The 2024 edition of the School Paralympics came to an end last Friday (29), at the Paralympic Training Center, in São Paulo. The host state was the overall champion of the sporting event, which began last Wednesday (27) and is considered the largest in the world for school-age children and adolescents with disabilities.
The São Paulo team scored 646 points based on the placement of their athletes in the 13 modalities, with Santa Catarina (315 points) in second place and Minas Gerais (293 points) in third. It is the 12th time that São Paulo has come out on top, and the eighth in a row. The state was also the one with the most participants in the competition (305), followed precisely by Minas Gerais (176) and Santa Catarina (159).
“My greatest satisfaction is that every year the School Paralympics present themselves in a unique way, with more modalities and more participants. This child who leaves here surprised by the Paralympic movement will not want to stop doing sport”, said Ramon Pereira, director of Sports Development of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), in a statement to the website of the entity.
In 2024, the School Paralympics received a record 2,013 athletes from 26 states and the Federal District. Just over 22% of them – therefore, practically one in five participants – were newcomers to the event. Among the more experienced competitors, highlight goes to swimmer Arthur Xavier, 17 years old, from class S14 (intellectually disabled), bronze at the Paris Games.
Other medal-winning athletes also attended the school event. Cases of Petrúcio Ferreira from Paraíba, three-time sprinter in the 100-meter dash in the T47 class (upper limb amputation); from Brasilia native Leomon Moreno, owner of four Paralympic medals (one gold) in the goalballan exclusive modality for athletes with visual impairment; and Bruna Alexandre, from Santa Catarina, a table tennis player who made history in 2024 by becoming the first Brazilian to compete in the Olympics and Paralympics.
