By Arkady Petrov
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Yesterday morning, 12th, Brazil became world champion in the 4×100 men’s relay at Yokohama Stadium in Japan.
On the same stage where the Brazilian national soccer team was champion in 2002, Rodrigo Nascimento, Derick Silva, Jorge Vides, and Paulo André made 38s05, just two hundredths less than the American quartet.
The third position was taken by Great Britain, with 38s15 time.
“It’s a great joy. You have no idea what we went through to get here. We really, really deserved it. We’re world champions. We’re delighted, very happy indeed. We trained, spent a lot of time away from home. We are world champions, and no one can take that away from us,” said Paulo André, in a statement to SporTV.
Justin Gatlin, current world champion of the 100m sprints, was on the U.S. team, though he was no match for the Brazilians who, in addition to the world title, also scored the best mark of the year in the category.
Moreover, the result is also historical as it is the first gold for Brazil, having conquered silver at the Sydney 2000 Olympics and bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
“We have a highly qualified group, and this is all due to the faith that the Seleção and coach Felipe de Siqueira had in us. He’s the guy!”, thanked Jorge.
In women’s class, Time Brasil came in fourth place. Ana Carolina Azevedo, Lorraine Martins, Franciela Krasucki, and Vitória Rosa made 43s75, a little behind Germany with 43s68. The gold went to the Americans with 43s27, only two hundredths faster than Jamaica.
“We’re sad because fourth place hurts, it’s so close to the medal. We’re a new team. It’s the first time we have run with this formation, and we still have much to evolve,” said Franciela.