Interesting Facts About Latin American Sports

Adhemar Ferreira da Silva became the second athlete from Brazil to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games when he won the triple jump at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland.

Rossana De Los Rios is a famous Paraguayan tennis player. She was a youth world champion in 1992. Rossana is married to Gustavo Alfredo Neffa, who was a footballer. He once said: “I could have come a long way in tennis. In 1992 I won the Junior Roland Garros, but I made decisions and I am happy with my life.” [Gustavo] He played football in the Italian and Argentine leagues, with the national team and in the Olympics and he was good at it, but now he talks more about tennis. Times have changed for women and he helps me to be able to play quietly. Now my goal is to get back into the top 100. I’m fine, but for two years I had knee and wrist injuries and I had to come back from that. Perhaps I will retire in a few years and then I would like to help Paraguayan girls develop and have a future, but by then if I am in the top 30 I may postpone that project ”. He was born on September 16, 1975 in Asunción, capital of Paraguay, currently resides in the United States.

Francisco Cabañas became the first Mexican boxer to win an Olympic medal. He won a silver medal at the Los Angeles Games in 1932.

Claudia Poll Ahrens (Costa Rica) became the first Latin American swimmer in the history of the Olympic Games to win two individual medals in one of the Games (Sydney’2000). She is the best Central American athlete of all time …

Luis Brunetto won the silver medal in the triple jump at the 1924 Paris Games. Argentine Brunetto became the first athlete to win an Olympic medal for his country.

The Brazilian men’s volleyball team won the World Cup in 2007. The champions were Rezende Bruno, Marcelo Elgarten, André Heller, Samuel Fuchs, Gilberto Godoy Filho, Murilo Andres, André Luiz da Silva Nascimento, Sergio Dutra Santos, Anderson Rodrigues, Gustavo Endres, Rodrigo Santana, Dante Guimaraes Amaral.

Xavier Moreno and Jefferson Pérez won gold medals at the 2007 Rio Pan American Games. Runners are sports heroes in Ecuador now …

Cali (Colombia) hosted the FIBA ​​Women’s Basketball World Cup in 1975. Final ranking: 1.USSR / Soviet Union (currently Russia), 2.Japan, 3.Czecoslovaquia (currently Czech Republic / Slovak Republic), 4 .Italy, 5. South Korea, 6. Mexico, 7. Colombia, 8. United States, 9. Hungary, 10. Australia, 11. Canada, 12. Brazil, 13.Senegal.

The most popular sports in Mexico are soccer, wrestling, basketball, baseball, athletics, Basque pelote, underwater sports, tennis, martial arts, boxing, cycling, and horse riding.

Jeanette Campbell (Argentina / swimmer) was the first Latin American athlete to win the Olympic medal. He won the silver medal in the 100 meter freestyle at the 1936 Berlin Games.

Brazil sent 10 athletes to the 2006 Winter Games in Turin (Italy). The Brazilian delegation had athletes competing in 4 sports: alpine skiing, bobsleigh, cross-country skiing and snowboarding.

Paraguay has had many famous athletes. Who they are: José Luis Chilavert (soccer / one of the best goalkeepers of the 1990s), Víctor Manuel Pecci (tennis), Nery Kennedy (athletics / South American champion), Carlos Gamarra (Olympic silver medalist in soccer, 2004 ), Ramón Jiménez Gaona (Athletics / South American Champion) …

Baseball is the national sport of Panama …

Francisco “Morochito” Rodríguez (boxer) is the only Venezuelan athlete to win an Olympic gold medal. Francisco was born on September 20, 1945 in Cumaná, Venezuela (South America).

Montevideo (Uruguay) hosted the FIFA World Cup in 1930. Final ranking: 1.Uruguay, 2.Argentina, 3.Yugoslavia (now Serbia), 4.USA, 5.Chile, 6.Brazil, 7.France , 8.Paraguay, 9.Rumania, 10.Peru, 11.Belgium, 12.Bolivia, 13.Mexico.

Gustavo Kuerten was one of the best tennis players in the world. He has won 28 international tournaments (Saint Petersburg, Brazil Open, Auckland, Roland Garros, Monte Carlo, Acapulco, Rome, Hamburg, Cincinnati, Buenos Aires, Lisbon, Indianapolis …).

Fact file

Name: Gustavo Kuerten

Nickname: “Guga”

Brazilian nationality

Ancestry: German

Residence: Florianópolis, Santa Catarina (Brazil)

Born: 10/9/1976

Height: 1.91 m

Weight: 75 kg

Idol: Mahatma Gandhi (former human rights activist)

Favorite Singer: Bob Marley

Favorite Writer / Author: Paulo Coehlo

Perfume: “Eternity” (by Calvin Klein)

Best friends: Carlos Moya (Spanish tennis player), Nicolas Lapentti (Ecuadorian tennis player), Fernando Meligeni (Brazilian tennis player).

Men’s Tennis Association Ranking (1997-2000)

2000: 1

1999: 10

1998: 20

1997: 66