A year ago, Caio Bonfim’s feet played the asphalt of the streets of Paris, but it was in Brazil that his march began to trace new paths.
By winning an unprecedented Olympic medal for the country in the sport, silver in the 20 km athletic march, Brasiliense began a new phase for the sport, once a constant target of prejudice.
“I myself do not use the word prejudice myself. I use disrespect, because the jokes with my mother were from another nature and with me were different. It was the disrespect with the profession of the other,” the athlete told the athlete to Sheet.
In Caio’s life, the profession is a family passion. João Sena, his father, trained Gianetti Bonfim, mother of the medalist and eight times Brazilian champion of the athletic march. When he decided to follow the same steps, he already “hoped to be cursed”, but did not imagine that he would be responsible for changing the eyes of people on the sport.
“When I’m going to train at Ibirapuera, Sao Paulo, for example, people run to talk to me and take pictures, ask Paris and want good luck. Then you see it’s all the fruit of the medal,” he said. “This in a crowded public space, in the center of a large city of Brazil, with the crowd knowing what the march is.”
His presence also took corridors to Sesc Interlagos last weekend, where the athlete had a chat to share experiences and give tips on how gear can help in racing.
“Street race is one of the most practiced sports in the world today and, in many ways, is close to the march. So we talked about training volume, mileage, sneakers’ choice, hydration and nutrition,” he said. “People have the impression that march is slow, but when we present the technique, they can see that it is not. It’s very cool.”
In Paris, the athlete won his silver medal by completing the 20 km course in 1h19min09, with a 14 second difference to Ecuadorian Brian Daniel Pintado, who took the gold.
At the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games in 2016, he was five seconds to win the bronze. Just as it has not brooded its result in Brazil, he also does not want to be content with the achievement in France. Your goal now is to make a good cycle to look for another medal at the Los Angeles games in 2028.
“I played football from 6 to 16. In football, on the pitch, there is a maxim that I always liked a lot. When my team was 1-0 early, we looked at each other and said: ‘It’s 0-0, huh?’. It’s a way not to lower the guard. So after Paris, I said to myself: ‘Dude, it’s 0 to 0’.”
After the games in the French capital, Caio Bonfim continued to register expressive brands.
At the end of last month, won the 20 km race at the Brazil Trophy, held in São Paulo. With its time of 1h18min37, it became the first athlete in South America to complete the course below 1h19, thus breaking the Brazilian and South American records of the sport.
“This trophy Brazil reflected a little of this mindset that I said, from 0 to 0. It is a very expressive result, it is a motivation too,” said the march.
His next challenge will be in September at the World Cup dispute in Tokyo, Japan. Brazilians are qualified for the 20 km and 35 km of the athletic march.
At 34, the athlete has two world medals, both bronze, in London-2017 and Budapest-2023.
“I’m confident [para o Mundial de Tóquio]but I think no athlete leaves the house saying he will win another medal, taking Michael Phelps [ex-nadador americano, recordista de medalhas olímpicas, com 28]”Joked Caio Bonfim.
After the World Cup in Japan, the Olympic medalist will prepare for the 2026 World Championship, which will be in South America for the first time in Brasilia. “I will compete my land,” he celebrated.
