3,000 Athletes Will Compete in Brazilian University Games

Opening Ceremony of the 2009 edition

Brazil – Around 3,000 student-athletes from all over Brazil will face the University Olympics 2010 – the 58º Brazilian University Games, from November 5^th to 14^th, in Blumenau (Santa Catarina state, south of Brazil). There will be over 3,500 people, including athletes, coaches and officials involved in the event organized by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), with the technical direction of the Brazilian University Sports Confederations (CBDU) and the support of Sport Minister, Globo Organizations and local partners.

Athletes and teams who won the classification tournaments in their states will meet in Blumenau for the national stage of the 2010 Brazilian University Games. The competition is played in eight categories: handball, futsal, volleyball, basketball, judo, athletics, chess and swimming (male and female).

The games begin next Friday, November 5^th, with the first round of the collective qualifying tournaments. The finals will be held on November 10^th. They are followed by the start of the individual sport competitions, from November 12 to 14^th.

Blumenau hosts the University Olympics Games for the second time and the city is ready to receive delegations from 26 states and the Federal District. Twelve sports venues will be used in Blumenau and the athletics track in the city of Timbo. There will be also courts in the halls of the German Village Park (where the event’s Organizing Committee is located) to host futsal, handball and volleyball.

Luciano Cabral, CBDU President“We came to the sixth edition of the University Olympic Games and now we reap the fruits of this project that serves as a model for the world. We were, are and will be one of the leading laboratories in the national sports scene and many persons that have crossed or will pass by this event are already preparing for projects like the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games: athletes that will be heroes on the podiums and also the anonymous heroes who will work behind the scenes of these events. This is because we believe in sport and education as tools of reconciliation, training, promotion and even a showcase for student-athletes and future Olympic talents from Brazil, “said Luciano Cabral, CBDU President and FISU Vice-President.

(Source: Pollyanna Padua, CBDU Press Officer)