The world champions in taekwondo and race walking receive the highest distinction of the Brazilian Olympic Prize, awarded by the COB since 1999; The 22-year-old from São Paulo is the first to win the award after four years of domination by Rebeca Andrade
December 11
2025
– 10:44 p.m.
(updated at 10:56 p.m.)
Maria Clara Pachecotaekwondo, and the walker Caio Bonfim were recognized this Thursday 11 as athletes of the year during the Brazilian Olympic Prize, organized by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) since 1999. Also in the running for the main prize, boxer Rebeca Lima was chosen as revelation of the year.
This is the first time after five years that the Female Athlete of the Year award has not been given to Rebeca Andrade, who did not participate in competitions this year to take care of her physical and mental health. Besides Rebeca Lima, Maria Clara’s competitors were skater Rayssa Leal, four-time champion of the World Street Skate League, and winger Gabi Guimarães, leader of the Brazilian volleyball team and bronze medalist at this year’s World Cup.
“It’s a great pride, taewkondo in Brazil is becoming a power, and it’s an honor to be part of it. But that’s not what I came to talk about, I want to thank the people who supported me. We went through a lot to get here,” said Maria Clara.
“When I won this award last year, I thought it would be the only one. This year has been very special, with a lot of gratitude and many people involved,” said the world champion upon receiving this honor for the second time.
This time, the stage where Caio stood was occupied shortly before by his mother and coach, Gianetti Bonfim, voted best coach of the year. “People ask me if I was trained by my father or by my mother. I was trained by both, but it was my mother who made me develop my technical side.”
Caio’s competitors were taekwondo’s Henrique Marques, surfer Yago Dora and table tennis player Hugo Calderano. Marques, 21, became the first Brazilian world champion in this sport, in Wuxi, China, in the under 80 kg category. Unsurprisingly, his coach, Diego Guimarães, was voted best of the year. “It was born from a social project that my mother helped me find in our garden. We obtained Olympic places by training in this space,” commented the coach.
Dora, in turn, was champion of the WSL, the world surfing league, and expanded the domination of the Brazilian Storm. Hugo Calderano won the World Cup, a very important and unprecedented title for Brazil, although it is not the main title in table tennis. The sport’s most important competition is the World Championship, in which Calderano won silver, another commendable feat, as a non-Asian table tennis player had never reached a tournament final.
Other awards
The COB awarded prizes to the best athlete in each sport (list below) and also chose a revelation of the season: boxer Rebeca Lima. At 25 years old, in 2025, the native of Rio has met the expectations placed on her due to her development over the last few seasons.
She did not feel the pressure of becoming a potential successor to Bia Ferreira in the lightweight category (up to 60 kg) and was a gold medalist at the World Boxing Championship in Liverpool, England. She lost the first round of the final to Poland’s Aneta Rygielska, but came back to become champion by judges’ decision.
Imbued with the Olympic spirit, the awards brought traditional honors to achievements measured by factors beyond medals and cups. The four-sans rowing team, formed by Andrei Alves, Diogo Gonçalves, Kayki Siqueira and Miguel Marques, who took Brazil to third place at the Junior Pan American Games in Assunção despite a broken oar.
Discover the winners of the Brazilian Olympic Prize:
New athlete: Rebeca Lima (boxing)
Featured club: Esporte Clube Pinheiros.
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima Prize: Quatro Sem rowing team (Andrei Alves, Diogo Gonçalves, Kayki Siqueira and Miguel Marques).
Cheerleading athletes: Gabi Guimarães (volleyball) and João Fonseca (tennis).
Junior Pan American Highlight: Stéphanie Balduccini (swimming)
Highlights from the Youth Games: Clarisse Rocha Valim (judo) and David Souza de Lima (athletics).
Adhémar Ferreira da Silva Trophy: Robert Scheidt (candle)
Best coach: Diego Guimarães (taekwondo) and Gianetti Bonfim (sport walking).
Team of the Year: Rhythmic gymnastics team (Nicole Pircio, Maria Paula Carminha, Eduarda Arakaki, Sofia Madeira and Mariana Gonçalves)
Athlete of the Year: Caio Bonfim (sport walking) and Maria Clara Pacheco (taekwondo)
Price by modality
- Open waters: Ana Marcela Cunha
- Athletics: Caio Bonfim
- Badminton: Juliana Viana
- 3×3 basketball: Gabriela Guimarães
- 5×5 basketball: Yago dos Santos
- Baseball:Victor Coutinho
- Boxing: Rébéca Lima
- Canoe slalom: Ana Satila
- Speed canoe: Gabriel Assunção and Jacky Godmann
- BMX free cycling: Gustavo de Oliveira ‘Bala Loka’
- BMX racing cycling: Paola Reis
- Road cycling: Tota Magalhães
- Mountain bike: Ulan Galinsky
- Track cycling: João Vitor da Silva
- cricket: Laura Cardoso
- Snow sports: Lucas Pinheiro Braathen
- Ice sports:Nicole Silveira
- Sport climbing: Anja Kohler
- Fencing: Isabelle Carvalho
- flag football: Karol Souza
- Soccer: Martha
- Artistic Gymnastics: Flavia Saraiva
- Trampoline gymnastics:Camilla Gomes
- Rhythmic gymnastics: Nicole Pircio, Maria Paula Carminha, Eduarda Arakaki, Sofia Madeira and Mariana Gonçalves
- Golf: Fred Biondi
- Handball: Bruna de Paula
- Equestrian dressage: João Víctor Oliva
- Complete equestrian: Marcio Jorge
- Equestrian jumping: Stéphane Barcha
- Field hockey: Yuri Van Der Heijden
- Judo: Daniel Cargnin
- Lacrosse: Titus Chapman
- Investigation weights: Laura Amaro
- artistic swimming: Gabriela Regly
- Swimming: Guilherme Caribé
- Modern pentathlon: Jean-Xavier
- Water polo: João Fernandes
- Rowing: Beatriz Tavares
- Back rower: David Faria de Souza
- Rugby 7s: Thalia Costa
- Heels: Anna Lúcia dos Santos and Luana Lira
- Skateboarding: Rayssa Leal
- Softball: Mayra Sayumi Akamine
- Squash: Diego Gobbi
- Surf:Yago Dora
- Taekwondo: Maria Clara Pacheco
- Tennis: João Fonseca
- Table tennis: Hugo Calderano
- Archery:Marcus D’Almeida
- Sport shooting: Felipe Wu
- Triathlon:Miguel Hidalgo
- Candle: Matthew Isaac
- Beach volleyball: Carol Solberg and Rebecca
- Volleyball: Gabi Guimarães
- Greco-Roman wrestling: Pedro Henrique Rodrigues
- Freestyle Wrestling: Eduardo Batista
About The Author
