BOC lights the Christ Redeemer to mark 100 days to Tokyo 2020

From one Olympic capital to the other. Christ Redeemer, one of the seven marvels of the modern world, dressed up as Team Brazil on the night of this April 14th to mark 100 days to go until the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. In a moment in which the pandemic still shows no signs of being closer to the end, with open arms over Rio de Janeiro, the stage of previous Summer Games in 2016, the greatest symbol in the country reminded all of how sports may inspire in the fight against COVID-19.

The action held by the Brazil Olympic Committee (BOC) also contemplates the donation of 1,000 packs of essential food and household items to the Rio de Janeiro Archdiocese, which supports almost 60 charity projects in the city.

"There is no moment more propitious to remember the importance of health and of a healthier life through sports practice. It is not a day to celebrate, out of respect and solidarity for all Brazilians who lost their lives, but it is a day for us to have hope that better days will come. I have no doubt that the Olympic Games may be a symbol of the beginning of the restart, " says BOC´s president Paulo Wanderley Teixeira.

The projection started exactly at 18:45 and presented Team Brazil´s brand in a representation of the delegation's uniform followed by inspirational sports´ words discipline, respect, focus, overcoming, determination, and courage appearing over fields, pools, mats, and courts. The display ended when the clock struck a symbolic 20:20 to mark Tokyo 2020 Games.

"Brazil and the world are going through a very hard times, and I have the conviction that sports may help us get out of this better than we came in. Respect, overcoming, and determination, some of the words we projected today and that are present in the day-to-day of the athletes, must be valued by everyone in the challenging days", says Rogério Sampaio, BOC´s general secretary and Olympic judo champion. "We have entered the final stretch of preparation for the Tokyo Games and are focused on the preparation of the Brazilian delegation, but the great battle that the whole world is fighting is against COVID", he adds.

100 days - The projection onto the Christ Redeemer was the closing of a day filled with emotion and hope. BOC´s streaming platform opened the morning of this April with a special program straight from Team Brazil Training Center, with the presence Olympians such as Aline Silva (wrestling), Ana Marcela Cunha (aquatic marathons), Flávia Saraiva (artistic gymnastics), Mayra Aguiar (judo), and Silvana Lima (surf).

Also during the attraction, which lasted for about one hour, BOC´s main spokespersons talked about the details of Tokyo 2020 planning in the fields of performance, logistics and COVID-19 prevention protocols. Live from Japan, correspondent Anna Olívia Wermelinger brought a panorama of how the megaevent preparations are going directly from the Olympic Stadium.

On Team Brazil´s social networks, ranked second in the world by a recent research about number of fans among National Olympic Committees,, the countdown began on the 13th evening, playing with the 12 hours time difference between Brazil and Japan. Brazilian fans could also change their avatars using a special design Ginga (Team Brazil´s mascot) filter on Instagram.

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