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Paralympics: Brazilian athletes prepared to shine in Paris
The Paris Paralympic Games begin this week (28). The Brazilian team, made up of high-performance athletes in several sports, is considered a strong candidate to achieve impressive results and put the country even more in the spotlight. PRIO supports this initiative and, thus, sponsors a team with 9 athletes and an ambassador, 7 of whom are competing for places on the podium in the French capital.
“When I started, I had to knock on the doors of companies and businesspeople, and the few who received me, for the most part, offered help’ without wanting to show their brands or associate themselves with people with disabilities in general. Seeing companies like PRIO currently looking for athletes of its own free will, forming a high-performance team and believing in their ability and unstoppable minds is something that makes me very happy, besides making a huge difference to the lives and preparation of all of them,” analyzes Clodoaldo Silva, former swimming athlete and champion and ambassador of Team PRIO.
“The goal of our sponsorship platform I ❤ PRIO is giving back to society through support for sport, culture and education. Sponsoring these athletes has everything to do with PRIO: We believe in unstoppable minds that challenge the status quo and overcome challenges. We know that doing this in sports, as well as in our operations, requires courage, determination, resilience, discipline and focus,” concludes Olivia Richardson, Marketing and Communications Manager at PRIO.
Meet the athletes sponsored by PRIO:
Gabriel Araújo, better known as Gabrielzinho, is the country’s most promising swimmer (S2 class). At just 22 years old, he is one of the country’s great hopes for a medal at the Paris Games. Gabriel won 2 golds and a silver in the last edition of the games in Tokyo, in addition to collecting several achievements in world championships and Parapan-American games, with emphasis on the 5 golds won. He will compete in the 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle and 50m backstroke events. The athlete has phocomelia, a congenital disease that prevents the normal formation of arms and legs. In 2023, he was elected the best Paralympic athlete of the year.
Alana Maldonado is a visually impaired judoka (J2 class – low vision). She won the gold medal at the Tokyo Games, won silver in Rio in 2016, is a two-time world judo champion (2018 and 2022) and is a great hope for a medal in Paris. She was the first Brazilian woman in judo to win a Paralympic medal. Alana faced an illness at the age of 14 that took away much of her vision.
Wilians Silva de Araújo is a multi-champion judoka (J1 class), having won a silver medal at the Rio 2016 games. He is the current leader of the ranking in his category and has a collection of significant international achievements, the most recent being silver medal in the over 90kg category at the Parapan American Games in 2023, gold medal at the IBSA World Games 2023 and gold medal at the Baku World Championships 2022, representing a great chance of a medal for the country in Paris. The heavyweight lost his sight in an accident at age 10.
Wallace Antonio is a shot put athlete (class F55) and current gold medalist in his sport at the Tokyo Games. He was a gold medalist in the shot put and bronze in the javelin throw at the 2023 Parapan American Games; bronze in shot put at the Paris 2023 World Championships; gold in shot put and silver in javelin throw at the 2019 Parapan American Games. Wallace became paraplegic in 2007 after suffering an occupational accident.
Brenda Freitas is a judoka (J1 class) from Rio de Janeiro who went blind after going to the first concert of the band RBD in Brazil in 2006, as a result of an eye infection called ocular herpes with emotional trigger. She is the current Parapan-American champion and has a chance of winning medals at the Paris games.
Julyana da Silva is a discus thrower (class F57 – for wheelchair athletes) and won a bronze medal at the Tokyo Games. She also won the bronze medal in the discus throw and shot put at the 2023 Parapan American Games and hopes to repeat her podium finish from last year’s edition, surpassing her record and representing a great chance of a medal in Paris. Julyana had her left leg amputated at the knee due to a congenital malformation.
Diana Barcelos is a rowing athlete (class PR3), who had her right leg amputated after an accident in 2004. Among his main achievements, the two-time world championship in Mix2x PR3 (2017 and 2018) stands out, in addition to the second place in the qualifier for the Tokyo Games in Gavirate 2021 in the PR3 Mix Four. Diana was among the Top 10 at the Tokyo Games and hopes to win a medal this year.