Brazil has reached 21 confirmed places at the Paris Olympics, in four sports. The most recent achievement came this Saturday (20), thanks to the gold medal of Paola Reis in the Pan American BMX Cycling Championship, held in Riobamba (Ecuador), which guaranteed the country a place in the women’s race at the games in the French capital. , next year.

The 23-year-old Bahia was joined on the podium by Priscilla Stevaux, bronze medalist from São Paulo. The money went to Canadian Molly Simpson. Maitê Naves, also from São Paulo, finished the race in ninth place.

“It’s very satisfying to be Pan American champion in a pre-Olympic year, with all the athletes trying to add points in the ranking world and also in search of the long-awaited Olympic vacation. I am very happy with the result and to have succeeded in ensuring the participation of Brazilian women’s BMX in Paris 2024″, celebrated Paola, in a press release reproduced in the to place of the Brazilian Cycling Confederation (CBC).

The vacation conquered by the baiana belongs to the country, not to the cyclist. In addition, the first Olympic ranking criterion is the ranking world by nations, which ends on June 2, 2024. The top ten secure places in the games. Brazil is currently seventh in women’s BMX, which would already guarantee a Brazilian athlete in Paris. In this case, the place obtained at the Pan will not be considered as additional.

On the men’s side, Brazil came off the podium in Riobamba, Pedro Queiroz achieving the best result, with ninth place, followed by Guilherme Ribeiro, while Bruno Cogo finished the race in 12th place. Victory went to American Larsen Kamren, with Colombians Carlos Alberto and Angel Santiago taking silver and bronze respectively. The country is ranked ninth in ranking And the Olympic men’s BMX would be entitled to a place in Paris if the list closed today.

Besides women’s BMX, Brazil have secured a place in Paris in women’s football (18 places), shooting (one) and surfing (one, which belongs to Tatiana Weston-Webb). There are also two athletes with indexes to represent the country in athletics: Daniel Nascimento (marathon) and Caio Bonfim (race walk). At the 2021 Games, 302 Brazilians competed in Tokyo, who returned from the Games in the Japanese capital with 21 medals (seven gold, six silver and eight bronze).