Swimmer Gabriel Araújo wins Brazil’s first gold at the Paralympics

Brazil’s first gold medal at the Paris Paralympic Games was not long in coming. On Thursday (29), the opening day of the competitions in France, Minas Gerais swimmer Gabriel Araújo, known as Gabrielzinho, won the 100-meter backstroke in the S2 class (athletes with significant physical and motor impairments), with a time of 1min53s67. This is the fourth Paralympic medal in the career of the 22-year-old athlete, who won two golds and one silver – in this same event – in Tokyo.

🥇 HE ONLY THOUGHT ABOUT THE MEDAL AND WENT 🥇
Brazil’s first medal in #Paris2024 is GOLD and it’s from @gabrielaraujo_s2 in the 100m backstroke S2! 💚💛#ParalympicGames #BrazilParalympics pic.twitter.com/AzfrzaF2t0

— Brazilian Paralympic Committee (@BraParalimpico) August 29, 2024

Gabrielzinho, the current world champion in the 100-meter backstroke, was untroubled throughout the race, finishing almost eight seconds ahead of the silver medalist, Russian Vladimir Danilenko, who competed under a neutral flag. Third place went to Chilean Alberto Abarza Diaz.

The Minas Gerais native, born in Santa Luzia, in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte, still has four more events to swim in Paris: the 50-meter backstroke and 200-meter freestyle in class S2, as well as the 50-meter freestyle and 150-meter medley in S3, a class for athletes with a lower level of impairment than S2.

The swimmer is one of the main protagonists of Brazilian Paralympic sport, having even been the country’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Games, last Wednesday (28).

Gabrielzinho was born with phocomelia, a congenital disease that prevents the normal formation of arms and legs. He started swimming in Juiz de Fora (MG).