Sailor Jorge Zarif and swimmer Poliana Okimoto were named male and female athletes of the year at the 2013 Brazilian Olympic Awards on Tuesday night ( 17 December). Voted for by the public, the athletes were honoured at the award ceremony, organised by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), at Teatro Bradesco, in São Paulo.

Zarif won two Finn class world titles in 2013. At the age of 20, he became junior world champion in Italy and, later in the year, he won the Finn Gold Cup in the open category in Estonia. He gained more votes than the other two shortlisted male athletes: swimmer Cesar Cielo and gymnast Arthur Zanetti.

“I'm very surprised to have been chosen,” said Zarif. “I'm grateful for the fantastic year I've had. I had a lot of luck and could count on great support when I injured my back in April. Brazil has a big advanatge in sailing because we have examples like Robert Scheidt and Torben Grael. Those two have always inspired me.”

Okimoto dominated the international marathon swimming scene this season. At the world championships in Spain, the Brazilian won the 10km event, the Olympic event’s official length, and also took silver in the 5km as well as bronze in the 5km team event. She won two stages of the Open Water World Championships and set the new South American record in the 1500m, bettering a mark that had stood for 12 years.

After finishing ahead of judoka Rafaela Silva and modern pentathlete Yane Marques in the vote, Okimoto said: “I'm very honoured to enter into this select group of Brazilian Olympic athletes. I know well how hard every athlete battles to be successful, and Rafaela and Yane also deserve praise. I'm very grateful to my family for their support. It's great that I'm having a good moment in my career during the best moment for Olympic sport in Brazil.”

The evening also featured a tribute to Torben Grael, the greatest medallist in Brazilian Olympic history, together with Robert Scheidt. Grael, who is currently head coach of the Brazilian Olympic sailing team, received the Adhemar Ferreira da Silva Award, for athletes who continue the legacy left by the two-time Olympic athletics champion.

“This award means a lot to me,” Grael said. “Adhemar was always an inspiration in my career. I stopped competing with a little frustration at never having been chosen as athlete of the year, but now this feeling has definitely left.”

The leading athletes from 43 sports also received awards, along with the best national sports coaches. The awards ceremony also honoured the best School Youth Games athletes and the São Paulo 1963 Pan American Games medallists, who received a special tribute.

Check out the list of winners below:

Athletics

Mauro Vinicius Silva (Duda)

Badminton

Lohaynny Vincent

Basketball

Tiago Splitter

Boxing

Robson Conceição

Canoe slalom

Ana Sátila

Canoe sprint

Isaquias Queiroz

BMX cycling

Renato Rezende

Road cycling

Rafael Andriato

Mountain bike

Henrique Avancini

Track cycling

Flavio Cipriano

Snow sports

Isabel Clark

Ice sports

Isadora Williams

Fencing

Gabriela Cecchini

Football

Neymar Junior

Artistic gymnastics

Arthur Zanetti

Trampoline

Giovanna Matheus

Rhythmic gymnastics

Angelica Kvieczynski

Golf

Adilson Silva

Handball

Alexandra Nascimento

Equestrian - dressage

Luíza Almeida

Equestrian - eventing

Marcelo Tosi

Equestrian - jumping

Alvaro Affonso de Miranda Neto (Doda)

Hockey

Matheus Borges Ferreira

Judo

Rafaela Silva

Weightlifting

Fernando Reis

Wrestling

Joice Silva

Marathon swimming

Poliana Okimoto

Synchronised swimming

Lorena Molinos

Swimming

Cesar Cielo

Water polo

Izabella Chiappini

Diving

César Castro

Modern pentathlon

Yane Marques

Rowing

Fabiana Beltrame

Rugby

Julia Sardá

Taekwondo

Guilherme Dias

Tennis

Bruno Soares

Table tennis

Hugo Calderano

Archery

Sarah Nikitin

Shooting

Cassio Rippel

Triathlon

Pâmella Oliveira

Sailing

Jorge Zarif

Beach volleyball

Talita Antunes

Volleyball

Thaisa Daher

Best individual sports coach

Marcos Goto (artistic gymnastics)

Best team sports coach

José Roberto Guimarães (volleyball)