An unforgettable night with Bola Pra Frente

All eyes were on Rio’s Olympic Stadium last night as the fastest men and women in the world met for a chance to get their hands on the remaining medals.

It was the hottest ticket in town and the ones lucky enough to get a seat in the packed Olympic Stadium were ecstatic to be there. But a group of young Brazilian fans in the crowd were perhaps the happiest of all.

Laureus Sport for Good organised for the young people of Laureus-supported project Bola Pra Frente to attend the athletics event and witness in person the best of sport on the world’s biggest stage! It was an unforgettable night which saw sporting superstar Usain Bolt claim his third consecutive 100m gold medal and Wayde van Niekerk break the 400m world record - which had been standing since 1999.

14 year old Marcela Ferreira was in awe the entore night: "It was an incredible experience, an emotional moment that will stay in my memory for ever."

In addition, the youngsters were chaperoned by non-other than former Olympic gold medalist and CEO of Laureus USA, Benita Fitzgerald Mosley:

"It was just incredible to be with the kids of Bola Pra Frente to watch the athletics. Personally, it brought back many happy memories to be in an Olympic Stadium and being here with these inspiring young people made it a really emotional night. And to see the likes of Usain Bolt winning his third 100 meters gold medal and a world record in the men's 400 meters live is something none of us will ever forget” said the Olympic champion.

Bola Pra Frente’s mission is to educate children, adolescents and their families towards becoming leaders and role models in their communities, using sport as the means to achieve this. The project is located in an area of Rio de Janeiro with low socio-economic households, where drug use and trafficking, teenage prostitution, high rate of school drop-outs, violence, crime and lack of opportunities define day to day life.

It was an evening that was watched by the world but for the youngsters of Bola Pra Frente, being there meant the world.