One of the sports venues for Rio de Janeiro’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, João Havelange Stadium hosted this year’s Brazil Athletics Trophy, which ended yesterday. Around 10,000 people attended the event, which featured various Brazilian Olympic athletes, including Maurren Maggi, long jump gold medalist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, Keila Costa, Jadel Gregório and Fabiana Murer. 

The highlight of the event was provided by Fabiana Murer. To win gold in the pole vault, she achieved a height of 4.82m, a global record for the 2009 season and an all-time record for South America; the previous record of 4.80m had also been set by Fabiana. “I was hoping to beat my record and so I’m happy with the result,” the athlete explained. Olympic champion Maurren Maggi won silver in the long jump, with a distance of 6.75m. Gold went to Keila Costa, long jump finalist at Beijing 2008, who jumped 6.79m at this weekend’s event.

Built for the Rio 2007 Pan American Games, João Havelange Stadium will host athletics if Rio de Janeiro is selected to host the 2016 Olympic Games. In May, the stadium welcomed athletes from 29 countries, including six Olympic champions, for a Grand Prix athletics meet.