It was the last day of competition in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. The Brazilian marathon runner, Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, was leading the 35km (the competition ends in the 42km) when a spectator entered the road and pushed him outside the competition area. Terrified with the attack, he counted on the people around him to help him shake off the man and return to the course. Partially recovered, he lost two positions and the gold dream turned into bronze.

That scene shocked people from all over the globe. Emanuel couldn’t be indifferent to that. Winner of the gold medal the day before the incident, together with Ricardo, Emanuel met Vanderlei when returning to Brazil. During a television programme, he offered him his medal. National broadcasted, that moment touched the entire country, because everyone saw the two men in an emotional hug, sweeping the pain of an opportunity melt in the air.

More than being appointed by experts as the best Beach Volleyball player in history, with ten World Tour titles, three times world champion, gold in Athens 2004 and bronze in Beijing 2008, Emanuel is an athlete by excellence and the synthesis of the Olympic spirit. At 38 years old, he is getting prepared to the fifth edition of the Games. The young and humble aura, although, makes him believe that he still has a lot to learn. Excited about Rio 2016™, he does not scrap the chance of playing at his home country in five years.

Check out the interview with the myth of the sand:

Where were you on October 2, 2009, when Rio won the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games?

I clearly remember. I have been invited to go to Copenhagen, but, that weekend, we had to compete in Recife in the Brazilian Circuit. I remember I was playing. It was around four p.m. when we knew about the result. Inside the court, it was like a Brazil national soccer team goal in the World Cup. It was announced on the audio system. Everyone shouted of joy. To us, 2016 started there.

Beach Volleyball won’t leave an infrastructure legacy, because the Copacabana stadium will be a temporary venue. What will Rio 2016™ leave to the sport?

It will leave two moments as legacies: the preparation until 2016, which is the motivation that makes all athletes participate in the event, and afterwards, the effects that will remain. The children who practice the sport, between 10 and 14 years old, are beginning their trajectories in the sport. It is the moment when they watch the sport and decide: “I want to play this sport”. This is what has happened to me. When I was 11 years old, I was deciding which sport I wanted to play. Then, Brazil won the silver medal in Los Angeles 1984 with the men’s Volleyball team. That fact has certainly motivated me.

Your sport is relatively new. You have participated in all editions of the Olympic Games since its debut in Atlanta 1996. How do you evaluate the evolution of Beach Volleyball?

The Brazilian Circuit began in 1991, and that was the year that I started competing for the sport as well. All previous years, there was only one championship per year, which was called Brazilian Championship. It took place in Rio de Janeiro and had only one team per state. It was the first year I have taken part. I won a championship at Paraná and came to represent the state. The same year, the top-ten were selected to play for the Brazilian National team.

I can resume the evolution of Beach Volleyball in two words: scary and organised. It was scary because it has grown too fast. Since the moment it became an Olympic sport, it has evolved in terms of respect and culture. All of a sudden, it was no longer a summer sport; it was a much respected Olympic sport. It has evolved a little with each edition of the Games. And I can resume it in organised because the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation managed to make this a victorious sport. We won medals in all editions of the Games.

You are 38 years old and you are still playing. Many athletes from the first Olympic Beach Volleyball generation still play. How do you see the renovation of talents in Brazil and the world?

I can see renovation, but it is a very different sport. The athletes who train Beach Volleyball get stronger. They are able to play for a longer period of time. Let’s analyse Franco’s example. He is 46 years old and still plays, and plays very well. The number of injuries is different from indoor Volleyball, where you can get a spine or knee problem due to the jump. It is a healthier sport, which allows the athlete to play for a longer time. In terms of renovation, it is happening, yes. The Brazilian Confederation is investing in an under-21 championship, already existing in the world level. Five years earlier, this kind of championship did not exist, so the gap between start training and get to the professional level was really big.

You came from the indoor Volleyball. At the beginning, it was a common process. Today, the logic is different and the training starts in the sand. Why?

At the beginning, there were not many professionals working with that, professionals such as coaches and physical trainers. So, athletes coming from the indoor version had better conditions. They come prepared to play. I believe that, in the last ten years, Beach Volleyball turned into a more specific sport. Now, I can say that they are two completely different sports. Is Volleyball the base? Yes, it is. But the systems of training, strategy, match and travel are completely different. Indoor players won’t adapt themselves to the beach as easy as it was possible to do before. Beach players will also have problems adapting themselves to the indoor version. The pace of the game, the technique, the strategy, everything is very different.

After seven years, how do you remember the gold medal in Athens 2004?

For me, the gold medal was built. Everyone thinks that you just have to get to the Games and win, but I know that it is not like that. You have to build the medal. Every three years, you have to prepare yourself for that. It is a mental, structural preparation. You have to have the best professionals working by your side. I could only do that in my third opportunity. I understood the context of the Games only in the third time. In the first, I was too young, I was 23 years old, I did not understand the meaning of that. In the second, I had some experience. I and Loiola were the frontrunners. I learnt what an Olympic pressure was, and we ended up in ninth place. The power of this whole thing is that you have to understand that a proper preparation is necessary for the Games. It is not just about getting there, playing and winning.

What is the difference?

The difference is the ritual. The difficulty of the first match, for instance, is very common in the Olympic Games. You are representing your country, you are representing the athletes.

You don’t believe some teams are able to achieve good results, but they play very well. The best ones don’t play very well [giggles]. The first match syndrome exists, the semifinal syndrome also exists. There are a lot of people who only prepare themselves to get to the medal table. They don’t prepare themselves to the match. We, the Brazilians, are always looking for the result. So, at every match an athlete plays, there are 20 media people looking for a result, without mentioning the family and the entire country. We are very emotional people, so this can get in the way. The preparation has to consider all aspects and, for 2004, I managed those aspects together with my team. Ricardo and I win the battle since the moment we started the project, in 2002.

In Athens 2004, a spectator invaded the course of the Marathon and hindered Vanderlei Cordeiro from getting the gold. He ended up with the bronze medal. Sometime later, in a gesture that moved everyone, you offered your gold medal to him – he thanked you for that, but he said he could not accept it. Tell us a little about this example of Olympic spirit.

I am a true athlete. I play because I like sport. I deeply admire athletes in their essence, true athletes, not just the players. In my head, there is a big difference between players, that only practice the sport, and athletes, who have an upstanding attitude inside and outside the court, who are concerned about the sport and the youth. And Vanderlei showed he is like that. After everything that has happened, he had even glorified the bronze medal, saying that it was more important than the gold medal, because that was the one he had won. You have to honour a noble act like that.

For me, the value of my gold medal could be measured by the value of the context. That medal I have been awarded did not mean exactly the size of my accomplishment, and that was the meaning I wanted Vanderlei to understand. When you give somebody a gold medal, you do it because that person really deserves it, and he deserved it. That was my intention.

Read on the second part of the interview