Brazil’s Lula praises Olympic athletes at presidential palace

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Monday was meeting with nearly three dozen athletes from the nation’s Olympic delegation in the capital, Brasilia. Brazil won 20 medals in the Paris Olympic games: three gold, seven silver and 10 bronze. Nearly all 276 Brazilian athletes who competed are current or former beneficiaries of the federal government’s Athlete Grant welfare program and, in his address, Lula exalted the benefits of public investment in sport as a means to provide opportunity to underprivileged children.