One day after winning the gold medal in the under 65 kilos (kg) category of taekwondo at the Paris Paralympics, Ana Carolina Moura was practically speechless – and had nothing to do with celebrating. This Saturday (31), the Minas Gerais native joined the cheering for Débora Menezes from Paraná, in the over 65 kg category, at the Grand Palais, where the competitions for the sport take place.
On Friday (30), in addition to her own fights, she dedicated herself to supporting Silvana Fernandes from Paraíba (bronze in the up to 57 kg category) and Nathan Torquato from São Paulo (beaten in the semi-final of the up to 63 kg category and who was out of the fight for third place due to a sprained knee in the previous fight).
Silvana Fernandes, Paralympic taekwondo, Tokyo games – Rogerio Capela/CPB/All Rights Reserved
“I’m a good athlete, but I’m an excellent fan. I’m the hysterical one [risos]”, joked Brazil’s first Paralympic champion in Paris, in an interview with EBC at Casa Brasil Paralímpico, in Saint-Ouen, a city neighboring the French capital.
Carol, as she is known, arrived in France as a candidate for the podium. The current world champion, she was ranked second by World Taekwondo, the international federation of the sport. On her way to the gold medal, obtained in her Paralympic debut, the Minas Gerais native first beat the Greek Christina Gkentzou.
In the semi-finals, she easily defeated Cameroonian Marie Antoinnette Dassi. The fight for the title was against Frenchwoman Djelika Diallo. Despite the large crowd in favor of her opponent at the Grand Palais, the Brazilian resisted the pressure.
“Of course we know that we may not win, but we are working hard for the goldfish. I am very pleased to have won the way we worked,” celebrated the fighter, who was born with a malformation in her right forearm and started the sport for self-defense after being mugged and losing a necklace given to her by her aunt.
“I started it as a hobby. I had an injury [ligamento do joelho] after three months of training, I was off the mat for a year. As soon as I could step on it [no chão] again, that the doctor released, I was already back on the mat”, recalled Carol, who left Casa Brasil running straight to the Grand Palais, where she followed the final stretch of Débora Menezes’ fights with the little voice she still had left.
Blood in the eye
Two-time world champion in the under 57 kg category, Silvana Fernandes was a candidate for the gold medal. The athlete from Paraíba debuted with a dramatic victory over Palesha Goverdhan, from Nepal. In the semifinals, despite being very evenly matched, she could not resist the Chinese Yujie Li (who took the gold). In the fight for the bronze, the Brazilian overcame the Kazakh Kamilya Dosmalova to secure third place.
“We arrive with a goal, but we have to understand that, sometimes, [as coisas] “They don’t work out the way we want them to. The semi-final was close, it didn’t work out, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t leave without a medal. I came back with blood in my eyes and got the bronze,” described Silvana, who has a congenital malformation in her right arm and was a javelin thrower before switching to taekwondo in 2018.
With the bronze medal on her chest, equaling the result of the Tokyo Paralympics, in Japan, in 2021, the Paraíba native is already thinking about a place at the Los Angeles Games, in the United States.
“As I am the world leader, I have points that can help me secure a place in Los Angeles. It will take four years of preparation and careful selection of competitions to win this medal. [de ouro] in 2028”, concluded Silvana.
