with Paris 2024 Olympic Games Nearby, Brazilian Olympic sports federations are racing to secure the final places and train their athletes as much as possible to be able to compete in the world's biggest sporting event.
In traditional Brazilian sports, the expectations and desire of athletes and coaches make delegations exclusively Brazilian. But in other countries, where development and fame are less important, coaches and advisors from other countries are there to train Brazilian athletes.
Among these cases are the coaches of the Brazilian delegation Football Seven females from the complete horse riding competition (Riding), both British, and jumping (equestrian), Swiss. For these coaches, the effort put into coaching another team is a reward for the challenge and national recognition. But what does everyone think of Brazilian sports and teams?
Rugby sevens
Rugby sevens is a traditional sport played in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, where teams have seven players per side, rather than the traditional 15, and matches are short, played to 14 players. Minutes, causing more attempts and distress. Scoring follows the same rules with five points each Try, Three by penalty and two by transfer. The Brazilian Olympic team, coached by Englishman Will Broderick, is already beyond the satisfaction of participating and striving to achieve goals, the coach reported.
Broderick arrived in Brazil in 2014, through the English rugby league program, the English Premier League, with the aim of developing the sport in countries with no tradition in the sport, to play as a player for Sorocaba Lechuza, then left for the Saracens squad, from São Paulo, moving from player to Physical trainer and then to the coach of the Sao Paulo team. In 2020, he took over as coach of the Brazilian women's rugby sevens team, and is impressed by the development of the sport in the country. “What I notice, in terms of development, is the mentality of the Brazilian woman and her pride in wearing this jersey,” says Broderick, who adds of the change in the team's mentality: “We've done that a few times in 2024, and when we haven't done that, winning games, we're pushing these teams.” “To the utmost extent.”
When asked about the comparison between rugby in the UK and Brazil, the coach said that the sport is played there the same way as football is played in Brazil. “The UK has a rugby culture, you see pitches everywhere, just like football pitches in Brazil. Rugby is played in schools there, and there is a huge tradition. Clubs have a very strong social role, they involve families and ultimately people,” Broderick says. : “Learning about sports.”
In terms of training, staying among the sport's elite World Tour takes a lot of work. “We train every day at the Núcleo de Alto Rendimento (NAR), in São Paulo, often in two shifts. We only have Sundays off. We are in Division 1 of the Women's Rugby Sevens World Tour, which includes the top 12 teams from the world,” he says. In terms of experiences with other teams, in addition to matches and cups, a few players in the current team, like Bianca Silva who has already played in Japan, have experience playing in another country.
Regarding the preparation for Paris 2024, previous issues, such as the suspension of training for Tokyo 2020 due to the epidemic, are on the agenda, but the search for medals will be more intense for Broderick and his team. “It's different now, we have been able to develop a long-term business, without major interruptions. We had some very notable wins in 2024, all on the World Tour. Two against Ireland, a traditional team, in the Vancouver (Canada) and Los Angeles (USA) stages We beat Fiji, a very strong team, in Los Angeles as well,” said the coach, who did not reveal the Olympics strategy.
Riding
Complete riding competition
In full equestrian competition, it is the category that deals with multiple areas of the sport of horse riding, with courses that require skill in multiple techniques from the riders and their horses, such as a triathlon on horseback. Among the categories in the method are dressage and jumping events. This category is the only one in which competition is uniform between men and women, without any distinction between the sexes.
To coach this team, the challenge falls on the shoulders of Britain's William Fox-Pitt, one of the most successful players in this category and a three-time Olympic medalist, who won silver medals in Athens 2004 and London 2012 and a bronze medal in Beijing 2008.
Jumping
Jumping is a classic track category, where the rider and animal jump over bars and other obstacles in a set amount of time, trying to beat the time without touching anything on the track and receiving punishment. Brazil has three medals in this category, including two bronzes for the team in Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, and an individual gold for Rodrigo Pessoa in Athens 2004.
The person who coaches the Brazilian national team is Swiss Philippe Guerdat, who previously participated in two Olympic Games in 1984 and 1988, and has been coaching the Brazilian national team since 2019. He says that the difference between when he was a rider and when he was a coach is a matter of following the orders that are already in place. Now, as a coach, being on the other side has a separate vision of leading the team.
Regarding the Brazilian and Swiss teams, Qardat reports on the financial issue, but he goes further. “When you play for your national team you are always trying to raise your flag at the top of the podium, whereas when you coach another team trying to beat your country, you don’t care about that, you only care about your development.” He explains. Regarding communication with trainees, even with different nationalities, he says, “It is very good, despite the difference and choosing the best.”
The expectations for the Olympic Games in Paris for Qardat are positive, but they are not necessarily victories, as it depends on “luck” and good horses, but his team will strive to achieve the best possible and will see what it can achieve in the competition.
