Boxing and taekwondo capitalize on 2025 with iconic gold medals, pointing to a bright future and putting names in the running for Athlete of the Year at the Brazilian Olympic Prize
The first year of the Olympic cycle Los Angeles-2028 brought good news to Brazilian sport, with maturing names reaching the top of their respective modalities throughout 2025. Athletes such as Maria Clara Pacheco And Henri Marquestaekwondo, and the boxer Rebecca Limawinners of three of the six gold medals won by Brazilian athletes at World Cups this year.
The three were nominated for Athlete of the Year at the Brazilian Olympic Prize, organized by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) since 1999. In the women’s category, Maria Clara and Rebeca compete with Gabi Guimarães, winger of the Brazilian volleyball team, and skateboarder Rayssa Leal.
Among the men, Henrique Marques is a finalist alongside walker Caio Bonfim, table tennis player Hugo Calderano and surfer Yago Dora. The winners will be announced this Thursday 10, during an event at the Cidade das Artes, in Rio, starting at 8 p.m. (Brasilia time).
Rebeca Lima is 25 years old and, in 2025, she has lived up to the expectations placed on her due to her evolution in recent 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.
If boxing has a succession at stake, taekwondo has set a new level for the sport in Brazil. Henrique Marques, 21, became the first Brazilian world champion in this sport, in Wuxi, China, in the under 80 kg category. Previously, he had already won the Grand Prix in Bangkok, Thailand, which is why he finished the year as world number 1.
Women’s taekwondo was as happy as that of the men. Eliminated in the quarter-finals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Maria Clara Pacheco, 22, beat Olympic champion Yu-Jin Kim of South Korea in the World Cup final to give Brazil gold two decades after Natália Falavigna’s unprecedented feat in 2005 in the under 57 kg category. Leader of the ranking, he also won the Grand Prix Muju
The scale of the trio’s achievements has placed them alongside some of the most established names in the race for the Athlete of the Year award, won by Rebeca Andrade and Caio Bonfim in 2024. Rebeca has won the last four editions. As the greatest Olympic medalist did not compete this season to take care of her mental and physical health, there will be another winner in 2025.
Rebeca Lima and Maria Clara Pacheco compete against two of the country’s most influential athletes. Rayssa Leal had another year of protagonist, crowned by her fourth Super Crown championship, the decisive stage of the World Skate League (SLS), which does not count for points for the Olympics, but is considered the great achievement of street skateboarding.
Rayssa remained on top of the skateboarding world with dominant performances in 2025. She won the fifth STU Pro Tour Rio championship in November and also won the Miami and Brasilia stops of the Street League Skateboarding (SLS). The results were guaranteed to him during the SLS Super Crown, which will take place on the weekend of December 6 and 7 in São Paulo.
Among the men, Caio Bonfim could win the prize for the second time after being elected last year, after the bronze medal won over 20 km at Paris-2024. At this year’s World Cup in Tokyo, he won gold in the same event in which he was runner-up at the Olympics and also won silver in the 35km.
Hugo Calderano, world champion, also had an excellent year, a very important and unprecedented title for Brazil, even if 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.
Sufi Yago Dora expanded the Brazil Storm’s dominance on the world circuit. After dominating the regular season, they won the final at Cloudbreak to give Brazil their eighth World Surf League (WSL) title in 11 years.
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