Robson Sampaio de Almeida was declared Patron of Brazilian Paradesporto. Law 15,238, which was sanctioned by the Vice President of the Republic, Geraldo Alckmin, was published this Friday (24) in the Official Gazette of the Union (DOU).
The native of Alagoas was one of the pioneers of the Paralympic Movement in Brazil and participated in winning the first Brazilian medal in the Paralympic Games, in 1976 in Toronto (Canada). A silver in the Lawn Bowls modality, the predecessor to bocce practiced on grass, which was obtained alongside Luiz Carlos.
In testimony to the Caminhos da Reportagem programfrom the TV BrasilPhD in Physical Education in the area of Adapted Physical Activity Michele Barreto reported that this medal was won at a time when the Paralympic movement was still taking its first steps: “At that moment, as the idea was participation [do Brasil nos Jogos]the organization of the Games was not so rigid. The priority of allowing participation was the most interesting thing. So Brazilian athletes, and I heard this from medalist athlete Luiz Carlos himself, didn’t know the Lawn Bowls modality. They went to compete in swimming and basketball, sports that until then were developed in the country, and when they got there they saw the game. There was a specific Lawn Bowls kit that the Brazilian athletes didn’t have, and they borrowed it and brought Brazil’s first silver medal”.
Robson discovered wheelchair basketball during the rehabilitation process in the United States and founded, alongside coach Aldo Miccolis, the Clube do Optimismo, in Rio de Janeiro in 1958. The organization was created two years before the first edition of the Paralympic Games, in Rome (Italy) in 1960, without Brazilian participation yet.
The Patron of Brazilian Parasports was also part of Brazil’s first delegation at the Paralympic Games, in Heindelberg (Germany), in wheelchair basketball and athletics competitions.
