Diego Hypolito, Victor Rosa, and Sergio Sasaki, the biggest stars of the red-and-black artistic gymnastics team, are training in Stuttgart, Germany, already looking ahead to the 2011 World Cup season. The experience has been very rewarding, and the athletes hope to return even more prepared for the challenges of the year leading up to the London Olympics.

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Sasaki, who recently won two medals (gold on vault and silver on floor) at the World Cup in Doha, Qatar, highlighted the importance of being on the Brazilian team and commented on the excellent structure of the Training Center where he is based.

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"We also have great equipment in Brazil, but here, where their Training Center is located, they have the most modern equipment, of course. Besides that, here they have, for example, three official parallel bars and three more where we can work just to learn new elements. It's wonderful," said the athlete, who had already trained there in 2007.

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Under the command of Renato Araújo, coach of the national team and Flamengo, two-time world champion Diego Hypolito returned ready and confident after five months recovering from surgery on his left ankle.

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"I feel ready and very happy to be back training. It's the Pan American Games year and I intend to seek a spot in the London Olympics," said Hypolito.

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In two weeks, it will be the girls' turn. The women's team, which boasts the experience of three Flamengo players, is heading to Germany with the same goal: a training camp at the advanced Kunst-Turn-Forum. Daniele Hypolito, Jade Barbosa, and Gabriela Soares will represent Flamengo.