Бразилия / Brazil

Brazil competed for the first time at the Antwerp 1920 Olympic Games, where Guillermo PARAENSE won gold in shooting (rapid fire pistol). They have taken part in every Olympic Games since 1932 but did not win another gold medal until 1952.

In the interim, notable competitors included future FIFA president and IOC member Joao HAVELANGE, who competed in swimming at the Berlin 1936 Olympic Games and water polo in Helsinki in 1952.

In 1952 in Helsinki, Adhemar FERREIRA da SILVA won the men's triple jump and retained the title four years later in Melbourne, while Joachim CRUZ won the men's 800m in 1984.

Brazil's most successful Olympic sports, however, remain sailing and volleyball. In the Olympic regatta at Moscow 1980, Alex WELTER and Lars BJORKSTROM took gold in the tornado, and Eduardo PENIDO and Marcus SOARES won in the 470s.

The Beijing 2008 flagbearer Robert SCHEIDT won gold medals in the laser class at the Atlanta 1996 and Athens 2004 and also has two silver medals.

The men's volleyball team have taken gold twice, in 1992 and 2004, and the women won gold in 2008. Brazil's women won the inaugural Olympic Games beach volleyball competition in 1996.

For a nation with such an illustrious football history, it is strange that the football gold medal has eluded them, even though their teams have featured World Cup-winning players such as GERSON (1960), ROMARIO and BEBETO (1988), RONALDO (1996) and RONALDINHO (2008). At the 2009 IOC Session held in Copenhagen, Rio de Janeiro was chosen as the host city for the 2016 Olympic Games.

These will be the first to be held in South America.