Another series of podiums for Brazil at the Paralympic Games in Paris. Photos: CPB
A historic record about to fall. In the last two editions of the Paralympic Games, in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021, Brazil finished with 72 medals. The national delegation in Paris is very close to surpassing that mark. On Friday, September 6, athletes from the country reached the podium eight times and totaled 70 medals in the overall standings (17 gold, 22 silver, and 31 bronze), with two days of competition still remaining. Brazil currently occupies the seventh provisional position in the mega event. The lead is held by China, with 83 golds and 188 medals.
The Brazilian highlights of the day included two double championships. On the mats, São Paulo’s Alana Maldonado won gold for the second consecutive time in the under 70kg category of judo for class J2 (athletes with visual impairments who can define images). In the pool, Talison Glock also reached the highest point of the podium for the second consecutive time in the 400m freestyle, which he had already won in Tokyo.
In athletics, the country achieved its 200th medal in the history of the competition with the silver medal won by Thiago Paulino in the shot put event for class F57. This is the event with the highest number of podiums for the country. In swimming, Gabriel Bandeira secured silver in the 100m backstroke, marking the 150th medal for swimming. Together, these two sports have contributed to 350 of Brazil’s 443 podium finishes in the Paralympic Games.
ATHLETE SCHOLARSHIP – Common to all of Brazil’s achievements in France is the presence of the Athlete Scholarship, the federal government’s direct sponsorship program. Of the 280 Brazilian athletes in Paris, 274 are part of the federal government program (97.8%). Of the six who are not currently part of the program, four have been included in previous editions. The other two are guides, who run alongside athletes with visual impairments. The first call for the Athlete Scholarship, in which guide athletes could be included, was in December 2023, after the approval of the General Sports Law.
Alana Maldonado celebrates her double championship after the ippon against her Chinese opponent. Photo: Alexandre Schneider
DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP IN JUDO – São Paulo’s Alana Maldonado, 29 years old, became a double Paralympic champion in judo by defeating Chinese athlete Yue Wang in the final of the under 70kg category of class J2 (athletes who can define images) on Friday. Alana was the first Brazilian woman to win a gold medal in judo at the mega event during Tokyo 2020 and repeated the feat in France, breaking a personal streak. She had fought against the Chinese three times before and lost all three matches. The victory came on the biggest stage of sports.
Right after Tokyo, I had an injury, underwent surgery, then another injury in 2023, spent the entire year out. I had problems with depression, thought about quitting, but I wanted to experience all of this again. I wanted to feel that joy, that emotion”
Alana Maldonado
Ranked third in the world, she entered directly into the semifinals in Paris and defeated Japan’s Kasuza Osawa by ippon to secure her place in the final at the Champ de Mars arena. “Besides the three times I lost this year, I had a serious injury with her the first time we faced each other and ended up missing all of 2023 on the mats. I dreamed a lot about this moment. The whole time I saw myself on the podium, hearing the national anthem,” said Alana, very emotional with her achievement.
“This cycle has been very difficult for me. Right after Tokyo, I had an injury, underwent surgery, and then another injury in 2023, spent the entire year out. I had problems with depression, thought about quitting, but I wanted to experience all of this again. I wanted to feel that joy, that emotion, turn to the audience knowing that my family is here, friends waking up early to watch. And I wanted to bring that joy to everyone and feel this again.”
Alana discovered Stargardt disease at age 14. She had been practicing judo since she was four, but it was only in 2014, when she entered college, that she started in Paralympic judo. She was also a world champion in Baku 2022 and in Portugal in 2018. She holds two golds from the Uzbekistan World Cups in 2017 and 2019.
Brenda Freitas on the podium for the under 70kg category of Paralympic judo. Photo: Alexandre Schneider/CPB
BITTER SILVER – Rio de Janeiro’s Brenda Freitas came very close to winning a gold medal. In the final of the under 70kg class J1, she reached the final and executed a projection move against Chinese Li Liu. At first, the referees indicated the ippon that would have secured the gold, but video review overturned the call, and in the end, the Brazilian was defeated by her rival and ended up with the silver.
“There’s a frustration because I prepared, dedicated myself to get here and wanted that medal so much. It was right there for a moment and then I tried to refocus, but unfortunately I felt a bit down on the mat and it didn’t go well,” assessed the Brazilian. “Now I just have to wait a bit for this frustration to pass to be happy with this silver, which is certainly a great achievement,” she concluded. On her way to the final, Brenda won via ippon against Turkey’s Merve Uslu and Greece’s Theodora Paschalidou.
Thiago Paulino, silver medal in the shot put and medal number 200 in the history of athletics at the Paralympic Games. Photo: Wander Roberto / CPB
200 IN ATHLETICS – Brazil achieved another milestone in Paris on Friday. Athletics reached its 200th medal in Paralympic history with Thiago Paulino’s silver medal in the F57 shot put event, intended for seated athletes. Thiago’s best throw was 15.06m. The gold went to Iran’s Yasin Khosravi, who threw 15.96m and set a new Paralympic record. The bronze went to India’s Hokato Sema, with 14.65m. “I didn’t know until now about this detail of the 200th medal. It’s an honor,” the athlete stated. In the history of athletics, the first medals came in the 1984 edition, with six gold, 14 silver, and three bronze. In 2024, athletics has already won eight gold, ten silver, and twelve bronze medals, totaling 30 medals.
Zileide and the jump that earned her silver in the T20 category (athletes with intellectual disabilities). Photo: Alê Cabral / CPB
SILVER IN LONG JUMP – São Paulo’s Zileide Cassiano, a newcomer to the Paralympic Games, won the silver medal in the final of the T20 long jump (intellectual disability). Her best jump was a distance of 5.76m. Other Brazilian participants in the final, Natal’s Jardênia Félix and Acre’s Débora Lima, finished in fifth and sixth places, respectively. Jardênia had a best jump of 5.57m, while Débora recorded 5.49m. The title went to Poland’s Karolina Kucharczyk, who had a best mark of 5.82m. The bronze went to Turkey’s Fatma Altin with 5.73m.
Talison Glock: double champion of the 400m freestyle event. Photo: Douglas Magno / CPB
GLOCK’S DOUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP – Santa Catarina’s Talisson Glock, 29, won the 400m freestyle event in class S6 (physical-motor limitations) on Friday, September 6, claiming his first gold medal at the Paralympic Games in Paris and his second consecutive championship in the event. He won in the same event at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Talisson finished the race with a time of 4min49s55, a new Americas record. The silver went to Italy’s Antonio Fantin (4min49s99), and the bronze went to Mexico’s Jesus Alberto Gutierrez Bermudez, who finished in 5min07s00.
I am very, very happy with what I have achieved here in this competition. It was a lot of dedication and commitment. I have a great connection with my coach”
Talisson Glock
“I am very, very happy with what I have achieved here in this competition. It was a lot of dedication and commitment. I have a great connection with my coach. I have tried at various moments in my career to do something different, but I always end up returning to him. It’s very good to have Felipe by my side; he is a very good coach. And this is the result of our teamwork; we planted, planted, and now we are harvesting,” Talisson stated.
The gold in the 400m is Talisson’s fourth medal in Paris 2024. He won silver in the 100m freestyle, bronze in the 200m medley SM6, and bronze in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay. He now has a total of nine Paralympic medals, tying with another swimmer, Pernambuco’s Phelipe Rodrigues, who came to Paris as the athlete with the most podium finishes in this edition.
Phelipe had eight Paralympic medals and won another, silver in the 50m freestyle in class S10 (physical-motor limitations). Pernambuco swimmer Carol Santiago leaves Paris with ten Paralympic podiums across two editions (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024).
Talisson won silver in the 4x50m freestyle relay and bronze in the 200m medley at the Rio 2016 Games and gold in the 400m freestyle, bronze in the 100m freestyle, and bronze in the mixed 4x50m freestyle relay with 20 points at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
In the cycle between Tokyo and Paris, he won gold in the 400m freestyle, silver in the 100m freestyle and in the 4x50m freestyle relay, and bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the Manchester 2023 World Championships and gold in the 100m freestyle, the 400m freestyle, and the 4x100m freestyle relay with 34 points, silver in the 200m medley, and bronze in the 100m backstroke at the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games.
The swimmer was hit by a train at the age of nine, losing his left arm and leg. Six months later, he was invited to join the Sports Center for Special People (CEPE). In 2004, he began focusing on swimming training. In 2008, he competed in some tournaments, and in 2010, he was called to join the Brazilian national swimming team.
Gabriel Bandeira during the 100m event in class S14: silver. Photo: Marcello Zambrana/CPB
SILVER FOR BANDEIRA – São Paulo’s Gabriel Bandeira, known as Flag Bill, secured silver in the 100m backstroke S14 (intellectual disability). This was Gabriel’s third medal at the Paralympic Games. He also won bronze in the 100m butterfly and in the 4x100m freestyle S14 relay. “I almost didn’t make the final in the heats; I came in with the eighth best time. But I have the mindset that a lane is a chance. I went after it. Since this was the last event today, my last chance, I thought: let’s give it everything, hurt like it needs to hurt, and it worked out,” celebrated the Brazilian.
Maria de Fátima Castro won bronze in the up to 67kg category of weightlifting. Photo: CPB
WEIGHT BRONZE – Amazon’s Maria de Fátima Castro, 30, won the bronze medal in the up to 67kg weightlifting category at Arena La Chapelle. The athlete achieved this result with a lift of 133kg. The gold went to China’s Yujiao Tan, with 142kg (world record) and silver to Egypt’s Fatma Elyan, with 139kg. The result also earned Maria the Americas record. The previous continental record was held by Mexico’s Amalia Perez Vazques, who lifted 132kg in June during a World Cup stage in Georgia. Maria is making her Paralympic debut. She has congenital malformation in her legs. She discovered weightlifting in 2017 and began focusing on it in 2019. She was a silver medalist at the 2023 World Weightlifting Championship in Dubai in the women’s team event, alongside Minas Gerais’ Lara Lima and Rio de Janeiro’s Tayana Medeiros.
Antônia Keyla celebrates the bronze in the 1500m final of class T20 (intellectual disability). Photo: Wander Roberto / CPB
BRONZE FOR KEYLA – Piauí’s Antônia Keyla won the bronze medal in the final of the T20 1500m (intellectual disability). She finished third with a time of 4min29s40, setting a new Americas record. The previous record was held by Keyla herself, with 4min30s75. The winner was Poland’s Barbara Zajac, with 4min26s06. Ukraine’s Liudmyla Danylina took the silver with 4min28s40. A newcomer to the Games, Keyla also competed in Paris in the T20 400m event, where she finished in seventh place. “I want to thank everyone who was part of this dream. Today what mattered to me was to leave with a medal. I’m leaving happy, victorious. And I want to thank everyone who was part of this,” stated the Brazilian.
PROMISING 200M – Rio de Janeiro’s Ricardo Mendonça, São Paulo’s Christian Gabriel, and Maranhão’s Bartolomeu Chaves advanced to the final of the 200m T37 (cerebral palsy). Christian clocked 23.05s and achieved the best time in the heats. Ricardo, with 23.51s, advanced in fifth, and Bartolomeu, with 23.53s, in sixth. The final will take place at 5:36 AM this Saturday, the 7th.
RELAY – With a team consisting of Paraná’s Lorena Spoladore, Paraíba’s Ariosvaldo Fernandes (Parré), Rio de Janeiro’s Washington Nascimento, and São Paulo’s Verônica Hipolito, the Brazilian team clocked in at 51.19s in the 4x100m relay in athletics, finishing with the fifth best time. Only the top four (China, USA, Great Britain, and Japan) advanced to the final phase.
400M – Among the Brazilians in the T47 400m event (arm amputees), only São Paulo’s Thomaz Ruan advanced to the final. He finished in 48.68s, the fourth best overall time in the heats. Paraíba’s Petrúcio Ferreira and São Paulo’s Lucas Lima did not qualify, clocking times of 50.27s and 50.68s, respectively. The final will be at 4 PM this Saturday.
SHOT PUT – Minas Gerais’s Izabela Campos finished in sixth place in the shot put event for class F12 (visual impairment). She had a best mark of 9.91m among six throws. The winner was Italy’s Assunta Legnante: 14.54m. This was Izabela’s second event in Paris 2024. She was fourth in the F11 discus throw.
Danielle Rauen took the match to the fifth set against the world number 3 but was ultimately defeated in the quarterfinals of table tennis. Photo: Marcelo Zambrana / CPB
ANOTHER NEAR MISS FOR DANI – It was by a very narrow margin. In the last set. In the tiebreak. Against the world number 3. Santa Catarina’s Danielle Rauen was eliminated from the individual competition in class 9 after losing 3 sets to 2 to Hungary’s Alexa Szvitacs. The set scores were 11/9, 9/11, 11/6, 6/11, and 12/14. In Paris, Dani Rauen also participated in two other events. She won a bronze medal in the women’s doubles WD20, alongside fellow Santa Catarina athlete Bruna Alexandre, and finished fifth in mixed doubles XD17 with Luiz Manara. Together with Manara, Dani faced another near miss after leading 2 sets to 0 in the quarterfinal match and ultimately suffering a comeback against a Polish duo. Nonetheless, the Brazilian is part of a select group of table tennis athletes who have medaled in three consecutive editions of the Paralympic Games. She won bronze in teams in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and in Tokyo 2021, and leaves Paris with the bronze alongside Bruna Alexandre in doubles. Bruna is the other athlete from the national delegation with medals in all three editions.