On Friday (24), Alison dos Santos, known as Piu, won his first gold medal in an individual event in the 400m dash at the Troféu Brasil de Atletismo. The victory took place at the Ibirapuera Stadium in São Paulo, with a time of 44.60s, a new competition record.
He led the race from the start and crossed the finish line ahead of Emerson Vieira do Nascimento, who took silver (45.52s), and Guilherme Orenhas, bronze with 45.56s. The result marked the athlete's return to the Troféu Brasil after a seven-year absence.
The day before, Piu had already set the best mark of the competition in the semifinals, with 44.76s, surpassing the record that belonged to Sanderlei Parrela since 1999 (44.82s). Despite this, the Brazilian record in the 400m remains with Parrela, who ran 44.29s in 1999.
In an interview after the race, the athlete expressed joy and emotion at returning to compete in front of family members and the public who have followed him since his adolescence, highlighting the feeling of representing a long-standing journey in the same place.
In addition to his feat in the 400m dash, Piu is a world champion (Eugene 2022) and an Olympic silver medalist (Tokyo). He already has two golds in the Troféu Brasil in the 4x400m relay, won in 2018 and 2019, and is now attempting a second podium in the 400m hurdles, with the semifinal on Saturday (25) and the final on Sunday (26).
To contextualize the marks, the South American record is 43.92s, held by Colombian Anthony José Zambrano since 2021, while the world record remains with South African Wayde Van Niekerk, who clocked 43.03s in 2016. The Troféu Brasil brings together nearly a thousand athletes and is broadcast live on the Time Brasil YouTube channel, continuing until Sunday (26).
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