Sporting ties between Australia and Brazil will be given a much needed boost over the coming months with ex-judo champion and Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) member Sebástian Pereira to spend 75 days with the AOC as part of a special internship program.
Pereira, who is a supervisor in the BOC’s high performance sport department, will accompany the AOC’s preparations for the upcoming Youth Olympics in Singapore later in 2010, while he will also learn about the AOC’s organisational structure, regarded as one of the most successful in the world. The arrangement is part o f the Olympic Solidarity Program, which encourages exchanges amongst national Olympic committees.
Since retiring from top level judo Pereira has been involved with the organisation of the Rio 2007 Pan-American Games and the Brazilian Olympic delegation for Beijing 2008. During his judo career, Pereira competed at the Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004 Olympics.