{"id":79347,"date":"2024-08-31T08:45:04","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T11:45:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=79347"},"modified":"2024-09-17T12:22:24","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T15:22:24","slug":"black-brazilian-women-take-gold-at-the-2024-olympic-games-part-2-community-and-public-investments-take-favelas-to-the-olympic-podium-with-or-without-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=79347","title":{"rendered":"Black Brazilian Women Take Gold at the 2024 Olympic Games, Part 2: Community and Public Investments Take Favelas to the Olympics, With or Without Medals"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mariane<\/a>
Mariane Fernandes, 28, is a left back for the Brazilian handball team and participated in her first Olympics in 2024. Born in Niter\u00f3i, she was raised in a favela in Anchieta, North Zone of Rio, and began her training in S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o de Meriti, a city in Greater Rio’s Baixada Fluminense. Photo: Social media<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

This is Part 2 of a two-part article<\/a> on the achievements of representation for Black Brazilian women at the 2024 Olympics.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The Olympic achievements of Beatriz Souza, Rebeca Andrade, Ana Patr\u00edcia Ramos, and Duda Lisboa are even more significant when considering the social context of Black women, plus-size women, and women from favelas, peripheral areas, or the northeastern region of Brazil in sports. For these groups, community organizations and public programs, when available, play a fundamental role<\/a> in the development of residents from favelas and peripheral areas, contributing to the reduction of inequalities, social inclusion, and the promotion of fundamental rights.<\/p>\n

These initiatives often emerge as a response to the State’s negligence<\/a> in these regions, offering community-based alternatives that have the power to transform lives. The positive impacts of investing in sports go far beyond the short term, leaving a lasting legacy that shapes the future of young people and families, enabling those residents of favelas and Brazil’s peripheries with potential<\/a> to rise to the level of Olympic athletes. By investing in talent that would otherwise be overlooked, social projects transform lives and strengthen society as a whole.<\/p>\n

These three are not isolated cases. There are a vast number of Olympic medalists from Brazil’s favelas and marginalized peripheries who were shaped by community sports programs. Another emblematic example of an Olympic champion raised through a social project<\/a> is Rafaela Silva<\/a>, a Brazilian judoka from City of God (CDD<\/a>), a favela in the West Zone<\/a> of Rio. She won a bronze medal<\/a> in the mixed team competition in Paris and a gold medal<\/a> in Rio in 2016. Her victorious journey began at a sports initiative in City of God. Silva began her judo journey at the age of seven when her parents, Luiz Carlos and Zenilda Silva, enrolled her and her sister Raquel in the “Geraldo Project<\/a>.” Led by coach Geraldo Bernardes<\/a>, this project later joined forces with the Rea\u00e7\u00e3o Institute<\/a>, founded by former athlete Fl\u00e1vio Canto<\/a> in 2003.<\/p>\n

Bernardes believed that the girls could become international-level athletes, capable of representing Brazil in major competitions. And he was right. Rafaela Silva\u2019s journey from City of God to the Olympic podium is proof that well-structured social projects involving sports can be a powerful tool for social change.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by ge (@ge.globo)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n