Daiane dos Santos

Daiane Garcia dos Santos was born in Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul, on Feb.10th 1983.
Daiane, as she is known in Brazil, started her career at age 13, when she was "discovered" by a coach while she was playing in a public place in Porto Alegre.
In 1998, she won her first gold medal in a tournament in Canberra, Australia; in 1999, during the Pan-American Games of Winnipeg, Canada, she won three medals, including silver medal in the horse-jump competition. By then, she was already a pleasant surprise in the Brazilian sports scenery. This page already commented on Dayane's achievements.
But the best year for Daiane, so far, was 2003. In the World Championship of Anaheim, USA, Daiane won the gold medal in Floor Exercices, with a sequence called "double twist carped", with was later dubbed "Dos Santos" by the International Federation of Gymnastic. In the World Cup of Stutgart, Germany, Daiane surprised the world again with a even more difficult sequence, the "double twist extended".
In a poll conducted among Brazilian specialists, later confirmed by the public via internet, Dayane was elected the Sports Women of The Year 2003. Click the next link to access a page of the International Federation of Gymnastics's about Daiane (including a biography).
Dayane is candidate for gold medal in the Olympic Games of Athens.

Update: Daiane finished 5th in the Olympic Games. With a sense of fair play, she admitted that her nerves (and the weight of responsibility) got in the way, and she lost concentration.


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