Team Brazil - 2-women Bobsled in Park City, Utah

Brazilian Bobsled Teams Compete for Vancouver

With the season's first competition behind them (European Cup, Igls Austria), the Brazilian 2-man, 4-man, and 2-women's bobsled teams have arrived in Park City, Utah for the next leg of competitions toward Olympic qualification. All teams scored points but the women's team of Fabiana Santos and Daniela Ribeiro scored the best results of 92 points with a world ranking of 32. Brazilian team coach Arend Glas hopes to add points and improve the teams' rankings during the Park City America's cup which begins on November 28th.

In the sport of Skeleton, Emilio Strapasson will compete for Brazil in the Intercontinental Cup in Winterberg, Germany beginning November 25th.

Team Brazil at Challenge Cup 2009 - Bismarck, ND (USA)

Brazilian Curling Team to challenge the US again in 2010

Brazil will challenge the US in Grafton, North Dakota (Feb 5-7) for a berth at the 2010 World Men's Curling Championship next April in Cortina, Italy. The Brazilian team continues to train in Canada and has received support from Asham, The University of Sherbrooke, the Lennoxville Curling Club and coach Marc Richard.

"Participation in International events is a key factor for the growth of curling in Brazil," said Brazilian ice sports federation general secretary, Lisa Papandrea, "The team understands what they're up against and that's helped to strengthen their commitment - they've been working hard all year on improving their game. We're using the same formula with our curling program that we've used to develop other Olympic ice sports for Brazil which is basically getting athletes out there participating internationally and building from there. This strategy has created interest and generated more opportunities for growth. We've done the same with bobsledding and figure skating for example and now we're getting some good results."

The Brazilian Ice Sports Federation is aware that the biggest challenge for the future growth of curling and other ice sports is the building of facilities in Brazil. This continues to be their most important goal.