Rebeca Andrade and Marcus D’Almeida win King Pelé Trophy – 12/15/2023 – Sport

Rebeca Andrade, 24, world vault champion in artistic gymnastics, and Marcus D’Almeida, 25, currently number 1 in the world in archery, were elected this Friday (15) the best Olympic athletes in Brazil in 2023 by the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee).

In a ceremony held at Cidade das Artes, in Rio de Janeiro, the two received the King Pelé Trophy, as the honor came to be called from this edition onwards, in a tribute from the committee to the “greatest athlete of all time”, even though he has never competed in the Olympics in his life.

“Certainly, for me and my family this is the most important tribute because he is the greatest expression that sport has produced”, said Edinho, the King’s son, present at the party.

Rebeca won the award for the third time in a row. In 2021, she stood out for two medals at the Tokyo Olympics (gold in vault and silver in the all-around). Last year, she won a gold (in the all-around) and a bronze (solo) at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.

This season, she once again climbed to the highest place on the podium in the jumping event at the World Championships held in Antwerp, Belgium.

“The best thing I can do today is to thank everyone who believes in us. To get here, we need a lot of support and a lot of help. I’m very happy,” said the gymnast. “It’s my third trophy. It’s something that was very difficult to achieve, I’m very happy,” she added.

Marcus, bronze medalist at the World Cup held in Berlin, Germany, and winner of the World Cup Final in Mexico, won the award for the first time.

“I can’t believe this is happening. I come from a sport that almost no one knows about and, today, being here, making my entire sport dream, showing that all of this is possible, is incredible”, said the archer. “This title belongs to everyone who dreams of making a living from sports in the country. Brazil is the country of football, but it can also be the country of all sports. We need to diversify our investments.”

Rebeca and Marcus were awarded by a jury made up of journalists, managers, the COB Athletes’ Commission, sponsors, former athletes and sports personalities.

In the men’s competition, he competed with Filipe Toledo (surfing) and Hugo Calderano (table tennis), while in the women’s competition, his opponents were Bia Haddad Maia (tennis) and Duda and Ana Patrícia (beach volleyball).

In the collective awards, the women’s volleyball team and the men’s baseball team were awarded the best Brazilian teams of 2023. The New Athlete Award went to Maria Eduarda Alexandre, 16, from rhythmic gymnastics.

When taking the stage to receive the honor representing the women’s volleyball team, the president of the CBV (Brazilian Volleyball Confederation), Radamés Lattari, stated that the trophy will be delivered to the family of former volleyball player Walewska Oliveira, who died in September.

According to the director, it is a way of exalting the achievements of the athlete, who he defines as one of the “sweetest people in the sport.” During the ceremony, the COB also showed a video remembering its importance for Brazilian Olympic sport.

The ceremony ended with a celebration of the victorious season of Brazilian sport as a whole. The country achieved second place overall and broke the record for total medals (205) and the record for gold medals won in the same edition (66) of the Pan American Games, in Santiago, Chile.

Other winners of the 2023 Olympic Brazil Award

Inspire Riachuelo: Bruna Takahashi (table tennis)
Adhemar Ferreira da Silva: Chiaki Ishii (judo)
Olympic Spirit: Fernando Sampaio
Youth Games Highlights: Larissa Borba (swimming) and Daniel Santos (cycling)
Revelation: Maria Eduarda Alexandre (gymnastics)
Return of the Year: Alison dos Santos (athletics)
Collective coach: Ramon Ito (baseball)
Men’s team: baseball
Women’s team: volleyball
Influencer athlete: Luccas Abreu
Cheerleading athlete: Flávia Saraiva (gymnastics)
Individual coach: Camila Ferezin (rhythmic gymnastics)

See the winners in each category:

Open Waters – Ana Marcela Cunha
Athletics – Caio Bonfim
Badminton – Davi Silva and Sânia Lima
3×3 Basketball – Leonardo Branquinho
5×5 Basketball – Yago Mateus
Baseball – Felipe Natel
Bowling – Roberta Camargo Rodrigues
Boxing – Beatriz Ferreira
Breaking – Mayara Colins (Mini Japa)
Canoeing Slalom – Ana Sátila Vargas
Speed ​​Canoeing – Isaquias Queiroz
BMX Freestyle Cycling – Gustavo de Oliveira
BMX Racing Cycling – Paola Reis
Road Cycling – Ana Vitoria Magalhães
Mountain Bike Cycling – Henrique Avancini
Track Cycling – Alice de Melo and Wellyda Rodrigues
Snow Sports – Noah Bethonico
Ice Sports – Nicole Silveira
Sport Climbing – Anja Köhler
Fencing – Nathalie Moellhausen
Water Skiing – Felipe Simioni Neves
Football – Kerolin Ferraz
Artistic Gymnastics – Rebeca Andrade
Trampoline Gymnastics – Camilla Lopes
Rhythmic Gymnastics – Barbara Domingos
Golf – Valentina Bosselmann
Handball – Bruna de Paula
Equestrian Dressage – João Victor Oliva
Equestrian CCE – Marcio Carvalho Jorge
Equestrian Jumping – Stephan Barcha
Field Hockey – Adam Imer
Judo – Beatriz Souza
Karate – Bárbara Hellen Rodrigues
Weightlifting – Laura Amaro
Swimming – Guilherme Costa
Artistic Swimming – Gabriela Regly and Laura Miccuci
Figure Skating – Bianca Corteze Ameixeiro
Speed ​​Skating – Guilherme Abel Rocha
Modern Pentathlon – Isabela de Abreu
Water Polo – Gustavo Guimarães (Grummy)
Rowing – Lucas Verthein
Rugby 7 – Rafaela Conti
Ornamental Heels – Ingrid de Oliveira
Skateboard – Rayssa Leal
Surfing – Filipe Toledo
Taekwondo – Maria Clara Pacheco
Sneakers – Beatriz Haddad
Table Tennis – Hugo Calderano
Archery – Marcus Vinicius D’Almeida
Sports Shooting – Felipe Wu
Triathlon – Miguel Hidalgo
Sailing – Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze
Beach Volleyball – Ana Patricia and Duda Lisboa
Volleyball – Gabriela Guimarães
Wrestling – Laís Nunes

*The reporter traveled at the invitation of COB