‘I’m not a charlatan’, says Team Brasil mentor accused by athletes of exaggerating their CV

Announced by the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee) as a mentor for Team Brazil at the Paris Olympics, Joel Jota is being criticized by athletes on the internet. Olympic swimmers such as Joanna Maranhão and Bruno Fratus disapproved of the choice of their former colleague, who among athletes is considered a “charlatan” and accused of exaggerating about his sporting achievements.

On his social media profiles, back covers of his self-help books and on his CV on the website where he sells coaching courses, Jota declares that he is a former swimmer for the Brazilian team. He also claims to be “one of the fastest swimmers in the world”.

In an interview with F5, Joel Jota stated that there was “noise in communication”, and that he is, yes, a former member of the Brazilian team. Just not the Olympic one.

“There are several Brazilian teams”, explains Joel. “They are saying that I invented my CV. I didn’t invent it, I was on the Brazilian team. At no point did I say I was on the Olympic team”, he explains.

“There is not just the Olympic team. I have already competed in the Swimming World Cup, I came in seventh place. I was called up by the Brazilian Aquatic Sports Confederation to represent Brazil in the Swimming World Cup in South Africa”, he says.

‘JOANNA AND FRATUS SHOULD HAVE MORE SELF-ESTEEM’

When asked about the criticism he heard from his colleagues, Jota responded with praise and said that Fratus and Joanna should have more self-esteem.

“‘Considered to be one of the fastest swimmers in the world’. Not even I, when I was an Olympic finalist, had that self-esteem”, wrote Joanna Maranhão in X. “There is no problem with not having made the national team or not being a top athlete. The question This is where this citizen sells what was not”, criticized the swimmer.

Bruno Fratus endorsed the criticism. Mentioned on the social network by a follower, the swimmer reposted the tweet. “Not even Fratus has ever had this audacity,” said the original post. He added: “Not even Olympic medalist Bruno Fratus has ever had this audacity.”

The closest he came to being called up for the Olympics was at the 2005 Swimming World Cup, “by 10 hundredths of a second”, says Joel. Still, he says he doesn’t think it’s an exaggeration to call himself “one of the fastest swimmers in the world.”

“If Joanna doesn’t have all this self-esteem, she should have. Bruno Fratus and Joanna Maranhão are examples for me of athletes in the pool. I mention them with pride, they have wonderful careers. They are national assets. Even though they attacked me, I just admire them. If Joanna doesn’t say that about herself, she should. They are much better than I was, they are in another galaxy”, he says.

“But even so, it’s very difficult to be an athlete in Brazil. And once you’re a member of the federation, it’s already very difficult to go to a Swimming World Cup. I went and came seventh. So, yes, I’m one of the most fastest in the world”, he adds.

‘CHARLATAN WHY?’

Joel also claims that his “position” in the COB was misunderstood by the public. “I’m not a sports mentor, but rather a godfather of Team Brasil”, he explains. According to him, the position will not have a salary, only travel expenses will be paid, and he will be “at the disposal” of the committees and directors.

Jota, who is also a podcast presenter on YouTube, a motivational speaker and an investor in Shark Tank Brasil (Canal Sony), said he was upset by accusations that he was a charlatan.

“Why a charlatan? I’m not a charlatan. I was invited by the COB, the guys came after me. I couldn’t come up with something like that”, he says.

According to him, a month ago, the COB hired him to give a virtual lecture to the directors of all the Olympic committees going to Paris. “Everyone said that the lecture was very well received, that they had never seen a lecture with so much engagement,” he says.

A week later, he was invited to take on the role of mentor. The invitation was made official last Wednesday (17) at a COB event.

“This position has already been held by people like Luciano Huck, Sabrina Sato, Pedro Scooby. They are Brazilian personalities, opinion makers who have an impact, an audience and who break the sports bubble. I’m not going to give mentoring to an athlete, I’m not in that place. The problem was subjective. They didn’t understand what this position of godfather meant.

“I never went to the Olympics, either as an athlete or as a coach. I’m very happy to be going, 30 years later, as a godfather. It surprises me that my fellow athletes don’t feel the reciprocal pride I feel for them”, laments Jota.