Popov Teases, “Cielo Who?” On Brazilian’s Departure From Kazan

In a move described as “stunning” at the time by his teammates, Brazilian sprinting ace Cesar Cielo left the 2015 World Championships mid-competition due to his nagging shoulder issues.  After finishing 6th in the men’s 50m butterfly earlier in the meet, Cielo’s departure rendered the Olympic gold medalist out of the 50m freestyle individual event, as well as the men’s 4x100m medley relay.  According to Dr. Gustavo Magliocca, Cielo will now be taking a three-month rehabiliatory break from swimming, both practices and competition.

Also in the aftermath of the meet, Director of the Brazilian Confederation of Water Sports (CBDA), Ricardo de Moura, says that Cielo’s actions will be evaluated ‘under a magnifying glass’.  “The issue of Cielo will be treated individually from all points of view. First, let’s hear it. Let’s do the overall assessment and then take care of the Cielo. He’s an important guy for the team.”

Cielo has come under mild fire as of late, for his separation from the rest of the Brazilian national team, whether perceived or actual. For instance, in Russia, Cielo roomed alone in the athletes’ village, while the rest of the Brazilians shared residence. Cielo was also the only member of the Brazilian team not present at their Worlds staging camp in Rio Major, Portugal. Instead, he and his coach, Arilson Silva, traveled directly to France where Cielo competed in the French Open before final preparations in Eindhoven.

With the World Championships having taken place in Kazan, Russian sprint legend Alexander Popov was recently asked to comment on what some call Cielo’s ‘prima donna-ish’ behavior. After teasingly asking, “Cielo who?”, Popov went on to say, “I’ve a great friend in Brazil, Gustavo Borges. He has class. I always compare other Brazilian swimmers to him. In my opinion, Cesar Cielo is not at the same level Gustavo is, personality wise, as a swimmer.”

Popov is certainly a man not immune to seeing a range of personalities at the international competitive level, as the Russian Olympian was the only man to have won Olympic gold in both the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle events in consecutive Games, having accomplished the feat in 1992 Barcelona and 1996 Atlanta.

Popov continued to say that, with respect to competitors and other things, Gustavo is a ‘fantastic ambassador’ for Brazilian sport, while Cielo appears to be in it more for the benefit of just himself.  For instance, regarding Cielo’s injury, Popov asked rhetorically, “Why did he come [to Kazan] if he had a shoulder injury? He could have given his place to any other Brazilian have the chance to compete.”

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MartinKippenberger
8 years ago

Popov the legend: telling it as it is. Cielo will be remembered in history as both a drug cheat and a one-suit wonder. He is nowhere close to the pantheon of greatness. He’s a mere footnote within the already dubious world list of childish, self-absorbed, third rate swimmers.

Rafael
Reply to  MartinKippenberger
8 years ago

One-Suit wonder? He won 3 consecutive 50 free worlds (2 of them textile), he is the guy who got closest to medal on both 50/100 free after the suits on Worlds/OG. so.. how can you prove he is a one-suit wonder?

ApplesAndOranges
8 years ago

Cielo stayed alone so he could micro dose without anyone finding out. He is not just a Prima Donna; he is just over the hill, or his constant shoulder problems could be the side effects of PEDs. Great athletes are usually the last ones to realize that they lost a step, can’t make the long pass, or turn on the burners when they need to.

I wish him the best and hope he has a great showing at home in 2016. Unfortunately…..

The portugues guy
8 years ago

Its not rio major…its rio maior

Teddy
8 years ago

Some steroid injections would probably heal that shoulder right up. I think that’s what my grandma got when she hurt her back

PACFAN
8 years ago

The most disappointing behavior I know of from Kazan is the interview he gave about the 50 fly. For a champion swimmer to accept he cannot win? Manaudou is indeed the best sprinter in the world, but anything can happen. Adrian showed us that in the semis of the 50 free.

I can’t believe a man with Olympic gold can lie down and say “I dont feel good Flo is going to take my title.” That was an incredibly disappointing interview in every sense of the word.

PK
8 years ago

*clears throat, gets ready for downvotes*

Yet another reason why Brazil is going to struggle in the 400 FR in Rio. We’ve had so many examples of that relay struggling without him to make it through prelims, typically because he refuses to lower himself to swimming in prelims in a spot where it would guarantee them into finals. Their assertion that they want that relay to “matter” in Rio gets massively hampered by this type of behavior from the guy who in theory should be the fastest leg on the relay.

DDias
Reply to  PK
8 years ago

PK,
right now, Brazil don’t needs Cielo to qualify for Finals.And we can blame only the CBDA(Brazil Federation) guys to Brazil fourth place.They think a clear medal at PanAms is better than a “maybe” in Worlds and several swimmers swam Worlds in “extended taper”.Besides Fratus and Chieriguini, the others aren’t where they should be at.Santana was 4Kg overweight in PanAms.He lowered a bit for Worlds, but wasn’t enough to be at his peak.DeLucca couldn’t hold his taper.Every one of them knows Cielo will be a wild card for relay.

DDias
Reply to  PK
8 years ago

Something I forgot to add:
CBDA made some of the dumbest decisions ever:
Instead to send the athletes from PanAms to Kazan directly, they made the guys come to Brazil, stay some days and departed to Kazan.The timezone difference was a pain for many swimmers.Dumb thing.

Eduardo Z
8 years ago

Popov deserve all the respect in the swim world, he is a poet with his mouth closed!!!

floppy
8 years ago

Three months off?! For a guy who rarely swims a race over 30 seconds? And after how many coaches / training environments in the past few years?

I am in terrible shape, and I’m pretty sure I could sprint a 50m free without injuring myself. If he was really afraid of swimming another 50m sprint, how the heck was he training? I really don’t see what he would have had to lose by giving the 50 free a try – except a little pride.

Steve-O Nolan
Reply to  floppy
8 years ago

Odds are you’ve never swam like Cielo has. A 50 free’s not the most gentle thing, especially for a shoulder.

You can fault him for the “prima donna” stuff all you want, that’s prolly fair game. But if a guy makes a call not to compete due to injury I don’t see why we should pile on. It’s his shoulder, his career. If he’s not comfortable swimming, don’t.

floppy
Reply to  Steve-O Nolan
8 years ago

If his shoulder is really busted, I understand.

But presumably he swims race pace at least OCCASIONALLY in practice. Unless he got a new injury at Worlds, this doesn’t seem like the kind of thing that would sneak up on you.

Gina Rhinestone
Reply to  floppy
8 years ago

Does not this count as online bullying? It has already been covered & ppl still attacking for reasons that are none of their business . It is between him & Brazilian authorities .

Kazan is over . That is the joy of a sport comp – they finish & God gets a small rest before ppl start bargaining with him for the next comp. don’t know how he manages it .

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