The one-day event, sponsored by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Brazilian Olympic Institute (IOB) and brought together global sport management leaders.

Among the leading national sport personalities were Bernardinho, the former men’s and women’s volleyball coach, alongside COB sports director Jorge Bichara and the educational consultant of the Brazilian Academy of Coaches, Antonio Carlos Gomes.

From abroad came Bob Bowman, formerly Michael Phelps' coach and head coach of swimming at Arizona State University, as well as Chelsea Warr, director of performance at UK Sport and Michael Vesper, an International Olympic Committee senior consultant.  

They were joined by the likes of Maurits Hendriks, high performance director at the Dutch Olympic Committee*Dutch Sports Federation, Chris O’Brien, deputy high performance director at the Australian Institute of Sport and Aaron Coutts, a professor in sport and exercise science at the University of Technology Sydney.

"All our objectives were fully achieved," COB general director Rogério Sampaio said.

"The presentations led to significant knowledge exchanges attended by our distinguished guests.

"All Congress participants were much impressed by the work COB has been developing.

"This was precisely our goal."

The event was opened by COB President Paulo Wanderley Teixeira, who emphasised the relevance of the Agnelo/Piva Law to the development of Brazilian sport and to the success of the Congress.

He did so in the presence of Minister General Augusto Heleno, the head of the Institutional Security Office of Brazil and formerly an IOB director for six years, and the special secretary of sport, Marco Aurélio Vieira.

Sanctioned in July 2001, the Agnelo/Piva Law establishes that two per cent from the gross revenues from the federal lottery, after prizes are paid out, should be allocated to the COB and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee with 85 per cent of that going to the former and the remaining 15 per cent going to the latter.

"The Agnelo/Piva Law is the main driver of Brazilian sport and keeping it is critical," Wanderley Teixeira said.

"Thanks to it, we reached 13th position among 208 nations at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

"As to the Brazilian Olympic Congress, I am very happy and proud of this first edition.

"This was a project carefully designed and implemented by the IOB."

Subjects such as sport organisation systems, strategies for increasing competitiveness, team management, training loads for Olympic athletes and health in sport were discussed in the morning. 

In the afternoon, the speakers talked about ethics, governance and compliance in sport, talent identification and development, and how to change data into strategic information. 

Closing the Congress, Bowman made a presentation on "Golden Rules: Ten Steps to World Class Excellence in Your Life and Work". 

"The structure was quite innovative with three stages and simultaneous lectures," he said.

"I also enjoyed the external interaction area and the high quality of all presenters. 

"I really loved the event."

During the breaks between lectures, the Congress also offered several activities that resulted from joint actions between the COB and the national sport confederations. 

The Brazilian Ice Sports Federation, for example, built a street curling rink inviting participants to learn more about the winter sport.