On Sunday, Gabriel Araújo broke records
In swimming, Gabriel Araújo, known as “Gabrielzinho,” broke the world record in the 150m medley SM2 class (physical-motor limitation) twice on Sunday (September 1). In the qualifying phase, he advanced to the final of the SM3 class (the next class up) with a time of 3min15s06. The world record in the SM2 class was already his (3min23s83), set in March 2023 in Great Britain.
“The record was the goal, it’s always good to test what we can do and swim fast. I didn’t expect this time, now it’s about trying to improve,” said Gabrielzinho to the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB).
In the final of the event, held in the afternoon on Sunday (Brasília time), Gabrielzinho again broke his earlier record by clocking 3min14s02. Despite the time, he finished in fourth place.
In Paris 2024, he has already secured two medals, having won gold in the 50m and 100m backstroke S2 events.
Brazil makes a winning debut in blind football
The Brazilian men’s blind football team, five-time Paralympic champions, started Paris 2024 with a convincing victory over Türkiye by 3 to 0, in Group A. The goals were scored by Nonato, who netted two from the penalty spot, and Jefinho.
“Starting with a victory is very important, the championship is very tough. Another win tomorrow secures us a spot in the next phase,” said Cássio to Olympics.com after the match. “Wearing the Brazil shirt is an honor, it has been part of me for years, and I am very proud of that and feel love representing more than 200 million Brazilians. We don’t live in the past, and we believe in our work,” he added.
“It was a complicated debut, they [the Turks] put up a good fight, it was a tough game. The most important thing was to start winning,” commented Jefinho, who scored one of the goals, to the CPB.
The match saw the presence of former footballer Raí in the stands. “He is someone who made history in our football, he wore this shirt [of Brazil] very well and honored us here, it was additional motivation. Our intention is to attract more people to watch our football,” said Jefinho to Olympics.com.
Brazil will take to the field again on Monday (September 2), against the hosts and current European champions, the French, at 3:30 PM (Brasília time). The tournament features eight teams divided into two groups. The top two from each group will advance to the semifinals, scheduled for Thursday (September 5). The final is set for Saturday (September 7).
Samira Brito and Verônica Hipólito in athletics final
Sunday also saw the participation of baiana Samira Brito and paulista Verônica Hipólito in the final of the 200m T36 class (cerebral palsy) in athletics. Samira finished in sixth place with a time of 31s01, while Verônica clocked 31s03, finishing seventh.
By the end of the Sunday session, Brazil confirmed its spot in the final of the 100m T64 with Alan Fonteles (gold medalist in London 2012) finishing in fifth place in the qualifying heat.
“I am very happy, achieving yet another dream. Being back in a Paralympic final means a lot. I had to change my entire life because of the size of the prosthesis and now I am back,” said Fonteles to the Sportv channel after the race.
In the 100m T63, Vinícius Rodrigues finished third in his heat and also secured a place in the race’s final.
“I was looking to run with joy and see this stadium full. It was a new start, I changed my starting leg. Now it’s just to give it my all in the final,” commented Vinícius to the Sportv channel.
Brazil in two finals in rowing
In rowing, the waters of the Marne River had paulista Cláudia dos Santos in the A final of the women’s PR1 individual event early in the morning (Brasília time), finishing in sixth place with a time of 12min12s86. The champion was Moran Samuel (ISR), who clocked 10min25s40.
In the mixed doubles PR3 final, Diana Barcelos and Jairo Klug finished in fifth place with a time of 7min45s02. Nikki Ayers and Jed Altschwager (AUS) took gold with 7min26s24.