This woman is on fire. When she was 17, she dominated the block, specifically Montenegro Street, in Rio's Ipanema neighborhood.

Black hair, blue eyes, hip and bust measuring 87 cm, a waist measuring 60 cm, with 54 kg distributed across a body 1.71 m in length, all of which left Veloso bar regulars Antonio Carlos Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes flabbergasted back in 1962.

Time, always so ruthless with lowly mortals, seems to have been more gracious to the muse of bossa nova: 54 years later, she's gained 4 kg, 15 cm in the waist and 8 cm in the hip and bust (the 250 ml of silicone in each breast make it possible for her to maintain her proportions).

On August 5th, the start of Rio-2106 Olympic Games, she will be the one to carry the olympic torch through the streets she made famous throughout the world.

Ballerina and "aerojazz" dancer at the age of 70, Helô Pinheiro oozes energy: she jumps around, makes faces, jokes and recalls facts about her trajectory.

"When I was 4, I had bronchial asthma", she said, in an unmistakable Rio accent, despite having lived in the São Paulo neighborhood, Alto de Pinheiros, since 1975. "The doctor suggested we move closer to the ocean", says Heloisa Eneida de Menezes Paes Pinto, born in the Rio suburb of Grajaú.

Helô Pinheiro says that, by participating in the torch relay, she will be able to relive the moments that made her famous. "I want to pick up the torch without shaking", she says, in a playful tone. "I'm trembling with anticipation. We are going through a delicate moment, right? I hope that, like Christ, we will receive the world with open arms." Let's hope!

In that 200m path to the waterfront, the entire world, or at least Ipanema's, expects to be elated (once again) by Helô Pinheiro's beauty.

Translated by SUGHEY RAMIREZ

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	Eduardo Knapp/Folhapress
	The "girl from Ipanema" will carry the Olympic torch through Rio neighborhood