‘Happy to be alive,’ says Bruno Schmidt after elimination

Even eliminated from the Tokyo Olympics, Bruno Schmidt valued his participation in the Olympics along with his partner, Evandro. In February this year, the Brazilian athlete contracted covid-19 and had 70% of his lung compromised by the disease. After defeat at dawn this Monday, the Olympic champion in Rio-2016 said that this was “the most difficult year” of his life.

“Bruno is a Bruno who will take care of himself after the year I’ve spent, the most difficult of my life. I’m happy to be alive. A lot of people were lost in this moment of covid, I was almost one of them”, said Bruno after the game against the Latvian duo. “Even with all that, I had the privilege of, with an excellent partner, to be playing in the Olympics, coming here with real chances. This is what fills my eyes,” he added.

After recovering from the illness, the Brazilian focused on his physical preparation to compete in the Olympic Games. After having his lung compromised when he was admitted, the task was not easy.

“I didn’t even know if I would be here, if I was going to be able to recover in time, if they were going to replace me, if I was going to lose a participation like that,” he said. “I did my best back there. I tried, in a short space, to be the best athlete I could be. But today it wasn’t enough”, he lamented.

Despite the elimination, Bruno showed a good physical preparation during the matches of the Olympic Games. Even with a lot of heat in Tokyo, the Brazilian duo reached the round of 16 after going through the group stage 100%, with three victories in three games.

At 34, Bruno still doesn’t want to talk about a possible retirement. According to him, this answer will be given “on the court”, but that, already experienced, he seeks to take advantage of every moment he has.

“I prefer to answer that at the end of this year, next year, the end of the season. I’m a competitive guy. As soon as I don’t get more competitive, I’ll answer that my moment has arrived”, he concluded.

Overcoming covid-19

Earlier this year, the Olympic champion in Rio-2016 contracted covid-19 and had 70% of his lung compromised by the disease. The first symptoms presented were fever for two consecutive days, tiredness and indisposition. After his wife, Laís, tested positive for the disease, Bruno also performed several PCR tests to check if he was contaminated, but all were negative.

With the persistence of symptoms, the athlete decided to go to a hospital in Vila Velha (ES). When performing imaging tests, came the realization: Bruno’s lung was debilitated and, therefore, he was hospitalized with suspected pneumonia.

He even presented an improvement in the condition, but it got worse shortly afterwards and had to be transferred to an ICU room (Intensive Care Unit), where he remained for four days and the diagnosis of covid-19 was confirmed. In all, Bruno was hospitalized for 13 days.

With hospitalization, Bruno ended up losing a lot of muscle mass, in addition to having to undergo pulmonary rehabilitation. In an interview with UOL Sport, the player stated that this year’s Olympic Games “should not happen”.

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