Caio Bonfim, 34, made a huge effort to finish the 20 km of the March at the Athletics World Championship in Tokyo on Saturday morning (20). He went to the ground, gained breath, celebrated with the public. And then, in his first interview as world champion, he apologized to his wife, Juliana.
“I have to tell a story before,” he told Sportv, refusing to answer the question that had been asked. “My alliance fell in the third kilometer. And I thought, ‘My wife will only forgive me if I get the gold.’ [da organização]. But I think she will forgive me. “
According to Caio, Juliana sent him a message every day during the World Cup. “She wrote, ‘Win for us.’ And I was sending a gold medal: ‘Used, believe me.’ The record didn’t fall yet. I didn’t know it was first. [Paul McGrath] and the Chinese [Wang Zhaozhao]. I made the curve, I saw the track [de chegada] And I looked at the big screen: first, “he reported.
The surprise is explained by the fact that Bonfim did not notice the moment when Japanese Toshikazu Yamanishi, who led the dispute, had a two -minute punishment for three sliding absences (simultaneously taking both feet off the ground). Supported by the public, the athlete of the house was a favorite and ended in 28th place.
The Sobradinho competitor, Federal District, spent much of the race in the second platoon. Its strategy was to conserve energy in the first four kilometers and increase the pace after that. This is what allowed him to enter the Japan National Stadium – most of the dispute occurs in the surroundings – first. And get out of it giant in the history of Brazilian athletics.
Caio became only the third athlete in the country to take a gold at the Athletics World Cup – Fabiana Murer, in the jump with Vara, in Daegu, in 2011, and Alison dos Santos, at 400 m with barriers, in Eugene, in 2022, are the others. And he became the Brazilian with more medals in the competition, surpassing sprinter Claudinei Quirino, who accumulated three podiums in the 1997 and 1999 editions.
Bonfim had already received a medal at the Tokyo World Cup at the beginning of the competition, silver in the 35 km march. Before that, he had obtained two bronzes in 20 km: in 2017, in London, and 2023 in Budapest. It also has the 20 km silver medal in the curriculum at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
“Pass a movie on my head. Today, I have four world medals, and we can remember Claudinei Quirino. Maybe the new generation doesn’t even know. Now I’m part of the Piu generation,” he said humbly. “I thought, ‘His achievements will breathe in me.’ Because I think Piu will be the biggest medalist in Brazil.”
Piu is Alison dos Santos, from 400 m with barriers, who already has two world medals (one gold and one silver) and two Olympics medals (two bronzes). In the current Tokyo World Cup, he was in second place, on the Japanese night of Friday (19), still morning in the Brazilian time, expanding his collection.
Added to Caio Bonfim’s two medals, Piu’s silver gives Brazil its best campaign in the history of the Athletics World Cup, with one gold and two silver. The Brazilian delegation had also won three medals in 1999 in Seville, but two silver (Quirino in 200 Sanderlei Parrela at 400 m) and one bronze (4 x 100 m relay).
To establish the new brand, Bonfim thought of the woman’s forgiveness, the mother’s guidelines and the homesickness of the children. The wife needed a good explanation for the lost covenant. The mother, Gianetti, is her trainer and guided him every lap, so that she would not come down from the first platoon. And the three children gave him strength to endure the effort.
“Theo [de três anos] It is my middle son. And he told me that Miguel [de seis]older, cried at school. Miguel did not want to tell, but Theo is cute, “he said, containing his own tears to explain that the reason for the boy’s weeping, according to the teacher, was” longing for daddy. “
“You are five weeks away and see that the child… Then I said, ‘I’m for them here, so you have to be worth it here.’ In the last two laps, I thought, ‘The kids are there, but they’ll be proud.’ I said, ‘Don’t surrender, one more return, one back,’ he said, before summarizing the factors of his motivation:” It was that, besides the fear. “
