Brazilian Olympic Committee celebrates its 100th Anniversary

A historic date for the Brazilian sport. On Sunday, June 8, the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) - the first National Olympic Committee of South America - celebrated the 100th year of a history full of memorable achievements. One hundred years of conquered challenges and Brazilian sport development.

"We have now reached a historic moment for both Brazilian and the world sport. The pages of this history were written by individuals whose love of sport is greater than anybody else's: the Brazilian athletes, the true heroes who in the fields, courts, tracks and pools, fight for the expectations and the emotion of millions of Brazilian fans. Now as its 100th anniversary arrives, the Brazilian Olympic Committee embodies this relationship of love between Brazilian people and sport", COB president Carlos Arthur Nuzman, Volleyball Olympic athlete at Tokyo 1964 Games and International Olympic Committee member, said.

The history of the foundation of the Brazilian Olympic Committee starts in 1913, when Raul Paranhos do Rio Branco, the son of Baron of Rio Branco, and Brazilian Ambassador stationed in Berne, Switzerland, is invited by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to join the International Olympic Committee (IOC). This gesture was an acknowledgment of Brazilian sport potential, and it marks the beginning of Brazilian history inside the International Olympic Movement. After this invitation, the Brazilian ambassador became the first Brazilian delegate to the IOC, and led to, on this same year, a public campaign towards the establishment of a Brazilian Olympic Committee. On July 8 of 1914, high ranking officials convened in Rio de Janeiro for a meeting at the headquarters of the Brazilian Federation of Rowing Associations and in an assembly declared the establishment of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, naming it the National Olympic Committee (NOC).

Since its first participation in 1920 Antwerp Games, when Brazil won three shooting sport medals, including a gold medal conquered by Guilherme Paraense, the Brazilian Olympic Committee has been writing its own history and the history of Olympic sport in the country.

Brazilian sport has also been evolving thanks to the hard work of its membership of 30 Brazilian Olympic Confederations. In a continuous process of improvement of their management processes, the Confederations have worked tirelessly in athlete discovery and preparation. As a result of this full commitment and dedication, innumerable world and continental titles were conquered, in the most diverse range of sport disciplines, and most importantly, athletes became idols, bringing sport closer and closer to the public, the media and the sponsors.

Special emphasis was given by COB in the last 20 years to the enforcement of a modern management mode. New departments and areas were created, as for example, the Cultural Department, the Brazilian Olympic Academy, the Brazilian Olympic Institute, Communication, Events, Sport Science, Project Office, the Athlete's Commission, the Women's Commission and the Sport and Environment Commission and has taken up new roles, such as the organization of the two annual phases of the Youth School Games, an international benchmark for student competitions.

COB has also led the successful campaigns to host the South American Games 2002, the Pan American Games Rio 2007 and the Olympic Games Rio 2016, which for the first time, will be held in South America. Working closely with the Brazilian Olympic Confederations COB took part in the Organizing Committee of the above mentioned Games, and the Rio 2007 Games were said to be the best Pan American Games ever. Similarly, COB and the Confederations are part of the Organizing Committee for Rio 2016 Games.

In recent years, COB succeeded in finding new sources of Olympic Sport funding. The most important of such sources resulting from the efforts made by COB itself was the Agnelo/Piva Law, enacted in 2001, which for the first time in the history of our country, has ensured a source of permanent and continuous resources for Olympic sport development.

COB has also designed a support programs for athletes facing a career transition, development of sport management officials and started working jointly with the Confederations in the direct preparation of Brazilian elite sport teams and athletes. The qualification of technical commissions, training of multidisciplinary teams and an intensive use of sport sciences became a standard in the preparation of the Brazilian delegations. Additionally, among its staff COB also has 22 former Olympic and Pan American athletes and coaches.

With so many proactive actions, the impact on achieved results was soon felt. Between Antwerp 1920 and Barcelona 1992, in 16 editions of the Olympiads, Brazil claimed 39 medals, with an average of 2.4 medals in each edition of the Games. Between Atlanta 1996 and London 2012, in five editions, 69 medals have been conquered, reaching an average of 13.8 medals in each Olympiad. In the course of these one hundred years Brazilian Olympic sport won 108 Olympic medals: 23 gold, 30 silver and 55 bronze medals.

Future – Now, 100 years later, COB is planning for the future and is setting itself even stricter objectives. If in London 2012, the last edition of the Olympic Games, Team Brasil won 17 medals, a Brazilian record, COB is still facing its most important challenge - the preparation of the Brazilian delegation for the Olympic Games Rio 2016. COB is aiming at placing Brazil among the top ten countries in the medal ranking. Focusing on this goal, COB has put together a Strategic Map that will guide towards completion of the mission of changing Brazil into an Olympic power and to keep it in this position. From there, critical investment strategies were established based on medium and long term projects, aimed at the improvement and development of each sport, discipline or athlete with potential to achieve results.

For more information:

www.cob.org.br

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