Su Bingtian was named athlete of the year in 2015, in China, and will arrive at UFJF on July 31st (Photo: IAAF)
The University campus is already on the mood for the Olympic Games, thanks to the presence of the China and Egypt delegations, but it will be even more crowded in this week.
Starting this Sunday, July 31st, around 150 members of the athletics teams from Canada, Slovakia, United States, Estonia, Poland and Qatar will arrive in Juiz de Fora to train for the Olympic Games. Check the arrival schedule.
All delegations of athletics are scheduled to train at UFJF starting this week. Another 31 members of China’s delegation will arrive until the 6th of August and the last five on the 8th. They are member of the 107 professionals of the Chinese delegation assigned to practice in Juiz de Fora.
This week also had the departure of the men’s national team of Egypt volleyball on July 31st. The team will have its first match at Rio 2016 on Saturday, August 6th, against Poland.
It is already available on the UFJF 2016 website the list the athletes confirmed athletes from Canada, China, Slovakia, Estonia, Poland and Qatar. Check the profile of one of the top athletes from each team:
Canada
Derek Drouin is one of the highlights of Canada’s high jump team. World champion in 2015, he has won the bronze medal at the London Olympic Games, in 2012, and at the 2013 World Championships in Athletics.
China
Su Bingtian, the fastest man on Asia and China’s Athlete of the Year in 2015, will arrive on Sunday, July 31st. Su has won the silver medal in the 4 x 100m relay at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics, and broke the Asian record in the 60m, 100m and 4 x 100m. By a hundredth of a second, he became the first Asian man to finish the 100m event in less than 10 seconds, clocking in at 9s99. This will be his second participation in the Olympics.
Slovakia
Matej Tóth is the current world champion in the 50km race walk, a title he conquered in 2015. At the London 2012 Olympic Games and the 2013 World Championships, he finished on the same position, the 5th place.
United States
Ashton Eaton, record holder in the decathlon, is already training at UFJF (Photo: Twin Alvarenga/UFJF)
One of the biggest stars in athletics, Ashton Eaton is collecting gold medals and records. He is the world’s two-time champion in the decathlon, winning in 2013 and 2015, gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics Games and world vice-champion in 2011. He is also the three-time champion of the sport at the World Indoor Championships in Athletics, winning in 2016, 2014 and 2012. In 2012 he broke the world record in the heptathlon and the decathlon. Three years later, he broke his own record in the sport he will compete at Rio 2016 Games.
Estonia
Rasmus Mägi won the silver medal in the 400m hurdles at the 2014 European Athletics Championships, held in Zurich, Switzerland, clocking in at 49s06. It will be his first time in the Olympics.
Poland
Piotr Lisek, from Poland, is the third best in the world in the pole vault (Photo: IAAF)
Piotr Lisek, pole vault athlete, has conquered the bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships and the 2016 World Indoor Championships. He has also won the fourth place at this year’s European Championships.
Qatar
Mutaz Barshim, high jump athlete, has won the fourth place at the 2015 World Championships, marking in at 2,33m. He has also won the silver medal at the 2013 edition and the bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games. In Brazil, he won in the high jump event at the 2011 Military World Games.
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