The commission will be tasked with representing the interests of Olympic athletes and formulating recommendations to the Brazilian Olympic Committee, encouraging female participation in sport, and supporting the development of youth education through sport, among other responsibilities.
The president of the commission will be Bernard Rajzman, who won a silver medal for volleyball at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games. The vice president will be Hortência Macari, world basketball champion in Australia in 1994, and bronze medal winner at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
The other members of the commission are: Álvaro Affonso Miranda Neto (equestrian), Cesar Cielo (swimming), Daiane dos Santos (gymnastics), Giovane Gávio (volleyball), Gustavo Borges (swimming), Gustavo Kuerten (tennis), Hugo Hoyama (table tennis), Isabel Clark (snowboarding), Janeth Arcain (basketball), Marcelo Ferreira (sailing), Marta Vieria (football), Natália Falavigna (taekwondo), Robert Scheidt (sailing), Robson Caetano (track and field), Rogério Sampaio (judo), Sandra Pires (beach volleyball) and Vanderlei Cordeiro (marathon).
Of the total of 91 Olympic medals ever won by Brazilians, 30 were won by these 19 athletes.
“This is an historic moment and the achievement of a longstanding aspiration of the Brazilian Olympic Committee,” said the committee’s President, Carlos Arthur Nuzman. “The Athletes’ Commission will play a fundamental role in developing sport in Brazil.”
