Brazil at The 2008 Summer Olympics

Brazil At The 2008 Summer Olympics

Brazil sent a delegation to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China in August 2008. Brazilian athletes have competed in every Summer Olympic Games since 1920, except the 1928 Summer Olympics. The country is represented by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB - Comitê Olímpico Brasileiro). Brazil headed to the Beijing Games with its largest Olympic delegation ever, 277 athletes, including a record 132 women. The 15 medals won by Brazil matched the highest medal count record set in 1996, and included the first individual and gold medals by women, by judoka Ketleyn Quadros and jumper Maurren Maggi, respectively. Three of the medals were gold, by Maggi, swimmer Cesar Cielo and the female volleyball team.

Brazil was the 39th nation to enter the Beijing National Stadium during the Olympic Opening Ceremony, with the presence of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil. Lula and Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee, lobbied for Rio de Janeiro's bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Sailor Robert Scheidt (1996, 2000 and 2004 medalist) was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony, and Maurren Maggi, who became the first Brazilian woman to win a gold medal with her victory in Beijing's long jump competition, carried the flag at the closing ceremony.