The Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) on Tuesday (6) announced the delegation that will represent Brazil at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo (Japan), which will take place between August 24 and September 5. assemble the team 253 members Including non-disabled athletes, such as guides, gutters (bucci ball), goalkeepers (5 blind football) and rudders (rowing). It is the second largest in the country in the event’s history, only surpassed in 2016, in Rio de Janeiro (286), and the largest abroad.
The names were submitted directly by the CPB in Facebook social networking site And in the entity channel on Youtube. Before the information was revealed, a tribute was paid to two-time Bocce Paralympic champion Derso Jose Pinto, who died in April last year.
“We are experiencing an unprecedented moment in modern history. We were all prepared for this moment a year ago, when the pandemic unfortunately broke out. [da covid-19] And the dream of the athletes had to be postponed for a year. The epidemic is ongoing and we hope it will come to an end. We also hope that the Games will be a great lever representing the recovery of our peoples, because sport means resilience and self-respect,” said Mizale Conrado, Chairman of the People’s Protection Council.
Brazil will participate in 20 of the 22 sports. The exceptions are wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby. Athletics is the most represented sport in Brazil: 64 names, three names more than Rio 2016. Initially, there will be 54 athletes, but last Friday (2) updated the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) High Performance Ranking, acronym in English ) guarantees ten more places for the country.
The delegation will have competitors in the disciplines that will appear for the first time at the Paralympic Games. In Parapadmenton, the country will be represented by Vitor Tavares in the SS6 class (dwarfism). In parataekwondo, there are three athletes: Silvana Cardoso, Nathan Torquato and Deborah Menezes, all in class K44 (arm amputation).
In a video sent to Brazil, Tavares said: “The expectations are very good. I put in a lot of hard work, focused on the goal of getting the best result for Brazil. We always analyze the matches and work on improving them.” It was broadcast live.
The goal of the CPB for Tokyo is to keep Brazil in the top ten of the medal table. In 2016, when the country hosted the event, the delegation collected 72 medals (14 gold, 29 silver and 29 bronze) and placed eighth. At the London (UK) Games, in 2012, the Brazilian team was the seventh best ranked, with fewer podiums (43), but seven gold medals (21) more than Rio de Janeiro.
“Despite all the impact of the pandemic, especially at the beginning, due to the insecurity about holding the Games, I think we have managed to create the best conditions for the athletes to reach Tokyo at their best performance. I think they are overcoming the obstacles imposed by the pandemic,” CPB Technical Director commented , Alberto Martins.
Part of the Brazilian delegation will travel to Japan in the first week of August to acclimatize to 14 sports (athletics, bocce, rowing, futsal, goalball, weightlifting, judo, swimming, parapaddington, rowing, archery, table tennis and tennis on wheelchair and seated volleyball) in Hamamatsu. The city of Shizuoka Prefecture is located 260 kilometers from Tokyo and is home to the largest settlement of Brazil in the Asian country.
“[A aclimatação] It is important for the athlete to really feel the competition. It would be complicated for an athlete to have so much control over a major event, even physiologically. It takes a whole day for every hour of time difference. So, it is important to go a few days earlier to get a feel for the time zone and get used to the size of the games,” explained Paralympic Athletics Champion and CPB Vice President Johansson Nascimento.
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