Pillar – The Paralympic year ends with a glow in the world of Taekwondo

The weekend marked the end of the international Paralympic competition calendar in 2021, with important results for Brazil. The highlight is the Paratikondo World Championships, which was held in Istanbul (Turkey), between Saturday (11) and Sunday (12), where the national delegation won seven medals, one of them gold, with Silvana Fernandez.

On her way to the title in the category up to 58 kg in the K44 class (athletes who unilaterally amputated the elbow to the hand joint), the girl from Paraíba beat Russia’s Rajanina Karina, Turkey’s Tojci Sen and Jamze Gordal. This last duel repeated the dispute for the bronze medal at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo (Japan), which was won by the Brazilian.

Silvana is fighting and the Brazilian flag and the medal on her chest – Global Taekwondo / Disclosure

Nathan Torquato and Deborah Menezes of Sao Paulo also won medals in Japan with the bronze medal in Istanbul. Gold In Tokyo, Nathan sustained a knee injury during the 61kg class semi-final, in front of four-time world champion Paulor Jannat, of Mongolia, and had to give up the fight. Deborah won the silver medal at the Paralympics, in the semi-finals of the over 65 kilograms category, which was defeated by Britain’s Aimee Truesdale.

Silvana fights during the competition – Global Taekwondo / Disclosure

Like Brazil 13 other athletes, four of them climbed to the podium. Lilian Santos, of Amazonas, shone as the vice world champion in the 65kg weight class, surpassing her in the final of Turkey’s Secil Er – who, in the semi-finals, beat Ana Carolina Mora, of Minas Gerais, who won the bronze medal. The same medal that Paraná’s Camila Macedo won in the weight category over 65 kg (as Deborah) after losing in the semi-finals to Uzbekistan’s Julionoy Nemova, Tokyo gold. Hometown Christian Nieves also took third place, in the 52kg weight class.

The conquests in Istanbul left Brazil third in the overall picture, behind hosts Turkey (14 podiums) and Russia (ten). The Brazilian performance was the best since the Paralympic Method entered the Paralympic Program. In 2017, in London (UK), the delegation was excluded. Two years later, in Antalya (Turkey), she won a gold medal with Deborah Menezes and a bronze medal with Christian Neves. In Tokyo, the country topped the sport’s standings with three medals, one of each colour.

This year’s worlds brought news from the Paralympic Games in Paris (France). Unlike in Tokyo, where there has been a dispute in three categories, the Games in the French capital will have five pesos per gender. In addition, fighters who were in the ranks K42 (amputation of arms, below the elbow) and K43 (disability in one arm, below the elbow), who had no competition in Japan, migrated to K44.

Dominion in Copa America de Pucci

Another result related to Brazilian parachute sports was achieved at the Copa America de Boca, at the Paralympic Games Training Center, in São Paulo. The ten athletes who represented the country rose to the podium in the competition, where they battled for the first time to divide the contestants by gender, as it will be in Paris. And in the individual tests that ended on Sunday, there were four gold, three silver and three bronze medals. In the tag team and double tournaments, which ended today (13), came three more medals: one gold, one silver, and one tan.

It should be noted that bocce is practiced by people with a high degree of physical and motor disabilities. Classes BC1 and BC2 bring together athletes who play with hands or feet, with the difference that in BC1, the assistant is allowed to deliver balls. In the BC3 category, players are supported with a slide to take shots. Finally, in class BC4, there are competitors with spinal cord injury.

The individual gold medals for the Brazilian delegation came in the men’s BC1 (José Carlos Chagas), BC2 (Macel Santos) and BC3 (Mateos Carvalho) categories and in the BC1 women’s tournament with Andreza Vitoria. Natalie Faria (BC 2), Evelyn Oliveira (BC 3) and Eliseo dos Santos (BC 4) took the silver, while Iori Tawan (BC 2), Ivani Calado (BC 3) and Ercelin Lorenda (BC 4) on bronze. The country has also been a champion in the team feud that brings together BC1 and BC2 athletes. In the BC3 category pairs tournament, Brazil was the runner-up. In BC4, the Brazilian pair took third place.

Photo of the full Brazilian delegation – CBTKD / Disclosure