Terezinha Guilhermina and Leomon Moreno voted Athletes of the Year in Brazil

Goalball world champion Leomon Moreno and visually impaired sprinter Terezinha Guilhermina were voted para-athletes of the year by the public in Brazil last Thursday (11 December) at the 2014 Premio Paralimpicos awards gala.

Moreno was voted best male athlete and added his name to the list of previous winners which includes six-time Paralympic swimming champion Daniel Dias and double-leg amputee sprinter and Paralympic and world champion Alan Fonteneles Oliveira.

“It was also a victory for goalball as more people will get to know about the sport and support us in the Rio 2016 Paralympics. I and the team worked hard for the World Championships and we were awarded for that,” said Moreno.

The 21-year-old scored 51 goals in 10 games to help Brazil win July’s Goalball World Championships for the first time in their history beating hosts Finland in the final in Espoo. The other two contenders to the Athlete of the Year award in Brazil were Daniel Dias, who had previously won the prize in 2011 and 2013, and Ricardo Alves, topscorer and player of the tournament in the 2014 IBSA Football 5-a-side World Championships played in November in Japan.

Double Paralympic champion at the London 2012 Paralympic Games Guilhermina received the award for best female athlete for the third time in four years. The 36-year-old faced Bruna Alexandre, team and individual bronze medallist in the 2014 ITTF Para-Table Tennis World Championships in Beijing, China, and Marcia Menezes, bronze medallist at the 2014 IPC Powerlifting World Championships in Dubai, UAE.

“I never get tired of winning and I want to be here next year again. Even though there were no major competitions in athletics this year I still finished the season unbeaten,” said sprinter who runs with her guide Guilherme Santana by her side.

Terezinha Guilhermina is also the star of a new campaign launched by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) named “Mude o Impossível” (“Change the Impossible”, in Portuguese). Ten athletes were chosen to feature on a series of pictures with messages related to their achievements. “Impossible is to run 400m in less than 1 minute without seeing the track”, says the image with the Brazilian sprinter.

Watch the campaign video here

Multi-Paralympic medallist Adria Rocha Santos received the Aldo Miccolis award for her outstanding career achievements. Leomon Moreno and 21 other athletes were also awarded the prize of best athlete of the year in their respective sports.

Archery: Andrey Muniz de Castro

Athletics: Claudiney Batista dos Santos

Boccia: Maciel Sousa Santos

Paracanoe: Luis Carlos Cardoso da Silva

Cycling: Soelito Gohr

Equestrian: Sergio Froes Ribeiro de Oliva

Football 5-a-side: Ricardo Alves

Football 7-a-side: Jan Francisco Brito da Costa

Goalball: Leomon Moreno

Judo: Willians Silva de Araujo

Paratriathlon: Jorge Camargo Fonseca

Powerlifting: Marcia Menezes

Rowing: Josiane Dias de Lima

Sailing: Mario Czascke

Shooting: Debora da Silva Rodrigues Campos

Swimming: Daniel Dias

Table Tennis: Bruna Alexandre

Voleyball: Renato de Oliveira Leite

Wheelchair basketball: Leandro de Miranda

Wheelchair fencing: Jovane Guissone

Wheelchair rugby:Alexandre Keiji Taniguchi

Wheelchair tennis: Daniel Alves Rodrigues