The Olympic flame has burned inside of Gabriella “Gabi” Mantellato Dias ever since she can remember.
Women’s Water Polo
At Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre & Olympic Aquatics Stadium
>> Tuesday to Aug. 19
>> UH’s Gabriella “Gabi” Mantellato Dias to represent Brazil
National team pride lived in her Sao Paulo, Brazil, home. It was a frequent guest at meals where her parents and uncles reminisced about their playing days and travels tointernational water polo competitions, and her grandfather added his tales from basketball.
But what really lit her personal torch was a gift from her aunt Ana Lucia de Camargo Barros. The two-time volleyball Olympian gave her niece the “Cobi” stuffed animal thatwas the mascot from the Barcelona Games in 1992.
“From that day, I knew it,” Mantellato Dias said. “I wanted to be like her.”
The 24-year-old now can add her own stories at the dinner table. Mantellato Dias, a returning senior at the University of Hawaii, is a member of Brazil’s first Olympic women’swater polo team.
As host, Brazil received an automatic berth in the eight-team women’s tournament, and the country made a concerted effort to field a competitive team. Still, Brazil is a 50-to-1 shot to win the gold in the Olympic Aquatics Stadium pool. (Only China’s odds are higher at 150-to-1).
It doesn’t matter to Mantellato Dias. She is beyond proud to be walking in today’s Opening Ceremony in the fabled Maracana, best known as the home of Brazil’s legendarymen’s soccer team.
“Since I was a little girl, I’ve always dreamed of being an Olympian,” she said. “I come from a family of athletes and I remember hearing all their stories, the way they looked ateach other, the pride they had for each other … it made me want to be part of all of that as well.
“And now being able to play at home … having all my family and friends there … it is a dream come true. I’ll be walking in the Opening Ceremony and I can’t describe howexcited I am to experience something like that. I have goosebumps just to think about it.”
Mantellato Dias and Brazil have found some success at international competitions, including earning bronze medals at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games. But theOlympics is another level.
After taking this past collegiate season off to train with the national team, Mantellato Dias will return to UH to play one final season and complete her communications degree.A transfer from Golden West (Calif.) College, she scored 27 goals as a junior in 2015, including a hat trick against UC San Diego in Hawaii’s 13-8 victory in the NCAAtournament seventh-place match.
“My experience in the U.S. has had a huge impact on my water polo career,” said Mantellato Dias. “I decided I wanted to go to the U.S. because they have always been part ofthe water polo elite (the U.S. women are favored to win gold in Rio).
“I knew I would become a better player and get a good education. I was fortunate to have great coaches, Brent Bohlender (Johansen High), Kyle Kopp (Golden West), and nowMaureen Cole (Hawaii).”
The mascot of the Rio Olympics is Vinicius, a multi-colored creature said to be a composite of all Brazilian animals. Mantellato Dias is sure to hold on to her Rio keepsake withthe goal of passing it along as inspiration for another generation of her family.
