Ana Marcela Cunha, Brazilian female swimmer. On August 4, 2021, in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Marathon Women’s 10km swimming competition, Cunha won the championship in 1 hour 59 seconds 30 seconds 8. This is also the first time she has won the Olympic championship.
“Finally!” This was the first sentence of the 29-year-old Brazilian athlete Anna Marcela Cunha after she landed ashore at the marathon swimming competition in Odaiba Seaside Park in Tokyo.
Finally, Cunha won the long-awaited Olympic gold medal. In the Tokyo Olympic Marathon swimming competition held on the 4th, she defeated the defending champion Lovindahl of Holland in 1 hour 59 minutes 30 seconds 08.
Although it took less than 2 hours for the 10 kilometers of Cunha, she waited for the gold medal for four full Olympic cycles. Cunha, who dyed her hair into the Brazilian flag yellow-green during the competition, said that she was able to win because she always believed in her dreams.
Marathon swimming was listed as an official event for the first time in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Cunha, who was only 16 at the time, represented Brazil in the competition. Since 2005, Cunha, who has practiced swimming in the salty waters of Salvador in northeastern Brazil, is eager to win a medal.
Although she failed to win the card in the end, she won the fifth place in the first competition and was listed by the Brazilian Olympic Committee as the star of hope for the next Olympic cycle.
However, she failed to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. This has always been considered by her to be the most failed experience.
But Cunha did not give up, she just trained harder in the next Olympic cycle and continued to participate in competitions. During this period, she won many medals at the 5km, 10km and 25km World Championships.
The 2016 Olympics were held in Brazil. As the host player, Cunha naturally carried hope again, but in the end she only finished tenth. Her compatriot Polyana Okimotto won a bronze medal. Cunha said after the game: “I always hope to get a medal, because I have the ability, the Olympic Games is my opportunity, but maybe the time has not arrived.”
In fact, she had a physical problem in early 2016, but she insisted on it for the Olympics. In February 2017, the doctor said that her physical problem came from the immune system, and her platelets were very low, and surgery was necessary to regain her health.
In order to continue the competition and for the next Olympics, she removed her spleen and changed the coach. Fernando Posenti, who had previously worked with her, became her new coach. The World Swimming Championships held in Hungary in July 2017 was her first international competition after surgery. She won the 10km bronze medal.
Posenti said that he did not expect a medal at all, and hoped that she could return to the game.
Cunha moved to Rio de Janeiro from 2018, because it is more convenient for training in the water park there.
Cunha is one of Brazil’s most successful female athletes in recent years. He has won 12 World Championship medals, 5 of which are gold medals. She was named the FINA Women’s Open Water Swimmer of the Year in 6 seasons and was also selected into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
In Tokyo, the weather is very hot, so the organizers will start the game at 6:30 in the morning. The players have to swim 7 back and forth in the water, each about 1.4 kilometers.
Although it takes 10 kilometers to swim in a marathon, the gap between the runners is not big. After one kilometer, Cunha ranked fifth, but only 1.4 seconds behind the German player who ranked first. After 8.6 kilometers, she began to accelerate and gradually rushed to the first position.
This time, when he finally crossed the finish line, Cunha was only less than a second faster than the defending champion, Dutchman Lovindahl, but she said: “I know no one can stop me from reaching the top podium. .”
Cunha said in an interview after the game: “I said to Fernando that to beat myself, I can only swim non-stop. I know how hard I am to prepare. I want to thank my club and my parents. All Brazil won medals. All of the athletes have given me a lot of encouragement. But the most important point is: you must not give up your dreams!”