Brazilian Paralympic athletes who competed in the Paris Games this year were received by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on Tuesday afternoon (17), at the Palácio do Planalto, to celebrate the country’s best result in the history of the competition.
Brazil ended its participation in the Paris Paralympics with a record 89 podiums – 25 gold, 26 silver and 38 bronze -, in addition to fifth place in the medal table of the mega event held in the French capital, the best Brazilian placement in the history of the competition. Until then, the best results had been achieved at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016, when 72 podiums were obtained and seventh place overall in both editions.
“As long as I am President of the Republic, there will be no lack of structure for you to prepare yourselves, morning, afternoon and night,” Lula assured in an emotional speech to the athletes.
“The government does not want to be left out in finding solutions to the problems, because you deserve respect and consideration. We will not fail to show your love, dedication and effort in practicing sport,” he added.
President of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), Mizael Conrado attributed the historic result to strategic planning proposed in 2017 and a change of direction in the entity’s strategy.
“We had already advanced to seventh place in London, in Rio de Janeiro, with 72 medals, but we understood that it was necessary to do something different. And so, we started to reach out to people with disabilities, inverting the logic of development of Paralympic sport. Today, we have 72 reference centers throughout the country, and our expectation is to create, in the next 8 years, 560, so that we can be present in 10% of Brazilian municipalities”, said the CPB director.
“We used to be the homeland of football. And today, after 89 medals, 23 gold, 24 silver and 38 bronze, I am certain that Brazil is the homeland of Paralympic sport,” celebrated the Minister of Sports, André Fufuca.
Of the 280 Paralympic athletes who went to the Paris Games, 274 receive the Bolsa Atleta, a federal government program.
“I see that thanks to my sponsorships, Bolsa Atleta and Caixa Econômica Federal, I can live solely from sport and I can dedicate myself and bring home this long-awaited medal,” said São Paulo athlete Mariana D’Andrea, 26 years old, who won the gold medal in weightlifting, in the up to 73 kg category, the first Brazilian woman to win an Olympic gold in this modality.
