Meet the young athletes from Brazil and Portugal at Beijing 2022
One of the great signs of a nation’s development in sport is the increasing number of young talents who arrive at the Olympic Games before the age of 20. In Brazil and Portugal at Beijing 2022, which starts on February 4, there is reason to celebrate. The two countries with athletes who still have a lot to evolve in the coming years. See who they are:
Sabrina Cass (Brazil), freestyle skiing
How about having a youth world champion on the team? The freestyle skier Sabrina Cassi19, is already among the 30 best in the world in the moguls, a freestyle skiing event in which athletes descend a mountain with mounds of snow and perform jumps.
In 2019, she won the World Youth Championship in Italy but still defends the USA at the time. Sabrina was born in New Haven, the daughter of a Brazilian mother and decided to start defending the green and yellow flag in 2021. She will be the Brazilian to represent the country in freestyle skiing at the Winter Olympics, after Josi Santos in Sochi 2014 (antennas ).
Sabrina will make her Brazil debut in Beijing on the 3rd at 18:00 local time (7:00 in Brasília). “I still can’t believe I’m here! I’m trying to live every moment and this whole experience. It’s amazing!” she said.
Manex Silva (Brazil), cross-country skiing
Born in Acre and a resident of Spain since childhood, Manex Silva is 19 years old and can already be considered the best cross-country skier in the country. He was top40 at the Lausa 2020 Youth Winter Olympics and became the first Brazilian to drop 10 FIS points (in cross country, the less points, the mark).
The Manex made him able to qualify for the Winter Games of performance criteria A, the most difficult, which allows the first participant of all the individual races of the program.
“It’s still hard to believe that I’m about to compete in the Olympic Games. I was on the bus (from the airport to the village) thinking: I’m in China! It’s a very long, very different country and I’m going to need a few days to get used to it. to have come this far”, commented the skier upon arriving in Beijing.
Manex debuts on the 6th of February in the skiathlon (15:00 local, 4:00 GMT), then competes in the men’s sprint on the 8th (16:50 local, 5:50 GMT), 15km on the 11th (15:00 GMT). ) local, 4:00 am Brasília time) and a 50km mass start on the 19th (2:00 pm local time and 3:00 am Brasília time).
Eduarda Ribera (Brazil), cross-country skiing
Duda Ribera, from Rondônia, arrived at the press in Beijing, replacing Bruna Moura, who suffered a car accident before traveling to the Winter Games. At 17, she is the second youngest in the history of Brazil at the event (behind Evelyn Schuler, from alpine skiing, in Albertville 1992).
Sister to 2022 cross-country runner-up Cristian Ribera, Duda was also at Lausanne 2020, finishing 72nd in the sprint and 73rd in the cross-country cross. She also captured the top 10 of the Balkan Cup in January 2022 in Zlatibor, Serbia.
“I want to make the most of all the opportunities that come with me even at such a young age. Being with the best in the world will make me a little nervous, but I’ll do my best for the whole world and enjoy every moment here”, said Duda.
Alongside February with Jaqueline Mourão, who will make her eighth Olympic participation, Duda competes on the 8th at 16:00 local time (5:00 GMT) in the sprint, on the 10th in the 10km at 15:00 local time (4:00 GMT) ) ) and on the 16th in the team sprint at 17:00 (6:00 GMT).
Eduarda Ribera at the Beijing Olympic Village.
Photo: Alexandre Castello Branco/COB
Vanina Guerillot (Portugal), alpine skiing
Of French origin, a 19-year-old alpine skier Vanina de Oliveira Guerillot is more of an athlete and defender of her mother nation. In 2018, she debuted at the World Cup, the most noble ski circuit, where 2018 found her idol, American Mikela Shiffrin. “I think she won the race, she came to me and that one was happy that people were young there said. I think it’s the [minha] better memory,” she outlines.
The skier was also 39th in the slalom at the World Cup in 2019, and 24th in the combined world at the World Youth Championship in Narvik, Sweden, in 2021. “I hope to show my best skiing with the best in the world”, commented Guerillot .
Like Manex Silva and Eduarda Ribera, Guerillot participated in the Lausanne 2020 Youth Games. She finished the super-G race in 28th position. “I think that to not have so much stress before the races, before the Games, it is an experience that will help me, yes”, commented a Portuguese woman about the experience in Switzerland.
Guerillot will compete in the giant slalom on February 7th at 10:15 am local time (2:15 am Lisbon time) and in the slalom on the 9th at the same time.
Vanina Guerillot (POR) in action during the 2019 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Flachau, Austria.
Photo: Getty Images 2019