Elected as the best Olympic athletes in Brazil by the COB (Brazilian Olympic Committee), Caio Bonfim, from race walking, and Maria Clara Pacheco, from taekwondo, became world champions in their respective disciplines in 2025.
For Bonfim, the year represented the continuation of a positive moment that began in 2024, with winning silver at the Paris Games, consolidating long-standing work with Gianetti Bonfim, his mother and coach, elected by the COB as the best coach in Brazilian sport in 2025.
As for Maria Clara, the last 12 months represented the beginning of a new phase on the mat, with a series of changes after the early elimination in France that paved the way for a practically flawless year, with the victory of nine gold medals in ten competitions.
Bronze medalist at the 2023 World Cup, then just 19 years old, the fighter from São Paulo arrived at the Paris Games, at 21, with the expectation of climbing the podium, but ended up eliminated in the quarterfinals by Chinese world champion Luo Zongshi.
Upon returning to Brazil, he changed his coach and physical trainer, in search of a new training routine, which quickly brought results. At the Charlotte Grand Prix, in the United States, in June, she beat the Chinese woman who had defeated her in Paris in the title fight.
In August, she won the Muju GP in South Korea, defeating Korean Olympic champion Kim Yu-jin in the final. In October, already at the top of the world and Olympic rankings, she won the World Cup title in Wuxi, China, leaving the then champion along the way, in the semifinals.
“Those who followed my results in recent years saw that I hit the beam, that I was a bronze medal at the Worlds, silver at the Pan, but I didn’t advance. And, this year, he [o treinador José Carlos Figueiredo Coelho Júnior] proved that I could do more. And he made it happen. We became world champions and all of this was really thanks to him. I dedicate this part of the performance completely to him”, said Maria Clara.
Bonfim, in turn, highlighted that his father and mother have been his main coaches throughout his career, with each playing a different role in his development on the track.
“I started to get disqualified a lot in the race walking events, and my father said: ‘I can’t take you to the next level, because I’m a physical coach. I need someone to help us with the technical side. My mother, who has a degree in law, but is a former race walker, said: ‘I think it could be me. And that choice was fundamental,” said Bonfim.
“I, who am a woman and work with race walking, will represent all the women in Brazil who, in some way, have to fight much harder than everyone else to get where they want,” said Gianetti upon receiving the award for best coach of the year.
Maria Clara and Caio were moved when talking about the role of family in each person’s trajectory.
“I want to thank my father and my mother. It was a very difficult year for them. My mother faced some health difficulties”, said Maria Clara.
“The first important international competition of the year was the Charlotte GP. And before I went, she was hospitalized in a very serious condition […] Before leaving, I hugged her and said: ‘What do you want as a gift?’. She said: ‘Clara, I just want the gold medal’. With the results of recent years, I didn’t believe it. And it happened. It became a tradition for the rest of the year. Out of ten competitions, we won nine gold medals”, she added emotionally.
In addition to his parents, Bonfim also thanked his wife, Juliana Bonfim, for her role in raising their three children in the face of absence often forced by competitions. “No professional success surpasses a family failure,” he said.
“My wife took my hand and said: ‘go out there and conquer the world and I’ll hold the ends here [em casa]. And, in the end, I lost the ring'”, added the runner with good humor when recalling the loss of the ring during the World Cup race in Tokyo — the ring was eventually found and returned. “She forgave me, she gave me that strength. If you don’t have someone by your side supporting you, it messes with your head and you may not be able to perform.”
