Family Seeks Help for Missing Olympian

The family of former Olympic athlete Daniel Nascimento is reaching out for assistance following his sudden disappearance from home.

Valdilene de Paula Ferreira, Nascimento’s mother, is asking the public for any information regarding his whereabouts. She shared a post on Instagram to spread the word.

“His name is Daniel Nascimento, but he’s better known as Armello. He was a marathon runner and has some mental health challenges,” she stated, as reported in an Instagram translation.

Ferreira noted that her son left their home in Paraguaçu Paulista, located southwest of São Paulo, around 7 PM on June 19, with a black backpack in tow.

She has been urging anyone with useful information to contact her, even providing her phone number for outreach. However, it wasn’t until Monday—just a day before Nascimento’s 28th birthday—that the family officially reported his disappearance to the authorities.

In a video shared on Instagram, Ferreira mentioned that her son had been under her care since May 2025, after he received a five-year ban from competition.

“He always accompanied me when I went to work. He was a good kid. Occasionally, I’d take him running, and he’d sneak in some training sessions amidst the sugar cane fields. I think he really misses being an athlete,” she added.

“As a mother, I can’t help but worry. He seems to have lost about 10 kilograms. His siblings are also quite concerned. We just want him back,” Ferreira expressed.

Nascimento, recognized as South America’s fastest marathon runner, previously faced a ban after testing positive for multiple steroids just a month before the upcoming 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

This incident led to him withdrawing from both the Paris Games and the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

He had an impressive career, peaking with a third-place finish at the 2022 Seoul Marathon in a time of 2:04:51, and was also notable for leading the New York Marathon for an extended stretch before collapsing from exhaustion during the race.