Paris 2024: Brazil set their medal sights high
Paralympic Committee hopes for record medal haul in French capital 24 Aug 2024
Brazil’s Para athletes have been challenged to deliver a record haul of medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games and target a top eight finish in the table.
At Tokyo 2020, Brazil collected 72 medals, 22 of them gold, 20 silver and 30 bronze. Swimming and athletics athletes dominated, and the invincible blind footballers delivered again.
There was also a historic first goalball gold in the men’s event, the women’s Para powerlifting, Para judo and Para canoe.
“Our athletes are arriving in Paris in their best shape, after a pretty prolific route to the Paralympic Games. They've achieved their best records ever in the last three years at their respective world championships,” said high performance director Jonas Freire.
‘To be a champion you have to think like a champion’
“Our expectation is to achieve 70 to 90 podiums in Paris. Another goal of the committee is for Brazil to remain in the top eight of the medals table,” added Freire.
“The Brazilian Paralympic Committee expects Brazilian athletes to carry out Brazil's best campaign in the history of the Paralympic Games.”
Mariana D’Andrea is ready to step up again after causing a major upset in the women’s powerlifting at Tokyo when she beat China’s Xu Lili in the final.
“To be a champion, you have to think like a champion, train like a champion and have the attitude of a champion,” the two-time Paralympian said. “That’s how I think, and that’s how I’m going to do it,” she said.
‘Brazil have other great athletes in other sports’
Freire picks out table tennis player Bruna Alexandre, who will be the first Brazilian Paralympic athlete, man or woman, to compete in both the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Then there is Brazil’s most successful performer at Tokyo 2020, swimmer Carol Santiago.
“Brazil is a powerhouse in Paralympic sport because it has excellent athletes in various sports. Obviously, athletics and swimming athletes are the athletes who win the most medals at the Paralympic Games, but Brazil have other great athletes in other sports,” said Freire.
Santiago was crowned Paralympic champion in the 50m freestyle S13, 100m freestyle S12 and 100m breaststroke SB12 and picked up silver (relay 4 x 100m mixed freestyle), and a bronze (100m backstroke) and the team won 23 swimming medals in total.
Triple gold and a place in history
She became the first Brazilian woman swimmer to win three gold medals in the same edition of the Games.
There is also an exciting new Games face. All eyes will be on S5 world champion Samuel de Oliveira, who will be competing in his first Games. Oliveira, known as Samuka in Brazil, lost his arms when he was hit by an electric shock while flying a kite.
The Invincibles ready to go again
Excellence is very much the byword for the blind football team, where Brazil are going for a sixth consecutive gold medal. Eight teams compete in Paris and Argentina, Morocco, France, China, Japan, Colombia and Turkey will hope to spoil Brazil’s amazing run.
Raimundo Mendes, known as Nonato, capped a solo dribble and toe-poke past Dario Lencina to claim the Tokyo 2020 gold medal victory over Argentina. He is already looking beyond this Games.
“I don’t intend to retire after Paris,” Nonato said. I still have the same desire to win because, for me, it is an honour to serve my country by playing football, which is something I really enjoy, a childhood passion. This motivates me every day to strive for my best.”
Brazil will also be defending their goalball title after winning the nation's first gold medal in the sport in Tokyo. Josemarcio Sousa and Leomon Moreno scored hat-tricks in the 7-2 final win against China.
Mental strength holds the key
"The physical part will be important. But it is the mental part that will bring the victory," Sousa said.
"When you win the semi-final and you're 'dead', you have to have the psychology to say 'now we need to continue, we need to be champions'. And the physical part will follow what the brain can achieve."
Para canoeist Fernando Rufino De Paulo, nicknamed the Steel Cowboy, leads an eight-member squad – Brazil’s largest delegation – to Paris.
De Paulo is the reigning Paralympic VL2 champion, and the 39-year-old also has three world gold medals to his name.
Fastest in the world
Much will be expected in the Para athletics with sprinter Petrucio Ferreira dos Santos hoping for a repeat of his Tokyo success. He sent out a warning to his rivals after becoming 100m T47 champion for the fourth time at the Kobe 2024 Worlds.
“The work we build before these major events and to come here and deliver 100 per cent makes me really happy. It’s a career of 11 years and you ended up getting more anxious. To be the fastest in the world is to inspire more people and more athletes,” Ferreira said.
