São Paulo – The 5th edition of the Military World Games, in Rio de Janeiro, ends on Sunday (24th). Winning medals is important, but not the main goal of the competition, according to the general planning advisor to the Games’ operational planning committee, colonel Luiz Márcio Paes Barreto. The event is organized by the International Military Sports Council (CISM, in the French acronym) and its objective, according to the colonel, is to promote friendship through sport.
Promoting friendship has a cost. According to Barreto, the budget of the Ministry of Defence for this event is 1.5 billion reals (US$ 960.4 million). And the return, says the colonel, is “social and sports-related.” “This is the legacy we hope to leave behind by promoting the Games,” he claims.
The first edition of the World Military Games was held in Rome, Italy, 1995. In 1999, Zagreb, in Croatia, received the Armed Forces, Fire Department and Military Police athletes. Four years later, the event returned to Italy, this time in Catania. In 2007, Hyderabad, India, staged the sports contests which are now being held in Rio. The choice of the city was not random.
Brazil competed for the right to host the 2011 edition of the World Games with Turkey. It won because of its sport infrastructure, a heritage of the 2007 Pan American Games, because the Brazilian authorities were committed to hosting the Games, and because Brazil has past experience in promoting major events. Rio will also host the Olympic Games five years from now. “The 5th Military World Games are part of a chain of legacies that began with the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio and will culminate on the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio,” says Barreto.
All of the athletes are in the military. Some are sports veterans who have enlisted in order to compete. They are paid salaries as members of the military to compete for Brazil in the World Games, and will be able to take part in similar events for up to seven years.
With enlisted veterans and career officials, Brazil is faring well in the games. As of this Friday (22nd), the country remains second in the medal table, with 24 gold medals and a total of 74. In military sports such as aeronautical pentathlon, Brazil won the gold medal and broke the world record of the category. Turkey won silver and Finland won bronze. In this sport, athletes must reach a given score while flying military aircraft at 400 kilometres per hour.
Out of the 14 Arab countries, the best ranking by this Friday afternoon is Qatar, at 16th. The country won two gold medals in track and field (men’s 100 metres and men’s high jump) and two bronze medals (3,000 metre obstacle race and taekwondo). Bahrain ranks 21st, Morocco 33rd, Algeria 34th and Tunisia, 46th. China tops the overall ranking.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
