What a start! The Brazilian team’s first participation in the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games was accompanied by an imposing victory in the ring. This Thursday (19), Luiz Gabriel Oliveira, known as Bolinha, qualified for the quarterfinals of the men’s 57 kg category in boxing with the victory of Technical knockout (Stoppage of the fight by the referee) against the Canadian Victor Tremblay in the second round, in Chilean Olympic Training Center. Oh The Brazilian will face the Uruguayan Lucas Garcia Fernández on Monday (23), starting at 5:45 p.m. (Brasilia time).

Grandson of Servílio de Oliveira, the first Brazilian to win an Olympic medal in this sport with bronze in Mexico in 1968, Luiz Gabriel confirmed the big milestone with a confident performance from start to finish. The native of São Paulo, injured during the last World Cup, Uzbekistan, He recovered in time, did a training camp in Colombia and arrived in force to seek Olympic qualification.

At 22, he is one of the talents of the new generation and already has a bronze medal to his name at the Buenos Aires 2022 Youth Olympic Games.

“I really liked my performance. It proves that the work is very well done. I was already a medalist among juniors and I am here to fight for gold and the Olympic ranking,” said the fighter.

The Pan de Santiago is the only competition on the continent which distributes Olympic places in boxing at Paris 2024. Two quotas per weight category are at stake, with the exception of the women’s 57 kg and 60 kg which will offer four places.

After winning six medals at the Pan de Lima, Brazilian boxing is looking to surpass the bar in the Chilean capital, as well as classify as many athletes as possible for the Paris 2024 Games.