Brazil Sports Minister: 'We Expect Success in the Games'

(ATR) Brazil’s sports minister Leonardo Picciani answered a variety of questions during a teleconference with international journalists on July 7.

It marked the first time someone in Picciani’s position has held a press conference of this type in the run-up to next month’s Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Picciani, who is the third Brazilian sports minister in the past year, did not break much new ground during the teleconference but did give some insight into the country’s medal hopes.

A computer projection by Gracenote Sports, released on Wednesday, predicts Brazil will win a record 20 medals in Rio. But when asked by Around the Rings if there was any pressure to set a record, Picciani said that the goal is not for a specific medal count but for Brazil to finish in the top 10 in the final medals table.

"We do expect our country to be successful in the Games," Picciani tells ATR.

"Sports are not an exact science, it is impossible to predict exactly what is likely to occur. If the target is not reached for any reason, it will not be the end of the world. We will need to reassess the way we prepare so we can adjust for the next Olympic cycle but again it’s not the end of the world."

A top 10 finish in the medals table would be quite an improvement over Brazil’s recent performances in the Summer Games. After finishing 16th in Athens 2004, Brazil came in 23rd in Beijing 2008 and 22nd in London 2012.

There is also some doubt that even a record 20 medals would get Brazil into the top 10. The current Brazilian record is the 17 total medals won in London, which didn’t get them into the top 20.

Picciani says the goal for the Paralympics is a top five finish. This appears a more realistic goal, given that Brazil finished seventh in the medals table at the 2012 Paralympics.

Picciani updated the situation surrounding Brazil’s anti-doping laboratory in Rio, which lost its WADA accreditation on June 22. He says the expectation is that the lab will regain its accreditation before the Games begin on Aug. 5.

"Beginning on July 5 and until today a WADA commission is currently inspecting the lab to re-examine accreditation, " Picciani told reporters. "The cause of the issue that led to the suspension of the accreditation of the Brazilian anti-doping laboratory has been identified and corrected."

Picciani reiterated that suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has been invited to the opening ceremony and would be at a "place of honor in an exclusive space at the Maracana Stadium".

Rousseff is serving a mandatory suspension as part of her impeachment trial that is expected to end in late August, in between the end of the Olympics and the beginning of the Paralympics.

Written by Gerard Farek

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