Mauro Vinicius Da Silva at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene (© Getty Images)
“Hello, my friends! Greetings from São José do Rio Preto.
“These weeks since my last diary entry have been very rich. Athletics has taken me to Japan, the United States and a small trip around Brazil, competing in Belem and Uberlandia.
“It’s always a great feeling to go around the world representing my country. I would have never imagined in my youth that I would be able to travel so far. Life is unpredictable and my humble advice to those younger than me is to never give up on your dreams.
“As you all know, I begun the season trying to achieve the qualifying standard for the IAAF World Championships in Moscow this summer. My national federation her in Brazil asked for an 8.10m performance, which is the IAAF B-standard; the IAAF A-standard is 8.25m.
“So, after a few competitions in Brazil in March and April where I emerged with a best 8.00m (and 8.08m wind-aided), I went to Japan and I won at the Tokyo Golden Grand Prix with a 7.99m performance on 5 May.
“I was pleased, and the next weekend I was back home in Brazil in Belem where in hot and humid conditions I managed 7.91m for another first place.
“The Uberlandia and Sao Paulo meets, where I did 8.14m on 16 May and then 8.18m on 19 May, followed. I was able to continue my winning streak and I assured my participation in Moscow.
“Believe it or not, these will be my first outdoor World Championships. I’m really happy to be in the Moscow team and I will do everything I can to get to Russia in the best shape of my life.
“After a small break, my travels took me to North America. The Prefontaine Classic, in Eugene on 31 May was next. Great track, great atmosphere, great tradition; and a great event. I was happy to perform well, in spite of placing second.
“Russia’s Aleksandr Menkov won with 8.39m, the best mark in the world in 2013. He is a very impressive kid. We get along well. I like his speed and explosiveness. I think that we put on a great show there. I jumped 8.14m in round three and a windy 8.22m in round five. I was leading but Aleksandr improved from 8.11m to 8.39m. Nice stuff.
“The Olympic champion, Greg Rutherford from Great Britain, made it more dramatic with his 8.22m from round six.
“My idol, Panama’s Irving Saladino, who has trained in Sao Paulo and loves Brazil, was also in Eugene. He was fifth with 7.91m but I’m confident that he will get back to the form that brought him to glory in the 2007 World Championships and 2008 Olympic Games.
“The quick turnaround sent me back to Sao Paulo, which was a 15 hour trip from Oregon via Chicago.
“The national club competition in Sao Paulo, which serves as the National Championships, the Troféu Brasil, was next. Qualifying went well with 7.86m on 6 June, and the final went even better! A personal best of 8.31m was the result. My series was: 8.05, 8.31, 8.18 and 8.15. I was so pleased that I passed the final two jumps. I couldn’t ask for more, as I write this diary I’m third in the 2013 world lists.
"I even broke the record of the Troféu, which was 8.29m by Douglas de Souza had had stood since 1996. Sadly, Douglas died in a car accident in 1998 but he still holds the Brazilian record with 8.40m from 1995, but I hope to beat it soon.
“The São Paulo meet was very good in other events. Carlos Eduardo Chinin broke the South American Decathlon record with 8393 points. South American record holder Ana Cláudia Lemos Silva ran 11.07 at 100m and 22.85 at 200, where Franciela Krasucki beat her with a personal best of 22.76; and Fabiana Murer, our World champion two years ago, vaulted to a nice 4.73m season’s best.
“My girlfriend, Giovana Cavaleti, also did well. She was third in the Heptathlon with a season’s best of 5022 points, just 160 points short of her PB.
“Finally, my beloved football team, Corinthians, won the Paulista Championship over Santos. It was a nice ‘compensation’ after an upsetting elimination in Copa Libertadores.
“On that note I say goodbye to you. Soon we will have more news. Hopefully it will be good news.
“Abraços, meus amigos; which means ‘Hugs, my friends’ in English. Mauro Vinicius (Duda)”
