Bucci World Cup mascot honors multi-time Paralympic champion

This year’s Paralympic Bocce World Championships, which will take place in Pará Olympic Park, west of Rio de Janeiro, between December 5 and 13, will honor Derso Jose Pinto, four-times Paralympic gold medalist, who died in 2020. The National Paralympic Association announced (Andy), the state sports official and event organizer, said Thursday (1) that the name of the competition’s mascot, chosen by popular vote, would be Dibo, a contraction of the championship. The words of Derso and Pucci.

“A more than deserved tribute to the best Pucci Paralympian athlete of all time. I am grateful to have had the opportunity and the honor to live with him, especially in the moments that marked the history of bocce in Brazil and in the world. Andy’s president, Artur Cruz, said in a press release, “Dirceau has been an example to all of us, not just for his accomplishments, but for the person he always has been.”

Derso died at the age of 39 due to heart problems. He was introduced to Bocce in 2002, after discovering a degenerative muscle disease, atrophy in the waist (thigh and abdomen). Six years later, at the Beijing (China) Games, the Sao Paulo native won two gold medals, in a singles and pairs dispute (along with Eliseo dos Santos) in the BC4 category (wheelchair users with non-brain injuries who do not receive help). In matches), he repeated the dose at the Paralympic Games in London (UK), in 2012. At Rio 2016, he won the silver medal in mixed doubles, with Eliseo and Marcelo dos Santos.

The mascot was developed by designer and illustrator Thulio Toledo, who is also a bocce player, in the BC3 category (athletes who use a chute prop to direct their shots and can use tools to propel the ball). According to him, the character is inspired by the natural beauty of Rio de Janeiro and the sport itself.

“Whoever thinks of Rio remembers the beach, Christ, Sugarloaf Mountain, Selaron. Yet all this beauty in Rio is always enhanced by the sunlight and the warmth of its people. Just like the sun, the target ball [a bola branca, de nome Jack, perto da qual os jogadores devem arremessar as esferas vermelhas e azuis] He is responsible for the goal of our method. Everything revolves around it and the whole game depends on it, as in the solar system.”

“on the body [da mascote]There are also some elements that relate to the competition’s visual identity, which has to do with the Selarón staircase. On her arms is a golden bracelet in the form of a wooden walkway [das praias]The choice of red and blue colors is directly related to balls and game elements such as tie-breaking [desempate] and the line in V, from the court demarcation,” the player artist continued.

According to Andy, more than 40 countries and 170 athletes have already confirmed their presence at the World Championships. The competition will take place with the players divided by gender, which is the main new thing in the Paralympic Games Paralympic Games (France). Until the Games held in Tokyo (Japan) last year, it was only class by class, with men and women competing together.