Owner of a Paralympic silver in the javelin throw, Raíssa Machado won one of the most anticipated categories of the 2022 Paralympic Awards, that of Athlete of the People (the only award decided by popular vote). With 48% of the votes, she beat swimmers Carol Santiago, Samuel Oliveira and Gabriel Araújo and runner Vinícius Rodrigues.
The announcement was made this Thursday night (9) at Tokio Marine Hall, in São Paulo, during the second night of the event, which reached its 11th edition exactly on the date of the 28th anniversary of the foundation of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee ( CPB).
OUR 2022 PARALYMPIC AWARD ATHLETE IS RAISSA MACHADO!
We are very proud of you and will always be vibrating and rooting for your every achievement! ❤️#LoteriasCaixa#AtletaDaGalera#Paralympics Award pic.twitter.com/poQCLUeldP
— Brazilian Paralympic Committee (@cpboficial) February 9, 2023
The ceremony began with a moment of great emotion, with the awarding of the Paralympic Memory award, which honored one of the greatest medalists in the history of Brazil in parasports: Luiz Cláudio Pereira. Owner of six gold medals, he was president of the Brazilian Wheelchair Rugby Confederation when he died in Medellín (Colombia) during the 2022 Americas Championship.
Another category of the night was Loterias Caixa Prize, which highlighted the club that worked the most for the development of parasports. And the winner was Sesi SP, national champion in the two suits of sitting volleyball and goalball. In addition, the association contributed with seven athletes in the women’s sitting volleyball and men’s goalball world titles won by Brazil in 2022.
The revelation of the year trophy went to Jade Lanai, just 17 years old, from wheelchair tennis. In September, the woman from Tocantins beat Japan’s Takamuro Yuma by 2 sets to 1 (7/5, 2/6 and 7/6) and became the first youth champion at the US Open. Alongside the American Maylee Phelps, she also won the title in the doubles tournament.
Another sequence of award winners around here. ?
Breakthrough Athlete Award: Jade Lanai
Caixa Award: Sesi-SP
Braskem Award: Rafael Alencar
Best individual and collective technicians: Leonardo Tomasello and Fernando Guimarães#LoteriasCaixa #Paralympics Award pic.twitter.com/g3vnpHz0Ba— Brazilian Paralympic Committee (@cpboficial) February 9, 2023
Also honored was the best collective coach, Fernando Guimarães, in sitting volleyball. He led Brazil in both suits during the World Championship held in Bosnia. On the occasion, he was one of several responsible for unprecedented feats such as the women’s title and the bronze medal in the men’s, in addition to the trip of the same country in both suits to the podium in the same edition of the tournament.
The individual sports coach who won the Best of the Year award was Leonardo Tomasello. The professional is the head coach of Brazilian Paralympic swimming, which has been collecting records in high-level competitions around the world, and is directly responsible for preparing multi-champion Carol Santiago.
