São Paulo – The Brazilian team came in second place in the overall medal table in the World Para Athletics Championships, which ended last Friday (15) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Brazilians won 14 golds, nine silvers and 16 bronzes, reaching the podium for 39 times, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (BPC) reported.
This was Brazil’s best performance in the competition. China was the champion at 58 medals, being 25 golds, 22 silvers and 11 bronzes. The United Kingdom came in third with 28 medals, being 13 golds, nine silvers and bronzes.
Brazilians broke records in Dubai. Beth Gomes and Alessandro Rodrigo in discus throw at the F52 (wheelchair) and F11 (blind) classifications, respectively. Paraíba-born Cícero Valdiran broke a record in javelin thrown at F57 (wheelchair) and Petrúcio Ferreira at 100-meter dash T47 (arm amputation).
Before Dubai, the Brazilian team’s best performance had been at Lyon’s World Championship in 2013 when he came in third. At the last competition in London in 2017, Brazil won 21 medals, being eight golds, while the previous edition in Doha 2015, Brazilians won 35 medals, being eight golds.
“We’re extremely happy. Our athletes’ performance was phenomenal. We trained hard to be here, we just have to say thank your for their effort,” said BPC assistant technical director and head of the Brazilian delegation the Dubai World Championship, Jonas Freire after the games.
The athletes who won the most medals were Rayane Soares, Júlio César Agripino, Thiago Paulino, Petrúcio Ferreira, Thalita Simplício, Daniel Martins, Claudiney Batista, Jerusa Geber, Alessandro Rodrigo, João Victor Teixeira (pictured above), Lucas Prado, Elizabeth Gomes, and Cícero Valdiran. Petrúcio won two golds.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
