Brazil was the host nation of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's twenty-second appearance at the Summer Olympics, having competed in all editions in the modern era from 1920 onwards, except the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Setting a milestone in Olympic history, Brazil became the first South American country to host the Summer Olympics, and the second Latin American host following the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico.
In this edition, Brazil beat both its previous highest number of gold medals obtained at one Olympics until this games (five gold medals in Athens 2004), and its record of total medals won at a Games (17 medals in Beijing 2008 and London 2012). Brazil won gold for the first time in two sports: boxing (Robson Conceição in men's lightweight) and football (men's team). It was also the first time a Brazilian athlete won three medals at one Games: Isaquias Queiroz in canoeing (two silvers and one bronze). Brazil also won its first ever medals in canoeing sprint, the silver that Queiroz won in C1-1000 m was the first in that sport.
Summary
The shooter Felipe Wu, won the first Brazilian medal in the Rio de Janeiro Games. Wu came very close to taking the top spot on the podium in the men's 10 m air pistol with 202.1 points, but the Vietnamese Hoàng Xuân Vinh hit a brilliant final shot and won the gold medal with an Olympic Record of 202.5 points. The silver medal Felipe Wu won was the first Brazilian medal in Shooting since the Guilherme Paraense at Antwerp 1920 Olympics.
The first Brazilian gold medal was won by the judoka Rafaela Silva in the women's 57 kg . Rafaela Silva beat Wazari the Mongolian Sumiya Dorjsuren, the incumbent leader of the world ranking, in the final. The other 2 medals in judo were bronze. Mayra Aguiar and Rafael Silva repeated the same results obtained in London / 2012 achieved third places respectively in women's 78 kg and men's +100 kg events.
In gymnastics, three medals were won by Brazil. Diego Hypólito was the silver medalist and Arthur Mariano won the bronze in men's floor. Diego redeemed himself from falls in Beijing and London, when he was a favorite to win a medal, and finally won his first Olympic medal with a note 15.533. Arthur Mariano was the surprise of the competition by earning the bronze with a note 15.433. The gold medal was won by the British Max Whitlock with a note 15.633. In the men's rings, Arthur Zanetti the incumbent gold medalist in London, again made a great presentation in the rings and with a note of 15.766 to win the silver medal; the Greek Eleftherios Petrounias won gold with a note of 16.000.
The swimmer Poliana Okimoto became the first Brazilian woman in history to obtain an Olympic medal in swimming. Originally she finished in fourth place in the Women's 10 km open water, but later was upgraded to the bronze medal with a time of 1:56:51.4 after the disqualification of the French swimmer Aurélie Muller.
In athletics, perhaps the most positively unexpected results happened for the host nation in men's pole vault. The jumper Thiago Braz da Silva won the second gold medal for Brazil in Rio de Janeiro in a thrilling duel with French pole-vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, the world record holder and gold medalist in then current olympic champion. In the final, Lavillenie and Braz were the only two athletes to achieve the high of 5.93m and consequently they were the only two left to dispute the gold medal. Lavillenie managed to clear the next height, 5.98m, easily with his first attempt, but da Silva decided to skip 5.98m and went on to 6.03m. With a successful second attempt at 6.03m, da Silva set a new Olympic Record. Lavillenie, having failed his first two attempts at 6.03m, attempted 6.08 with his final jump but failed, knocking the bar off with his knee. Thiago Braz da Silva won the gold medal with an Olympic record and surpassing his personal best performance in 10 cm, despite never having won a medal in a senior global competition.
In canoeing, the first Olympic medals ever were won by Brazilians in the history of the sport. Isaquias Queiroz was the first Brazilian athlete in history to win three medals (two silver medals and one bronze) at a single Olympic Games, and the first sprint canoe athlete from any nationality to do so in the history of the Olympics. The first silver medal came in the men's C-1 1000 m. After a duel with German Olympic and world champion Sebastian Brendel, Isaquias Queiroz managed to keep up the pace and climbed the podium with the second fastest time (3m58s529). The bronze medal came in men's C-1 200 m with a time of 39s628. Queiroz's third medal came in men's C-2 1000 metres, together with Erlon Silva. They stayed in the lead for most of the time of race, but they were surpassed in the final meters by Germans Sebastian Brendel and Jan Vandrey and took the silver medal with a time of 3m44s819.
The third gold medal obtained by the host country was in boxing. Robson Conceição has made history on his home turf by becoming the first Brazilian boxer to take a gold medal. Conceição defeated France's Sofiane Oumiha in the men's lightweight final with a unanimous decision. Conceição's achievement was particularly inspiring given his humble upbringing and after being defeated in his first fights in Beijing and London.
The sailors Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze took the country's fourth gold medal in women's 49erFX. They were the first Brazilian women sailor to win a gold Olympic medal. The competition was tight. The duos representing Brazil, Denmark, and Spain were tied when they reached the final, followed by the New Zealanders one point below. The podium would be defined by their positions on the final race. Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze took the gold, New Zealanders Alex Maloney and Molly Meech the silver, and Denmark's Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen the bronze. Martine Grael continued the tradition of her family in sailing at the Olympics: her father Torben Grael is five-time Olympic medalist (twice gold) and her uncle Lars Grael is a twice bronze medalist.
In beach volleyball, Brazilians took two medals. Ágatha Bednarczuk and Bárbara Seixas defeated in the semifinal the reigning Olympic champion Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross, the first defeat of Kerri Walsh after 26 Olympic matches; in the final of the women's beach volleyball tournament, the Brazilians lost to Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany by 2 to 0 and took the silver medal in the sands of Copacabana Beach. In the men's beach volleyball tournament, came the fifth gold medal. Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schmidt beat the Italians Paolo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo in straight sets, 21–19, 21–17. While this was the first Olympic medal for Bruno Schmidt, Alison took in London/2012 the silver medal with then-partner Emanuel Rego.
In taekwondo, a bronze medal was won by Maicon Siqueira in men's +80 kg category. He was the first Brazilian man ever to gain an Olympic medal in taekwondo. In a dramatic bronze medal dispute, he beat the British Mahama Cho at the last seconds by 5 to 4 and won the bronze medal.
Finally, in the last two days of the competitions, two gold medals were won in the two most popular sports in Brazil. In the men's football tournament, the gold medal was won by Brazil national under-23 football team, ending a bad sequence of results with three silver medals four years before in London, Seoul 1988 and Los Angeles 1984. In the campaign that began with suspicion after two scoreless draws with South Africa and Iraq, the team easily defeat Denmark, Colombia and Honduras until they reached the gold medal match against Germany. In the final at Maracanã Stadium, there was a 1–1 draw, in which Neymar scored in the normal time. In the penalties shoot-out, after eight flawless kicks, until the goalkeeper Weverton defend the penalty shot by Nils Petersen. Neymar converted the decisive penalty, so the Brazil team won the penalty shoot-out by 5 to 4 and won the gold medal for the first time in Olympic history, in one of the most iconic moments of the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The seventh gold medal and last medal won by the host nation in the 2016 Summer Olympics was in the men's indoor volleyball. Coached by Bernardo Rezende, the Brazil men's national volleyball team had two defeats in the preliminary round, needing a victory against France in the last match to avoid elimination. After that, Brazil defeat Argentina in the quarter-finals and Russia in the semifinals. Brazil reached their fourth consecutive final – the sixth in history – and re-edited the 2004 gold decision against Italy. After two consecutive silver medals, Brazil triumphed the gold medal match by 3 to 0. Among the volleyball players Bruno Rezende, coach Bernardo Rezende's son won his third consecutive Olympic medal and Sérgio Santos became the Brazilian team sports athlete with the most medals, as he participated in every men's indoor final since Athens 2004.
Medalists
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Medal Name Sport Event Date Rafaela Silva Judo Women's 57 kg Thiago Braz Athletics Men's pole vault Robson Conceição Boxing Men's lightweight Martine GraelKahena Kunze Sailing 49erFX Alison CeruttiBruno Schmidt Volleyball Men's beach volleyball Brazil national under-23 football team Football Men's tournament Brazil men's national volleyball team Volleyball Men's tournament Felipe Wu Shooting Men's 10 m air pistol Diego Hypólito Gymnastics Men's floor Arthur Zanetti Gymnastics Men's rings Isaquias Queiroz Canoeing Men's C-1 1000 m Ágatha BednarczukBárbara Seixas Volleyball Women's beach volleyball Isaquias QueirozErlon Silva Canoeing Men's C-2 1000 metres Mayra Aguiar Judo Women's 78 kg Rafael Silva Judo Men's +100 kg Arthur Mariano Gymnastics Men's floor Poliana Okimoto Swimming Women's 10 km open water Isaquias Queiroz Canoeing Men's C-1 200 m Maicon Siqueira Taekwondo Men's +80 kg | style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"|
Medals by sportSport TotalVolleyball2103Judo1023Athletics1001Boxing1001Football1001Sailing1001Canoeing0213Gymnastics0213Shooting0101Swimming0011Taekwondo0011Total76619
Medals by dateDate Total6 Aug01017 Aug00008 Aug10019 Aug000010 Aug000011 Aug001112 Aug001113 Aug000014 Aug011215 Aug111316 Aug110217 Aug010118 Aug201319 Aug000020 Aug111321 Aug1001Total76619
Medals by genderGender TotalMale55414Female2125Mixed0000Total 7 6 6 19
Multiple medallist
The following competitor won several medals at the 2016 Olympic Games. Name Medal Sport Event Isaquias Queiroz Canoeing Men's C-1 1000 metresMen's C-2 1000 metresMen's C-1 200 metres
Competitors
| width=78% align=left valign=top | The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the games. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted: SportMenWomenTotalArchery 3 3 6Athletics 36 31 67Badminton 1 1 2Basketball 12 12 24Boxing 7 2 9Canoeing 11 2 13Cycling 6 4 10Diving 5 4 9Equestrian 10 2 12Fencing 7 6 13Field hockey 16 0 16Football 18 18 36Golf 1 2 3Gymnastics 6 11 17Handball 14 14 28Judo 7 7 14Modern pentathlon 1 1 2Rowing 2 2 4Rugby sevens 12 12 24Sailing 8 7 15Shooting 6 3 9Swimming 23 13 36Synchronized swimming — 9 9Table tennis 3 3 6Taekwondo 2 2 4Tennis 5 2 7Triathlon 1 1 2Volleyball 16 16 32Water polo 13 13 26Weightlifting 3 2 5Wrestling 1 4 5Total 256 209 465
Archery
Brazil fielded a team of six archers (three men and three women) at the 2016 Olympics, as the host nation is automatically entitled to use these places. The archery team was named to the Olympic roster on 12 July 2016.
Men