Pedro Henrique "Pepe" Gonçalves da Silva (born 12 April 1993 in Ipaussu) is a Brazilian slalom canoeist who has competed at the international level since 2009.

Early life

Raised in

Piraju Piraju is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. The population is 29,970 (2021 est.) in an area of 504.5 km². The elevation is 646 m. This place name comes from the Tupi language, meaning "yellow fish". Media In telecommunic ...

, da Silva got interested in canoeing after seeing the Brazilian team that would participate in the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

practice in his city. He joined a social project that taught the sport in the

Paranapanema River The Paranapanema River (Portuguese language, Portuguese, ''Rio Paranapanema'') is one of the most important rivers of the interior of the Brazilian state of São Paulo (state), São Paulo. The river forms most of the boundary between the states of ...

and got moved to sailing for a year due to his low stature, but his abilities in the kayak soon convinced his teachers. Once moved from sprint to slalom, Gonçalves won his first Brazilian championship in 2011, and nearly qualified for the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

- missing the qualifying time by 0.13 seconds.

Career

At the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

, in his first participation in Pans, he obtained the silver medal in the K1 category. In the same year, he won bronze in the

2015 World Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships The 2015 ICF World Junior and U23 Canoe Slalom Championships took place in Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil from 22 to 26 April 2015 under the auspices of the International Canoe Federation (ICF). It was the 17th edition of the competition for Juniors (U18) a ...

. Gonçalves won a bronze medal in the kayak cross event at the 2019 World Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. He also won the overall

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

title in kayak cross in

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

. Gonçalves competed at two Olympic Games. He finished 6th in the K1 event at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, the best result the country ever had in this sport. He also competed at the delayed

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, where he finished 19th in the K1 event after being eliminated in the semifinal. At the

2022 South American Games The XII South American Games (Spanish language, Spanish: ''XII Juegos Suramericanos Asunción 2022'') was a multi-sport event held between 1–15 October 2022 in Asunción, Paraguay. The Games were organized by the South American Sports Organiza ...

, he obtained two gold medals, in K1 and kayak cross. At the

2023 Pan American Games The 2023 Pan American Games (), officially the XIX Pan American Games () and commonly known as Santiago 2023, were an international multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization, held in Santiago, Chile from 20 October to 5 Novem ...

he obtained a silver medal in the K1 event.

World Cup individual podiums

¹ Although the K1 cross events were contested, no World Cup points were awarded :

² World Championship counting for World Cup points

Personal life

He lives in

Foz do Iguaçu Foz do Iguaçu (; "Iguazu River mouth"), colloquially referred to as Foz, is the Brazilian city on the border of Iguaçu Falls. Foz in Portuguese language, Portuguese means the mouth or end of a river and Iguaçu in Guarani language, Guarani or Tup ...

, where he trains and studies physiotherapy.

Controversy

During the 2016 Olympics, he made news for being brought by diver Ingrid de Oliveira to her bedroom, causing tension between Oliveira and her partner Giovanna Pedroso as both would compete in the women's 10-meter synchronized platform dive the next day.

References

External links

*
Pedro Enrique Gon DA SILVA
at CanoeSlalom.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Goncalves, Pepe 1993 births Living people Brazilian male canoeists Canoeists from São Paulo (state) Canoeists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic canoeists for Brazil Pan American Games gold medalists in canoeing Pan American Games silver medalists in canoeing Pan American Games gold medalists for Brazil Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Canoeists at the 2015 Pan American Games Canoeists at the 2019 Pan American Games Canoeists at the 2023 Pan American Games Medalists at the ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Pan American Games Canoeists at the 2020 Summer Olympics People from Piraju 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen Canoeists at the 2024 Summer Olympics