Vinícius Lanzoni Gomes, from Rio de Janeiro, will turn 63 on April 23rd. A federal public servant, Gomes has been an avid sports fan since he was 16, especially Olympic cycling and athletics. He has already won several national titles, the most recent being two-time Brazilian masters high jump champion, in 2022. Currently, the federal employee has just won another prize: a place on the Sports Sciences course at the Faculty of Applied Sciences (FCA), in Limeira.
“My dream has always been to study something in the field of Physical Education when I retire, for the simple pleasure of learning more about it, as I have always had an intense practice in different sports. Entering Unicamp was a huge personal victory, which at this point in my life brought a huge sense of duty accomplished”, reveals Gomes, whose place at Unicamp will be his third graduation.
Resident of Jacareí, in the interior of the state, the freshman will do a tough routine between home office, college, training as an athlete and taking care of the family. He is married, has two children — one a doctor and the other a lawyer, both graduated from a public university. Even with so much effort, he feels fulfilled in being able to attend university at the age of 62. “I almost gave up on the course due to the financial investment and logistics required, but the help from FCA professors has been essential to continue”, he declares excitedly.
Plans for the future
Vinícius has always been interested in training and supplementation techniques, reading about them and keeping up to date with the world of sports in general. “Knowing more about the subject has always been a goal in my life, to the point of setting a goal of pursuing higher education in the area,” he declares.
The idea of federal employees, after graduating, is to try to secure a place in the job market out of love for the area. Gomes does not expect a financial return, but he hopes to convey to children, young people and the elderly the importance of physical activity and sport for longevity and quality of life. “I always imagined, as I got older, that I could become an example of the advantages of leading a balanced life based on frequent and regular physical activity.”, he explains.
Extensive course
Vinícius Gomes considers himself extremely competitive in everything he does and had no doubt that he would need to prepare to face another category of competitor. “I thought about preparing myself as best I could for this important 'competition' in my life. After all, for the first time I would compete, without equal conditions, with 'adversaries' old enough to be my grandchildren,” he argues. The Unicamp freshman took part in a scholarship competition at the Poliedro school and, after receiving a partial scholarship, began attending the evening online course. “I started attending the course regularly from the first day with great enthusiasm,” he says.
At first, Gomes wasn't sure he could handle the number of subjects, after so many years without attending school. “As time passed, I became more motivated to try to achieve my goal. The classes were always great. I easily adapted to the distance learning method, which I consider practical, economical and functional. I did almost all the simulations and prepared many of the proposed weekly essays,” he says.
Against hostility and discrimination
At Unicamp, the coordinator of the Sports Science course, Leandro Mazzei, informs that the course has been receiving incoming students over 50 years of age for the past three years. “Typically, they are people who, throughout their lives, have even been professionally involved in sports and are now realizing their dream of deepening scientific knowledge in the area,” he explains.
Vinícius Gomes' example goes against hostilities and discrimination like those that went viral on social media recently, in a video that shows three biomedicine students from a private university in Bauru mocking a 40-year-old coursemate. Among other things, the students said that she could no longer be attending college — “she should already be retired”, they posted. In this sense, Leandro Mazzei believes this type of example is important, so that people like Vinícius Homes can show society that it is always time to dream, achieve and learn.
Read the full statement from daughter Maria Vitória Lanzoni about her father posted on Instagram:
“What is the greatest inheritance you will leave for your children?
This is my father, Seu Vinícius. He is a glutton, talkative, courageous, protective and naughty. He picks on everything, especially me.
People know him as the “German nerd at school” or “Vinícius da Bicicleta”.
Even though we clash on so many issues, I always repeat, with a heart full of gratitude, that it was my father who taught me to love the two things I love most in life: studies and sports, especially competitive sports.
Like a good Taurus with a Scorpio ascendant, he brought together reason and emotion to, at the age of sixty-two, find himself in a virtual classroom full of teenagers, and thus fulfill his biggest dream of studying physical education in a public university.
After graduating his two children from two of the best universities in the country — “the greatest pride a father can have”, as he says — today it is his turn to celebrate the start of his third college at the wonderful UNICAMP.
Congratulations, father, for being the upright, honest, generous, bold and great man you always were. Thank you for always picking on me, in every detail, and, with that, making me a woman who is not afraid to impose herself in environments that are sometimes so competitive and masculine. And besides, thank you for never refusing to protect me.
Thank you, above all, for teaching me, through example, that, in life, nothing comes easy and that there are no shortcuts. But still, no dream is impossible when mind and heart are aligned.
May UNICAMP be prepared to welcome the “old” freshman who jumps the most in Brazil.
I love you with all my heart.”
