Panama will be present with the para athletes Rey Dimas (Parapowerlifting), Esteban Goddard (Paracycling) and Iveth Valdés (Paraathletics), in the 17th version of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
The top sporting event for men and women with physical, intellectual, visual, and paralysis disabilities or brain injuries will be held from August 28 to September 8 in the city of Paris, France, which will host this competition for the first time, receiving 4,400 athletes from 182 countries.
In a solemn ceremony that took us to the “City of Light,” the night was a propitious time to choose the para-athletes Rey Dimas and Iveth Valdés as those in charge of carrying the National Flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games.
The delegation includes Iveth Valdés, the first Panamanian female athlete, who will compete in her third Games, after participating in Rio 2026, Tokyo 2020 and now Paris 2024. All of them will compete in the javelin and shot put events.
Her achievements include a Paralympic Diploma in Tokyo 2020, a Gold and Silver Medal in Xalapa Grand Prix 2024, and a gold medal in Arizona Desert Challenge 2024.
Iveth is also the Secretary General of the Paralympic Committee of Panama, so her commitment and responsibility to the country is not only as an athlete, but also to carry out the administrative part, seeking the popularization of adapted sports in Panama.
For his part, Rey Dimas, one of Panama’s main candidates, was a Paralympic Diploma winner in Tokyo 2020, a silver medalist in Parapowerlifting (72kg) at the last Parapan American Games in Santiago 2023 and a multiple winner in World Cups (2022 and 2024), and will defend the colors in his second Paralympic Games in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.
The other competitor from Panama will be the debutant from the province of Chiriquí, Esteban Goddard, in the Paracycling (track and road) modality in his first Paralympic Games.
The rest of the Panamanian delegation is made up of coaches Máximo Víquez (Parapowerlifting), Diego Gutiérrez (Paracycling), Boris Romero (Paraathletics), physiotherapist Tatiana Canto, Dr. Clarissa Barría, press and photography Octavio Pinzón and Francisco Basile and the Head of Mission Luis Carlos Santamaría.
