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Students from the Ramos Olympic Village participate in a challenge to break the world record for keepy-uppies.
Published on 05/06/2026 - 09:54 | Updated
Six countries are joining forces to reconcile sport and the fight against climate change - Press release/City Hall
Fifty students from the Vila Olímpica de Ramos, managed by the Rio Municipal Sports Secretariat, will participate in a global challenge to break the record for simultaneous ball juggling. The event will take place on Saturday, starting at 13:30 PM, as part of a campaign raising awareness of the risks of the climate crisis for sports and the planet. Participants will gather at the Piscinão, in the same neighborhood in the northern zone, to help surpass the record along with six other countries.
— The commitment of the boys and girls to break the world record for simultaneous ball juggling demonstrates the mobilization capacity of the Olympic Villages. In this case, the dedication reinforces the students' concern for sustainability. In an increasingly connected world, our participation in the campaign is an example of how it is possible to use football to raise awareness about the need to care for the environment — explains the Municipal Secretary of Sports, Bruno Ramos.
Currently, more than a thousand students are served at the location. Football is just one of the sports promoted by the department for students in the Ramos neighborhood, who also receive classes in stretching, capoeira, kids' circuit training, sand circuit training, futsal, localized gymnastics, mixed gymnastics, jiu-jitsu, mat Pilates, and volleyball. Between 2025 and 2026, enrollments at the unit jumped from 790 to 1.082: an increase that corresponds to 37% when comparing the months of March of the two years. In addition to practices related to well-being and health, the classes pay attention to the weather, as shown by the attempt to make history with the keepy-uppies.
The challenge aims to leverage the current spotlight on football, on the eve of the World Cup, to encourage reflection on climate change. The performance of the registered boys and girls will be captured on video, added to other records, and evaluated by Guinness. The initiative is led by the NGO Terra FC and will take place in Brazil, the three World Cup host countries (United States, Mexico, and Canada), as well as the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Faroe Islands.
— The extreme heat, the hydration breaks, and the postponement of matches due to storms show that the climate crisis has already reached football. What we want is to use the strength of this culture to involve clubs, fans, and communities in protecting the future of the game — says Laura Moraes, campaigns director at Terra FC. In Rio de Janeiro, Vasco da Gama is also committed to breaking the record, which could result in a new historical milestone for the Guinness World Records.
The campaign proposes a collective goal, requiring solidarity and a collaborative spirit from different nationalities: after all, it is not only individual performance that will be taken into account, but the ability of all participants to keep the ball in the air without using their arms or hands at the same time. The result will not be formalized on Saturday, because Guinness technicians will analyze the records submitted from various parts of the world to determine whether or not the objective was achieved.
The current record is 459 people juggling a soccer ball for ten seconds. On Saturday, the challengers will attempt the same duration. Due to the involvement of different groups across several continents, the expectation is that the record will be broken by a considerable margin — the record-breaking attempt will bring together participants in 49 locations, spread across 38 cities.
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