Meet skateboarder Kelvin Hoefler, Brazil’s first medalist in Tokyo 2020

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Kelvin Hoefler, 27, made history in the early hours of Sunday (25) at the Tokyo Olympics when he won Brazil’s first medal in skateboarding, a sport making its debut at the Olympics. He took silver in the street category. The medal won by the native of Guarujá, São Paulo, was Brazil’s first in this Olympics.

Long highly ranked in the street category, Hoefler practiced skateboarding and surfing as a child. He had the support of his family from the beginning. His father, police officer Eneas de Souza, even built a ramp in his garage, as there was no good training ground at the time.

At the age of 13, Höfler was recognized for his achievements in sports. Encouraged by a friend, he decided to move to Los Angeles in search of better opportunities in sports. There he met photographer Ana Paula Negrão, his wife. She is a great lover of sports and has photographed her husband and other Brazilian athletes competing.

In addition to the unprecedented medal he won this Sunday, Hoefler has two titles at the X Games and six at World Cups.

BATTLE BETWEEN BRAZILIAN SKATERS

After Brazil’s first medal at the Tokyo Games, figure skater Leticia Bufoni congratulated gold medalist Yuto Horigome of Japan and sent encouraging messages to Felipe Gustavo and Giovanni Vianna, the other two Brazilians in the competition. But the absence of Kelvin Hoefler in this list made their followers curious.

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