Park City, Utah - Fabiana Alves Santos and Daniela Ribeiro da Silva Santos made Brazilian bobsled history when they captured a gold medal at the America's Cup in Park City, Utah yesterday. The girls hope to become the first Brazilian women in the sport to qualify for an Olympics. Winning gold in one of the qualifying events will go a long way in helping them to realize their Vancouver 2010 dream.
After receiving her medal on the podium, team Brazil pilot Fabiana Santos had this to say, "After all of the difficulties I've had getting to this point, I define this victory with these words: overcoming all obstacles through dedication. The union of the team also is very important. We don't have the best equipment but we make up for that by our unity."
Brazilian Ice Sports Federation president Eric Maleson had this comment on the team's results, "This result clearly demonstrates the potential Brazilian athletes have in winter sports. The team has a long road ahead but they begin their quest for Vancouver with great honor. We are very proud of Fabiana and Daniela and we would also like to express our appreciation for the Brazilian Olympic Committee's support - it would have been impossible to arrive at the podium without it."
The result impressed team coach Arend Glas and he expressed his compliments to Fabiana for her piloting skills, "Fabiana's piloting today was right up there with the best in the world. If she continues in this way I have no doubt that she'll be able to qualify for Vancouver. Now the team must work to improve their push-start."
Brazil's 2-man team of Edson Bindilatti and Odirlei Pessoni finished in 15th place, scoring 33 points and improving their world ranking.
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