Marcio Araujo, a retired Brazilian beach volleyball star, has been hospitalized with the coronavirus and said his life was in danger over the weekend, according to Globo.
Marcio, a 2008 Olympic silver medalist and 2005 World champion, posted an image on Instagram Saturday holding a sign that read, in Portuguese, I will recover if God wants, while wearing a mask over the nose and mouth.
He reportedly said Saturday that he returned from a hospital because there was no ICU bed available for him in his native Fortaleza. On Monday, he posted an image of a man in a hospital bed wearing a mask. The caption read that he was readmitted to a hospital with a lack of oxygen.
Marcio, now 46, teamed with Fabio Luiz Magalhaes for that 2005 World title and 2008 Olympic silver medal, falling to Americans Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers in a three-set final in Beijing.
Marcio, who became a father before his first Olympics in 2004, and the 6-foot-8 Fabio, nicknamed “Jaws,” were the second-ranked team in the world for most of the Beijing Olympic cycle.
Marcio later paired with legend Ricardo and earned a 2011 World silver medal, after which they split. Ricardo went to the 2012 Olympics with his new partner. Marcio did not make it to the London Games and wound down his career.
