Curaçao Athletes in RIO 2016

After four years, the world is about to be captivated by another memorable season of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, better known as Rio 2016, from 5 through 21 of August 2016. This time around, sport fans will be able to watch the games live at one of the many official designated locations in the host city, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The city of Rio which is well-known for its Carnival festival featuring spectacular costumes and samba rhythms, has so many things to offer the visitors during the Olympic season. The public can enjoy the multicultural dimensions of Brazil by means of different parties, exhibitions, plays, concerts, and many other fun and interactive activities organized by the host city and Rio 2016 partners.

The Olympic competitions will take place in 32 different locations in Rio, including five co-host cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador, and São Paolo. Fans around the world can also join one another at the various live sites to watch the sporting actions on big screens. Another unmissable tradition is the concept of National Houses. These will be arranged near each official location to provide the public with the opportunity to be closer to their favorite athletes, since they will also be there to celebrate their victories. As you can see, this event is one of the biggest sport events of all times. Among the 10,000 athletes who will participate, only 297 medals will be given out. Hence, it is no surprise that countries are giving their all to support native athletes in order to outshine the other competing countries.

When it comes to sports you may be familiar with names such as Churandy Martina, Andrew Jones, Jean-Julian Rojer, Kenley Jansen, and so on. Without neglecting the numerous other talented locals on our island, we must recognize the progress of another promising young athlete, Liemarvin Bonevacia. This young and dynamic individual is catching the attention of everyone who is following his track and field life. It is surely an honor for Curaçao to have one more “Bon Yu di Kòrsou” participating at the 2016 Olympic Games. He will be competing in the 400M race with the aim to break his own personal record and achieve a new running time of 43 seconds. 

With less than one month away, athletes all over the world are in full preparation to face the best of the best in 42 different sport categories during the Olympic Games. The selection of sports varies from archery to athletics, to basketball and sky jumping. Just like the other participating countries, Curaçao also has a group of athletes who will be competing for the Olympic medals in Rio 2016, and who are currently partaking in intense workouts and preparation. Some of them are still competing in tournaments that will finally determine if they will be actually participating at the games this August.

Travel agencies are overblown by the interest for Rio 2016. If you haven’t booked your flight yet, make sure you do so as soon as possible. In the meantime you can try your luck by participating in the ‘Dream, Believe, Achieve’ campaign sponsored by UTS and FDDK, with a chance to win two free trips to the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The story of Liemarvin (1/5)

Liem4rvin Bon3vacia

One of our own

At the moment Curaçao has three officially confirmed athletes who will compete in Rio 2016 during the Summer Olympic Games. One of them is our talented runner, Liemarvin Bonevacia, born on April 5 in 1989 and raised by Marisol Bonevacia (mother) together with Elvin Bonevacia (father). At a relatively young age Liemarvin started to show a lot of passion for sports activities. It all started with baseball followed by soccer. After a few years of practicing soccer he was introduced to athletics by one of his younger brothers, Maiklin Bonevacia. This was surely a big turning point in Liemarvin’s life. Those who know him know that his life story is in one word truly INSPIRING. Hence, we will be covering several interviews with a few persons who really played an important role throughout his journey. To start off, we recently had a pleasant talk with his family, to be specific, his dear mom, dad, and brother.



 Marisol tells the story of Liemarvin’s first experience at high school: The first thing one of his teachers asked him was: “Are you also one of those boys who are going to behave badly causing the school board to dismiss you?” He rapidly reassured the school teacher that he simply because he wants to finish his school and that he is not going to misbehave.
It was not long ago that Marisol was very ill and was admitted into the hospital. Liemarvin and his mom are very close and he missed her while she was away from home. With glassy eyes she told us how Liemarvin visited her every day at midnight. She still does not know how he did it. But he seemed to have worked his way around security.
“I need to go see my mom.” Liem4rvin Bon3vacia
Marisol remembers waking up and seeing his first born standing at her bed saying: “Mom I have come to pray with you; you have to remain strong because I am strong too.”


 

Yumailkin Bonevacia (Brother)

Elvin never doubted in his son. Every time Liemarvin went to school, Elvin had some serious talks with him. He constantly reminded Liemarvin that he can do anything he sets his mind on, especially at school, as long as he stops joking around. Elvin noticed that Liemarvin started to perform better at school from the time that he started to run.
As for Rio 2016 he is convinced that Liemarvin will take either the first or second place. He is blown away by his son’s continuous perseverance and he is sure that he will make it big time.





Yumaiklin Bonevacia, Liemarvin’s little brother describes his brother as a jokey pal who is very open and ready to give a helping hand as long as it contributes to a positive cause. Yumaiklin told us how it all started. Each of them was practicing a different sport. Their mom was not happy with the many bruises Liemarvin was getting while practicing soccer in the  Victory Boys team.
Given the circumstances, Yumaiklin asked his oldest brother to join him on the athletic team and joked about the pretty things he would be able to admire once he was there. This is how an innocent joke resulted in an encouraging journey.

When Liemarvin and Yumaiklin were little kids, their mother kept them separate because of Liemarvin’s behavior at the time. She acknowledges the fact that Liemarvin was a quick learner and actually had no problem with his classes. The only issue was his attitude.
Rudsel Martina was one of the first who stood by Liemarvin and made him aware that if he wanted to move forward in life and achieve his goals, he needed to become serious about it and change his attitude and behavior. It is after these empowering moments that Maiklin began to notice how his brother changed and became the person he is today.
From the bottom of his heart, Maiklin’s deepest desire is for his brother to return home with the first place Olympic medal. He has faith that he will give his utmost to break his own personal record and the Olympic record.

While remaining in anticipation of Liemarvin’s race in Rio 2016, we will conduct several interviews with a few of the most important people in his life. We have definitely learned that he is not only one of our own, but he is also a true example for many youngsters out there. Regardless of his behavior as a kid, he chose to follow the right path. And as a result, look where he’s heading to: RIO 2016!

Watch the video interview.