Leomon Moreno

Leomon Moreno was the key player as the Brazilian men’s goalball team successfully defended their world title in Malmo, Sweden, in 2018. It extends a dominant era for Brazil, who have reached the podium of every major competition since the London 2012 Paralympics.

Moreno clutched the Top Scorer trophy with a mammoth 44 goals!

One year before, Brazil defeated Rio 2016 silver medallists USA to claim a much-celebrated Americas Championships title. Moreno was the star of the game, leading Brazil with five goals to round off a total of 16 throughout the tournament.

In recent years, especially in the lead-up to their home Paralympics in 2016, the Brazilian men’s goalball team improved considerably. Moreno has much to do with that.

His first major event was the London 2012 Paralympic Games where he helped Brazil seal silver, the first Paralympic medal in their history.

Two years later, Moreno excelled at the World Championships in Espoo, Finland, scoring 51 points to finish as the competition’s top scorer. Brazil took gold, followed by the hosts and the USA.

Due to his performance at the Worlds, Moreno was selected Para athlete of the year by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) ahead of the likes of football 5-a-side star Ricardinho and multi-Paralympic swimming champion Daniel Dias.

He was also a key member of the team that won gold at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games.

Brazil made it to the goalball podium for a second consecutive Paralympics in Rio, mainly thanks to Moreno. He was the hero scoring the winning goal in the 6-5 victory over Sweden in the bronze medal match.

Moreno was outstanding throughout the tournament, leading the team with 27 points.

Moreno was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative eye disease, and played judo, cycling, swimming, football 5-a-side and athletics during his youth, before switching to goalball, the sport his brothers Leandro and Leonardo also practice.