The first full year of the Paralympic cycle in Paris (France) was marked by several world championships in sports that will be at the 2024 Games. There were 16 in all. In a medal table that took these competitions into account, Brazil ended the year in fifth place with 87 medals, 26 gold, 17 silver and 44 bronze.
The statistic, considering the number of diamonds, has Great Britain in the lead, with 50, followed by Italy (37), United States (28) and Ukraine (27). Rounding out the top-10 are Australia, France (both 21), the Netherlands (18), South Korea (17) and Spain (15). The column was inspired by survey by journalist Guilherme Costa, on Twitter, with World Championships of Olympic sports??
However, some remarks are necessary. The first is about China, which was at the top of the medal table at the Tokyo Paralympics (Japan). There were 96 gold medals in the Japanese capital, more than twice as many as the British (41). Asians, however, are a recurrent absence in most of the World Cups that open the Paralympic cycle, which usually generates criticism, on the grounds that they would be hiding the main talents. In 2022, the Chinese were on the podium only in goalball, in Matosinhos (Portugal), thanks to the runner-up of the men’s team, surpassed precisely by Brazil??
Another detail is that, due to the conflict in Ukraine, Russia is away from sports competitions. In Tokyo, competing under the banner of the local Paralympic committee, serving punishment for doping cases, the Russians finished fourth in the table, with 36 golds. This year they only competed in the Archery World Cup, in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), which started days before the military attack on Ukrainian territory, in February. There were 13 podiums in the country at the event, four of them at the top.
Thirdly, it is worth noting that not all World Cup medal disputes are part of the Paralympics, although most of them are there. As the Games have a limit of 4,400 athletes, there are sports with less competition available. Compared to Tokyo, for example, swimming (five) and athletics (three) will have eight fewer podiums in Paris, while badminton (two), bocce (four), rowing (one), canoeing (one), judo ( three), taekwondo (four) and triathlon (three) will have 18 more.
A final observation concerns the non-completion, in 2022, of the Athletics World Championship, which was supposed to be held in Kobe (Japan) in May, but was postponed due to the increase in cases of the new coronavirus (covid-19) in the country In this ocasion. It is a competition that would significantly impact this imaginary picture. To give you an idea, the last edition, three years ago, in Dubai, had 172 races.
It is no coincidence that the numbers for the season are boosted by the Swimming World Cup, held in Funchal (Portugal) in June, in which 514 medals were distributed. Of the 26 Brazilian gold medals won this year, 19 came from Madeira Island. The country’s delegation even ended the competition in third place overall, behind only the USA (25) and Italy (27).
Based on these considerations, it can be seen that the top-5 brings together four countries that, in Tokyo, were already in the Paralympic top-7, alongside the Chinese and Russians. The exception is Italy, placed ninth in the 2021 Games. The Netherlands, in turn, was fifth in the Paralympics framework and eighth taking into account this year’s results. This Italian advance passes, precisely, through the Swimming World Cup, in which they collected 27 of the 37 gold medals of the season. In the same event, the Dutch were on top of the podium eight times.
Another observation is that the distance between Brazil and Ukraine remains fairly fair. In Tokyo, there were two more sea bream for the Europeans. This year, just one. There was also a decrease in the difference for the North Americans (28 to 26, against 37 to 22 in the Games in the Japanese capital), which can be considered positive, since there is a balance between the countries in athletics, at least having as a reference the last editions of the World Cup (2019) and the Paralympics (2021).
In addition to the gold medals, it is important to note that, in absolute numbers, Brazil, with 87 podiums, is surpassed only by the British (112) and Italians (91), being, for example, well ahead of the USA itself (71). This means that the country is often present in disputes for medals in different sports. In the 16 World Cups of the year, in 13 of them there was a Brazilian athlete being awarded.
A highlight is that Brazil was the nation with the most bronzes in the year: 44. On the one hand, medals may be under threat thinking about the Paris Games, which will have massive participation of Chinese and (perhaps) Russians. On the other hand, for athletes from the new generation of disciplines such as swimming and judo, reaching third place in the first World Cup of their career is a relevant achievement for 2024 and, naturally, four years later at the Paralympics in Los Angeles (USA).
Next year it is likely that this picture will give a more faithful projection of what to expect in Paris. At least 14 World Cups are planned, including swimming and athletics, precisely the modalities that distribute the most medals. The impression left in 2022 is that Brazil remains in the ranks of the Paralympic powers and that the goal of seeking 70 to 90 podiums in 2024, which was established by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), perhaps even surpassing the 72 laurels in Tokyo, it is doable.
Top 10 of the 2022 Paralympic World Championships
1st Great Britain: 50 golds, 32 silvers and 30 bronzes
2nd Italy: 37 gold, 34 silver and 20 bronze
3rd United States: 28 gold, 23 silver and 20 bronze
4th Ukraine: 27 gold, 19 silver and 23 bronze
5th Brazil: 26 gold, 17 silver and 44 bronze
6th Australia: 21 gold, 28 silver and 21 bronze
7th France: 21 gold, 24 silver and 24 bronze
8th Netherlands: 18 gold, 19 silver and 14 bronze
9th South Korea: 17 gold, 12 silver and 21 bronze
10th Spain: 15 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze
