Fun Facts About Olympic Nations - Brazil

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Brazil will host the FIFA 2014 Football World Cup.The FIFA Executive Committee has decided that South America will host the tournament. FIFA president Sepp Blatter said "The task was not easy - for us it was a real big challenge to have the same list of requirements and the same conditions for only one candidate than if we had two and perhaps we put the bar higher than if we had two. There was an extraordinary presentation by the delegation and we witnessed that this World Cup will have such a big social and cultural impact in Brazil." The World Cup is the most-watched event in the world.

FIFA 2014

In 1975, Joao Carlos de Oliveira set a new world record in the triple jump with a distance of 17,89m. He was the flag-bearer of the Brazilian Olympic team at the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Canada in 1976.

Fun Facts About Olympic Nations - Brazil

The 1963 Pan American Games were held in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Bernardo Rocha de Rezende is one of the best volleyball coaches in the world. He was born in Rio de Janeiro. He once said: "After the first very important victories, the biggest problem was to overcome the changing environment around the team. If the players change their attitude, loosing the firm discipline - the winning squads suddenly disappear." In the 1970s and early 80s, Bernardo was one of the greatest volleyball players in the world such as Karch Kiraly (USA) and Oleg Alekseyevich Moliboga (USSR/Russia).

Brazil is the birthplace of Edson Arantes dos Nascimento, best known as "Pele". He is the greatest football player of all time.

Carlos Arthur Nuzman is one of the best Olympic leaders in the world. He was born on March 17, 1942 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Brazilian national volleyball team. He competed at the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo (Japan). From 1975 to 1995, he was elected president of the Brazilian Volleyball Confederation.Under his leadership, Brazil won many international titles: South American championships (15 titles), Pan American Games (1 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze medals), World Championships (2 gold, 6 silver, 5 bronze medals), Olympic Games (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze). Currently, Carlos is the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB). In 2007, he organized the Pan American Games for the second time in Brazil. When Brazil was chosen host of the 2007 Pan American Games, Carlos Nuzman said: "It was the victory of the best project and of the best proposals. The Games 2007 are going to shape the history of Brazilian sport and we are going to work hard to realize the best Pan American Games of all time".In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he organized many tournaments:

-The 1977 FIVB World Youth Championship(Rio de Janeiro)
-The 1981 South American Volleyball Championship (Santo Andre)
-The 1982 Pre-World Championship (Rio de Janeiro)
-The 1983 South American Championship (Sao Paulo)
-The 1989 South American Volleyball Championship (Curitiba)
-The 1989 Girls' U 18 World Championship (Foz de Iguazu)
- The 1991 South American Championship (Sao Paulo)
-The 1993 FIVB World Youth Championship (Sao Paulo)
-The 1990 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Cup (Brasilia)
-The 1994 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship (Sao Paulo).

Robert Scheidt (sailing) was named the flag-bearer of the Brazilian Olympic team for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Robert was twice Olympic champion (1996 & 2004).

This Latin American country won 13 Olympic medals from 1920 to 1972...

The Brazilian women's basketball team won the silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. The players were Hortencia de Fatima Marcari Oliva, Maria Paula Goncalves da Silva, Claudia Maria Pastor, Cintia Silva Dos Santos, Silvia Andrea Santos Luz, Janet dos Santos Arcain, Martha de Souza Sobral, Alexandra Santos de Oliveira, Maria Angelica Goncalves da Silva, Ariana Aparecida dos Santos, Leila de Souza Sobral, Roseli do Carmo Gustavo.

Brazil hosted the 15th FIBA World Championship for Women in 2006. It was the fourth time the event was held in Brazil.

This South American country sent 12 swimmers to the Munich Olympic Games in 1972. They were: Ruy Aquino Oliveira, Romulo Arantes Junior, Paulo Becskehazy, Jose Diniz Aranha, Jose Sylvio Fiolo, Alfredo Carlos Machado, Antonio Rocha Azevedo, Sergio Waissmann, Paulo Zanetti, Texeira Cristina Bassani, Maria Isabel Guerra, Lucy Maurity Burle.

The Brazilian men's national basketball team won the World Championship in 1963.
Final standings:

1.Brazil
2.Yugoslavia (currently Serbia)
3.USSR (currently Russia)
4.United States
5.France
6.Puerto Rico
7.Italy
8.Argentina
9.Mexico
10.Uruguay
11.Canada
12.Peru
13.Japan

The 1963 World University Games were held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, between August 30 and September 8.

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