The 22-year-old swimmer from Minas Gerais, Gabriel Araújo, won the first medal for Brazil this Thursday, the 29th, upon winning gold in the S2 class 100m backstroke (physical-motor limitations) at the Paris Paralympic Games. In addition to him, Brazil won two other medals on the day, also in swimming. The native of Pernambuco Phelipe Andrews Rodrigues won silver in the men's 50m freestyle S10 (physical-motor impairments) and Gabriel Bandeira, the bronze, in the 100m butterfly S14 (intellectual impairment).
In his second participation in the Paralympic Games, Gabrielzinho now has four medals, three of them gold (50m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke) and one silver (100m backstroke). The other three medals were won at Tokyo 2020. The athlete from Minas Gerais won the event just one day after being one of Brazil's flag bearers at the Games' opening ceremony, alongside Beth Gomes from São Paulo, of athletics, in a parade that covered about 2.5 kilometers, from the Champs-Élysées to the Place de la Concorde.
“It’s a very difficult race, it’s a race that moves me, both because of having won silver (in Tokyo), because it’s the hardest race for me, and I worked really hard for this. My coach and I, we worked our asses off, and we did everything so that this silver medal would turn into gold, and well, I would have been very happy with gold, but the way the race went, it was unmatched, because I didn't just swim, no, I crushed the race, I destroyed the race, so I am overjoyed, a dream come true, and I can scream that I am the 100-meter backstroke champion, said Gabrielzinho.
Besides him, another Brazilian won two other medals on the day, also in swimming. The native of Pernambuco Phelipe Andrews Rodrigues won the silver medal in the men's 50m freestyle S10. He finished the race in 23s54. The gold went to Australian Thomas Gallagher with 23s40 and the bronze to his compatriot, Rowan Crothers, with 23s79. This was the swimmer's ninth Paralympic medal. He now has six silvers and three bronzes., the athlete with the most medals in the Brazilian delegation present in Paris.
The person from São Paulo Gabriel Bandeira won the bronze medal in the S14 100m butterfly event with a time of 55s08. The gold went to Denmark's Alexander Hillhouse (54s61) and the silver to Britain's William Ellard (54.86).
Goalball
Brazil debuted with a win in the men's tournament and a draw in the women's tournament at the goalball at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, in matches held this Thursday (29), at South Paris Arena 6, the venue for the sport in the French capital. The women took to the court first and were winning against Turkey, the current two-time champion, until two minutes before the end of the game, when they conceded the third goal that sealed the final score: 3 to 3. Moniza scored two goals, and Jéssica Vitorino scored another, all from penalties.
“We came here determined to hold the defense, that was the most important thing. And the goal would be built up and, at times, would come from the opponents” mistakes, as happened today. Game by game, we will do this, defense is our focus. Turkey is a very strong team, the current world and Paralympic champions, and I think it was a very balanced match. From here on out, it's only growth, analyzed Jéssica, a 31-year-old from Brasília, who is participating in her second Paralympics.
Later, the men defeated France in front of a packed gymnasium and got off to a good start in their quest for a second consecutive title: 8 to 5. The standout player was André Dantas, who scored four goals. Romário added two more, and Leomon Moreno and Parazinho rounded out the scoring.
“Playing with a packed gym cheering for our opponents was a feeling that stirred our emotions quite a bit, but we kept our feet on the ground and knew what our game plan was. We have to keep our focus on what we came here to do, analyzed Dantas, who is also from Brasília and is 29 years old.
Brazil returns to the court this Friday. First, the men's team faces the USA at 4:00 AM (Brasília time). Starting at 5:30 AM, it will be the women's team's turn, as they face Israel, the third-place finisher of the last World Championship.
Taekwondo
Maria Eduarda Stumpf from Rio Grande do Sul, making her Paralympic debut, was eliminated on this first day in Paris in the up to 52kg taekwondo category after losing her repechage match 8 to 6 to Turkey's Meryem Cavdar.
Table tennis
Brazil debuted in table tennis with three wins and three losses in the first session this Thursday, the 29th, at the South Paris Arena. The first Brazilians to take action were Luiz Filipe Manara and Claudio Massad, both from São Paulo, in the MD18 class. They came from behind to beat Spaniards Jorge Cardona and Ander Cepas 3 sets to 1 (9/11, 11/9, 11/9, and 11/6).
Then it was the turn of the women's doubles in the WD5 class (wheelchair users) to make their debut at the Paris Paralympic Games. Joyce Oliveira and Cátia Oliveira, from São Paulo, defeated the Egyptians Fawsia Elshamy and Ola Soliman 3 sets to 0 (11/1, 11/7, and 11/4). With the result, they advanced to the semifinals and have already secured a podium finish for Brazil. The next round's match will take place this Friday, the 30th, at 7 a.m. (Brasília time).
“In my career, two medals are missing, the world medal and the Paralympic medal. Now that dream is coming true, the bronze is already guaranteed, but we are going after it because our goal is not the bronze. We have a bigger dream, we want to go for the gold, we have… Cátia and I are very focused and we have a chance to go for this gold. Now it's time to focus and give our best,” said Joyce.
Despite an apparent tranquility in the result and during the match, the Brazilian women said they hid their nervousness.
“We try to show our opponents, and everyone else, that we are fine. But inside, we are burning up, the butterflies are jumping around. But thank God, we managed to control those butterflies, this nervousness. And we managed to focus on that, this 3-0 victory.
The mixed doubles pair formed by the Santa Catarina native Bruna Alexandre and for the Paulista Paulo Salmin defeated the Swedes Jonas Hansson and Anja Handen, 3 sets to 0 (1-11, 4-11, and 8-11), in the XD 17 class, and advanced to the next stage. The Brazilian pair are the reigning world champions in mixed doubles. This was the debut of table tennis player Bruna Alexandre at the Paris Paralympic Games following their participation in the Olympics in the same city.
“I am very happy to have competed in the Olympic Games and to be here. The experience certainly helped me a lot. Now we are starting with a very positive day for us. The first match always gives you butterflies in your stomach. But we trained hard for this. In doubles, you don't play alone, one depends on the other, and we did a really cool job, both in Brazil and also in France,” said Bruna, who returned this Thursday to the same South Paris Arena where she competed in the Olympic Games in July.
Three other Brazilian pairs were eliminated this French afternoon. Also in the WD5 class, Carla Maia, from Brasília, and Marliane Santos, from Minas Gerais, lost to the Chinese players Jing Liu and Juan Xue 3 sets to 0 (11/5, 11/4, and 11/2).
In the WD20 class, Sophia Kelmer from Rio de Janeiro and Jennyfer Parinos from São Paulo were defeated by the Chinese players Guiyan Xiong and Chunxiao Hao, also by 3 sets to 0 (11/1, 11/5, and 11/7).
The São Paulo natives Lucas Arabian and Catia Oliveira lost to the Chinese players Panfeng Feng and Ying Zhou 3 sets to 1 (11/7, 7/11, 11/3, and 11/7) in the XD7 class mixed doubles.
Archery
The Brazilians participated early this Thursday in the qualifying round, which defines the round of 16 matchups of the Archery.
In the women's W1 class (athletes with severe impairments in three or four limbs – arms and legs), Juliana Cristina Ferreira from Paraná finished in 11th place and will compete for a spot in the quarterfinals against British athlete Vitoria Kingstone on August 31, at 4:34 AM (Brasília time).
In the men's W1 class, the athlete from Ceará Eugênio Franco finished in 11th place as well and faces American Jason Tabansky for a spot in the quarterfinals on September 1st, at 5:08 AM (Brasília time).
In the W2 class (athletes with severe impairments in three or four limbs – arms and legs) (men's compound bow), Reinaldo Ferreira from Rio Grande do Sul placed 20th in the qualification round and will compete for a spot in the next phase against Michael Meier of Austria.
In the men's recurve, open class (athletes with an impairment in one upper or lower limb), Luciano Rezende from Maranhão set the 29th best mark in the ranking and will compete in the round of 16 against Turkey's Sadik Savas.
The best Brazilian of the day was Jane Karla from Goiás, who finished fifth in the open class qualifying round. In the round of 16, she faces the Filipino Agustina Bantiloc.
Sitting volleyball
O sitting volleyball women's team debuted with a victory on the first day of competition at the Paralympic Games, defeating Rwanda 3 sets to 0 (with partial scores of 25/13, 25/10, and 25/07).
The highlight of the match was the outside hitter from São Paulo, Suellen Dellangelica, with 23 points. The attacker from Minas Gerais, Janaína Petit, was the second highest scorer with 9
Brazil returns to the court on Saturday, the 31st, against Canada, at 3 PM (Brasília time). The group also includes Slovenia.
“Every debut is tense. It was a good game, we were able to loosen up a bit, in the second set we started to unfold a bit more,” said Suellen.
In the next match, the rival will be Canada, in a direct fight for the group leadership.
“Our main goal is to win every game, but regardless of whether we finish first or second, there's going to be a tough match in the semifinal, against China or the United States, so we have to think about winning the games to build confidence,” Suellen concluded.
Check out the schedule of the Brazilians this Friday, August 30 (Brasília time):
Athletics – Location: Stade de France
5:06 AM – Júlio Santos and Yeltsin Jacques – 5000m (T11) – direct final
5:31 - Alice Correa and Lorena Spoladore - long jump (T11) - direct final
5:34 AM – Joeferson Oliveira, Kesley Teodoro and Marcos Oliveira – 100m (T12) – preliminary round
6:14 AM – Jhulia Fonseca, Thalita Silva and Camila Muller – 400m (T11) – heats
7:32 AM – Christian Costa, Edson Pinheiro and Ricardo Mendonça – 100m (T37) – semifinal
7:57 AM – Lucas Pereira, Petrúcio Santos and Washington Júnior – 100m (T47) – semifinal
1:00 PM – Giovanna Gonçalves and Wanna Oliveira – club launch – direct final
2:05 PM – Wallace Santos – shot put (F55) – direct final
2:20 PM – men's 100m final (T37)
2:29 PM – men's 100m final (T47)
2:38 PM - women's 400m semifinal (T11)
3:18 PM – Fernanda Yara and Maria Clara Silva – 400m (T47) – semifinal
3:52 PM – Emanoel Oliveira – shot put (F37) – direct final
Swimming (heats) – Venue: La Défense Arena
4h39 – Patrícia Santos and Esthefany Rodrigues – 100m Freestyle (S5)
4:48 AM – Alan Basílio – 100m freestyle (S4)
4:58 – Talisson Glock – 100m medley (SM6)
5:46 - Ruan Souza and Lucas Mozela – 100m breaststroke (S9)
6:27 AM – 4x50m Freestyle Relay 20 points – Daniel Mendes, Lídia Cruz, Patrícia Santos, and Tallison Glock
12:37 PM – finals
Badminton (group stage) – Venue: La Chapelle
Not before 6:50 AM – Rogério Oliveira vs. Lucas Mazur (France) – Singles SL4
Not before 7:30 AM – Daniele Souza vs. Chokyu Yuka (Canada) – Women's Singles WH1
Not before 12:20 PM – Vitor Tavares vs. Jack Shephard (United Kingdom) – Singles SH6
Boccia (group stage) – Venue: South Paris Arena
5:30 AM – André Costa vs. Uchida Shunsuke (Japan) – BC4
6:40 AM Maciel Santos vs. Marko Dekker (Netherlands) – BC2
7:50 AM – Iuri Silva vs. Luis Cristaldo (Argentina) – BC2
9 AM Evani Calado vs. Ho Yuen Kei (Hong Kong) – BC3
9 AM Evelyn Oliveira vs. Kang Sunhee (South Korea) – BC3
12 PM Laissa Teixeira vs. Anita Raguwaran (Germany) – BC4
1:10 PM – Maciel Santos vs. Nadav Levi (Argentina) – BC2
2:20 PM – Iuri Silva vs. Aurelien Fabre (France) – BC2
3:30 p.m. – José Oliveira vs. Daniel Perez (Netherlands) – BC1
4:40 PM – Mateus Carvalho vs. Jules Menard (France) – BC3
Cycling (qualifying rounds) – Venue: National Velodrome
6:30 a.m. – Lauro Chaman – 1000m Time Trial (Track) C5
9:52 AM – final
Goalball (group stage) – Venue: Arena Paris Sul
4h – Brazil vs. United States – Men's
5:30 AM – Brazil vs. Israel – Women's
Rowing (heats) – Location: Vaires-sur-Marne
4:30 a.m. – Cláudia Santos – PR1 single scull
6:30 a.m. – Diana Barcelos and Jairo Klug – Mix2x PR3
7:10 AM Priscila Barreto, Alina Dumas, Erik Lima and Gabriel de Souza – Coxed Four (PR3)
Table tennis (qualification) – Venue: South Paris Arena
5 a.m. – Danielle Rauen and Luiz Manara vs. Piotr Grudzien and Karolina Pek (Poland) – XD17 Doubles
6h – Bruna Alexandre and Paulo Salmin vs. Iryna Shynkarova and Viktor Didukh (Ukraine) – Mixed Doubles XD17
7h – Cátia Oliveira and Joyce Quinzote vs. Su Yeon Seo and Jiyu Yoon (South Korea) – Women's Doubles WD5
9 AM Bruna Alexandre and Danielle Rauen vs. Maryna Lytovchenko and Iryna Shynkarova (Ukraine) – Doubles MD18
12 PM Cláudio Massad and Luiz Manara vs. Mateo Boheas and Thomas Bouvais (France) - Doubles MD18
1 PM Paulo Salmin and Israel Stroh vs. Paul Karabardak and Billy Shilton (Great Britain) – Doubles – MD14
Archery (Round of 16) – Venue: Invalides
4:17 AM Jane Karla vs. Agustina Bantiloc (Indonesia) – Individual W2
10:30 AM – Reinaldo Ferreira – Individual W2
Taekwondo (Quarterfinals) – Venue: Grand Palais
7:24 AM Silvana Fernandes – up to 57kg category
7:57 AM – Nathan Torquato – under 63kg category
9:58 AM – Ana Moura – under 65kg category
12 PM Endings
Wheelchair tennis – Venue: Roland Garros
7h – Gustavo Silva vs. Alwande Sikhosana (South Africa) – men's singles – open – 1st round
around 7:40 AM – Daniel Rodrigues vs. Ben Weekes (Australia) – Men's Singles – Open – First Round
around 10 AM – Leandro Pena/Ymanitu Silva vs. Ugur Altinel/Ahmet Kaplan (Turkey) – Men's Quad Doubles – Quarterfinals
Shooting sports (qualifying) – Venue: National Shooting Center
8:30 AM – Alexandre Galgani and Bruno Kiefer – category R4 – class SH2
11:15 AM possible ending
Men's sitting volleyball (group stage) – Venue: North Paris Arena
1 PM Brazil vs. Germany
Sponsorships
Caixa Lotteries are the official sponsor of goalball, table tennis, boccia, swimming, and sitting volleyball.
High-Level Athletes Caixa Lotteries Program
Athletes Gabriel Araújo, Gabriel Bandeira, Phelipe Rodrigues, Bruna Alexandre, Cátia Oliveira, Carla Maia, and Maria Eduarda Stumpf are members of the Loterias Caixa High-Level Athletes Program, an individual sponsorship program by Loterias Caixa that benefits 114 athletes.
São Paulo FC
Athletes Phelipe Rodrigues, André Dantas, Romário Marques, Emerson Ernesto, Josemárcio Sousa, Joyce Oliveira, Paulo Salmin, Jennifer Parios, and Danielle Rauensão are members of Team São Paulo, a partnership between the CPB and the Secretariat of State for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of São Paulo, which benefits 149 athletes.
SOURCE: Brazilian Paralympic Committee
