Sprinter Melania Luz dos Santos will become part of the Hall of Fame of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB). The athlete, who died in 2016 at the age of 88, was a three-time South American medalist, in addition to being the first black Brazilian woman to participate in an edition of the Olympic Games, in London (1948). The confirmation of the tribute took place on Sunday (3).
In 2020, the Extraordinary Assembly of the Brazilian Athletics Confederation (CBAt) recognized Melania Luz as an emeritus member of the entity, for her participation in sports after only 50 years of the abolition of slavery in the country. The family received the COB award in the “In Memoriam” category.
Thus, athletics now has six representatives in the select group of honorees: Melania Luz, Adhemar Ferreira da Silva (twice Olympic champion in triple jump), Joaquim Cruz (Olympic gold and silver in the 800 meters), João do Pulo (two Olympic bronze medalists in triple jump), Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (Olympic bronze in marathon) and Sylvio de Magalhães Padilha (Olympic finalist in the 400m hurdles and former president of the COB).
In addition to Melania, Manoel dos Santos (swimming), Marcelo Ferreira (sailing), Ricardo Prado (swimming), Renan Dal Zotto (volleyball), Walter Carmona (judo) and Yane Marques (pentathlon) were inducted into the Hall of Fame this year . The new members will be honored at COB events and will leave their feet or hands immortalized in molds that will be exhibited in a future exhibition at the entity’s Training Center.
