Miraildes Maciel Mota, known around the world as Formiga, created some Olympic history on Wednesday. The Sao Paolo midfielder, who has 201 caps for her national team, became the first women’s player to take part in seven Olympic Games after playing 72 minutes in her country’s 5-0 win over China.She made her Brazil debut at the 1995 World Cup as a 17-year-old and has played in every Olympic Games since women’s football made its debut at the 1996 Atlanta Games. Having won silver at both the 2004 and 2008 Games, Formiga is looking to finally win that gold medal which has so far been elusive.The 2016 Games, which were played on home soil, ended in heartbreak for Formiga and her teammates as they lost to Sweden on penalties in the semi-finals before losing the bronze medal match to Canada.43-year-old Formiga becomes first football player to take part in SEVEN Olympic Games.35-year-old Marta becomes the first football player to score in FIVE straight Olympic Games.LEGENDS 🇧🇷💛 pic.twitter.com/PxUDL3kS9i— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) July 21, 2021 Heading into the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, only 31 athletes since 1896 have ever taken part in seven or more Games, headed by the ten-time Olympian, Canadian show-jumper Ian Millar. Only three women in history have competed at more Games than the Brazilian – the Canadian coxswain Lesley Thompson, German/Italian canoeist Josefa Idem and Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze.Formiga became only the eleventh woman to take part in seven Olympics and the first-ever Brazilian to accomplish that feat. More significantly, she is now the first seven-time Olympian of either sex in a team sport. She began playing street soccer at the age of 7, moving to Sao Paulo to train full-time after impressing a visiting scout. She earned her nickname of Formiga, the Portuguese word for ant, due to her small frame and unselfish work for the team in the middle of the field.When she was 17, she was selected to travel with the Brazilian squad to Sweden for her first Women’s World Cup in 1995, making two substitute appearances, but a year later by the time of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics she had become a starter, a position she maintains 26 years later.Since 1896, only 31 athletes have competed in seven or more Olympics, and none have ever achieved it in a team sport. This week, Brazil’s Formiga will become football’s first-ever seven-time Olympian. Find out more about her in my article for @ForbesSports https://t.co/IwlzYGyGEB pic.twitter.com/V6sFIcPcYj— Asif Burhan (@AsifBurhan) July 19, 2021 All Formiga’s achievements are even more impressive considering the fact that women’s football was illegal in her country at the time she was born in 1978. A 1941 decree by the National Sports Council in Brazil declared that women “will not be allowed to practice sports incompatible with the conditions of their nature”. Echoing similar bans in England and Germany, which deemed soccer too dangerous for women to play, it was not overturned until 1981.It’s not only the long-lasting Formiga who’s had a milestone match. Her teammate Marta also created Olympic history as she became the first player to score in five straight Olympics after netting a double against China. The 35-year-old, widely regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, has scored 111 international goals and has been named FIFA World Player of the Year six times. Marta’s brace means she now has 12 Olympic Games goals to her name, having scored her first in Athens in 2004, and is now just two shy of the all-time record held by her compatriot Cristiane.
