Representing the Brazilian men's team in Tokyo, Piracicaba native Diogo Soares is the newest addition to Mengão's artistic gymnastics squad. At just 20 years old, he is considered Brazil's most promising prospect in the sport. His most notable titles include silver and bronze medals at the Youth Olympic Games, silver at the Junior World Championships, and a runner-up position in the Pan American adult championship.

"Being at Flamengo is a dream come true. Where I trained, I didn't even have a floor apparatus. I could only train on the floor when I went to competitions. I never imagined I'd end up at a club of this size, with all this structure at my disposal. I'll train even harder to honor and repay all the affection they've shown me," he assured.

Diogo has been practicing the sport since he was four, when he started accompanying his sister to private lessons. At the time, he still thought gymnastics was cool because he could fly like superheroes. The boy's skills surprised coach Daniel Biscalchin, who let him train for free at the gym he runs in his city in the interior of São Paulo. It didn't take long for the bet on the boy to pay off.

"From the moment he arrived, I realized he was a special kid. I decided to take a chance on him. Diogo is very dedicated and loves what he does. Little by little, the results began to appear, and we grew together. Everything has been going well, and as they say, don't change a winning team. We've never had a structure like this, and being at Flamengo is very important to us," commented the coach.

Having participated in competitions since he was nine years old, Diogo has already accumulated a number of respectable achievements, such as having won the Brazilian title ten times.

In 2018, when he was just 16 years old, the Piracicaba native shone at the Youth Olympic Games, held in Buenos Aires, and won bronze in the individual all-around and silver on the horizontal bar in the competition among athletes under 18 years old.

The promising athlete's development was even more impressive in 2019. In addition to his silver medal in the rings at the Junior World Championships, Diogo Soares won gold in the all-around at the Brazilian Championships. At the time, he was competing in his first adult competition and had already surpassed Olympic athletes such as Francisco Barretto and Arthur Nory.

In June 2021, at the Pan American Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rio de Janeiro, the individual all-around competition was worth an Olympic spot for the Brazilian team. Diogo Soares finished with 82.700, third overall, and earned one of the two spots available in the continental competition. This brought the men's team in Tokyo to five athletes.

Georgette Vidor, gymnastics technical coordinator, highlighted the qualities of the newly hired athlete.

"Flamengo needed an idol in men's artistic gymnastics. Someone these kids would look up to and say, 'I want to be like him!' And Diogo is that. A boy with unquestionable talent and enviable emotional balance," he emphasized.

And if it depends on Diogo, the red-black fans can already celebrate.

"I can assure the fans that there will be no shortage of commitment and willpower. I'm just grateful to be here, and I want to be the greatest athlete in the country and be in Paris representing the nation," he concluded.