Pole-vaulter Fabiana Murer to lead largest ever Brazilian Olympic athletics team
Former world champion set a new personal best as 66 athletes were named in host nation team for Rio 2016 Games
Murer is among the best-known names in a team of 66 men and women for Rio 2016 (Photo: Getty Images/Alexandre Schneider)
Brazilian pole vaulter Fabiana Murer chose a good time to leap higher than she had ever leaped before. Her 4.87m vault on Sunday (3 July) took her past Greece's Ekaterini Stefanídi by one centimetre at the Brazil Trophy, the final event for Brazilian athletes to earn a place in the Olympic team for Rio 2016.
Murer’s performance in São Bernardo do Campo, in the state of São Paulo, was not the only good news of the day for Brazil. The Brazilian Athletics Federation (CBAt) confirmed 66 athletes for the Rio 2016 Games, 36 men and 30 women. This is the largest athletics delegation the country have had at the Olympic Games.
Murer’s career-best vault puts her firmly in contention to reach the podium at Rio 2016, although she was not too keen to talk about it. “There are at least six athletes with a chance of an Olympic medal. It’s a strong group, it’s an open contest,” said the former world champion.
“I am happy because it is my last season. I always wanted to retire at my peak”
Fabiana Murer
Find out how to buy tickets for Rio 2016
How to plan a last-minute trip to the Rio 2016 Games
Murer celebrates the best vault jump of her career (Photo: Getty Images/Alexandre Schneider)
Murer, who won the world title in 2011 and earned a silver medal at last year's world championships, tried to jump five metres on Sunday but admitted it was asking too much on this occasion. “I tried a second time, but I was tired. I’m going to leave it for now to do it later on.”
Sebastian Coe predicts records will tumble on ‘very fast’ athletics track at Rio 2016 Olympic Games
Murer will be joined in the pole vault by Joana Costa, who also achieved a personal on Sunday. Her vault of 4.50m equalled the Olympic qualification standard set by the IAAF; thus the 35-year-old scraped into the Rio 2016 Games at the last possible moment.
In the women's triple jump, Nubia Soares qualified for the Games with a distance of 14.17m. Sprinter Kauiza Venâncio qualified in the women's 200m with a time of 22.93 seconds.
In the men’s 200m, Jorge Vides and Vitor Hugo dos Santos secured their places at Rio 2016 with times of 20.40 and 20.50 respectively. For Dos Santos, this was his second Olympic place as he already guaranteed a spot in the 100m.
