in Botucatu (SP), he began his career in leaf in December 1967 and was one of the newspaper’s longest-serving contributors. He served as a reporter and news chief and debuted as a columnist exactly ten years ago, on February 4, 2012.

“The idea of ​​the column is to follow, from a strictly journalistic point of view, without bad humor, all the movement in the area of ​​Olympic sports”, he said at the time.

Owner of a rare multisport knowledge, Edgard was able to discuss in detail the performance of an athlete or the political background of a decision taken in some confederation. He was especially fond of basketball, track and field and boxing. He had an arsenal of stories to tell, from the sport and from his own leaf.

In the newsroom, he was known for his generosity, kindness and integrity. He patiently taught the new generations and fervently defended points that he considered important for sports coverage, such as the publication of match data sheets.

Your last column in leaf left on Monday (31) and dealt with the preparations for the Beijing-2022 Winter Games, which had its opening ceremony held this Friday.

Outside of sports, he liked to talk about his participation in the coverage of the Joelma building fire in 1974. Edgard managed to get into the building, next to the leaf. “On that dark day I felt, in fact, the pain of a catastrophe,” he said in a text published in the newspaper in 2011.

“Think of someone serious. Of someone correct. Of someone ethical. Of someone competent. Perfectionist. Uncompromising”, wrote the also columnist for leaf Juca Kfouri on her blog at UOL. “It was rare to see him without a beret, and absolutely impossible not to find him sympathetic to anyone who needed it.”

The Brazilian Olympic Committee also mourned the journalist’s death. “Known by the countless friends he made in journalism by the nickname ‘Degas’, he had a passion for basketball. He liked to tell stories from important times in the sport, such as the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and passages with big names on the courts. But also distributed knowledge about all other Olympic sports”, reads the note from the committee.

“Edgard was a teacher for generations of sports journalists, especially those specializing in Olympic sports. Generous, he taught many professionals for years, decades. And I include myself among his students. Thanks to him, we have journalists better prepared to write, talk, analyze and cover other sports besides football”, stated Renato Ribeiro, sports director at Grupo Globo.

Corintiano, the journalist will be honored with a minute of silence before the duel between Ituano x Corinthians, on Sunday (6), at 18:30, for the Paulista Championship.

Edgard leaves two children, Aline and Leandro, two grandchildren, Pietra and Victor, and his wife, Iara.