São Paulo – Forty-three athletes were called up to represent Brazil in the World Para Athletics Championships to run from November 7 to 15 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The announcement was made this Friday morning (4) by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB). Check out the athlete list.
This is the main athletics competition and determines tickets to Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. In the last edition, Brazil ranked ninth achieving eight gold, seven silver and six bronze medals.
“Brazil has come a long way on the world stage. We’re among the world’s best, and this delegation is made up of athletes who qualified with a performance that puts it in the top three. It’ll be a very strong team in Dubai, and our expectations are very high, as they should be,” Brazilian Paralympic Committee head coach Amaury Veríssimo was quoted as saying in a press release.
Playoffs ended last Sunday (29) at Brazilian Loterias Caixa Athletics Championships (pictured above) at CT Paralímpico in São Paulo. The tryouts featured 600 competitors. The World Championships in Dubai expect 1,300 athletes from over 100 countries. London hosted the last event in 2007.
Para athletics is one of Brazil’s most victorious adapted sports. At Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, the Brazilian delegation won 38 medals, ranking in more than a half of the total 72 podiums.
Last march, the UAE hosted Abu Dhabi Special Olympics, an event that welcomed 7,500 intellectually challenged athletes from some 190 countries. Thirty-six Brazilian athletes competed in it.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
