Brazilian Bobsled Athletes going for 2010!

Harderwijk, The Netherlands - October 6, 2009

The Brazilian bobsled team is preparing for their chance to participate in the 2010 winter games in Vancouver. Fabiana Santos and her push athletes Silvia Oliveira and Daniela Ribeiro hope to make history by becoming the first qualified women's team for Brazil and South America.

Edson Bindilatti, a two time Olympian in the sport (2002 & 2006), has made the switch from push-athlete to pilot for both the 2 and 4 man teams. His push-athletes are Fernando Reis, Marcio Sousa, Sergio Muniz and Odirlei Pessoni.

"All are excellent athletes - very strong," says coach Arend Glas, retired pilot of the Dutch 4-man team for both 2002 and 2006 Olympics, "Now we're working on the specifics of the start - power, speed, and synchronicity. The start is extremely important for the performance of the team and must be under 5 seconds to be competitive."

The team is working hard on improving their start before heading to Lake Placid for driving training. "We're having a great experience here in Holland," says Bindilatti, "Learning a lot. It's fantastic to be able to get a head start on the season."

The first competition for the Brazilians will be a Europa Cup in Innsbruck, Austria next month.