Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, November 28, 2014 - Brazilian beach volleyball star Emanuel Rego was on hand as the 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic mascots made their first public appearance at the Ginásio Experimental Olímpico Juan Antonio Samaranch, a government-funded school in the city of Rio de Janeiro.
Emanuel has participated in the five Olympic beach volleyball tournaments to date and is aiming to make a sixth appearance at the Games in Rio. After ninth-place finishes at the Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996 (with Zé Marco de Melo) and in Sydney in 2000 (with José Loiola), Emanuel teamed up with Ricardo Santos at the Olympic Games in Athens in 2004 to win gold. Emanuel and Ricardo also won bronze in Beijing in 2008 before Emanuel and Alison Cerutti won silver medals at the most recent edition of the Olympics in London in 2012.
Natalie Cook is the only other beach volleyball athlete to have participated in the five Olympic beach volleyball tournaments to date, but put an end to her career after the Olympic Games in London.
Meet the Olympic and Paralympic mascots