Last Saturday (27), students from Espírito Santo qualified for the national phase of the 2024 School Paralympics and will represent Espírito Santo in the competition, which will take place in November, in São Paulo (SP). In total, 107 students participated, in Vitória, in the Loterias Caixa Paralympic Meeting, valid as a state selection for the student competition, in athletics and swimming.
The Capital also brought together world-renowned athletes and young people who are beginning to emerge on the international scene at Clube Álvares Cabral and the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Ufes) for athletics, swimming, weightlifting, shooting and archery competitions.
The Vitória Meeting was attended by several athletes covered by the Bolsa Atleta program, run by the Department of Sports and Leisure (Sesport). Among the highlights are Breno Braga, Bruno Kiefer and Marcos Vinícius de Oliveira.
2023 world champion, Mariana Gesteira also participated in the competition, which served as her last preparation phase before the swimming trials for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which will have its first stage held between this Thursday (02) and next Saturday (04), at the Paralympic Training Center, in São Paulo, with the International Swimming Open.
The para-athlete completed the 100m backstroke in 1min11s51, below the rate established by the CPB for qualifying for the Games, 1min12s98. The brand would have been the fifth best in the world in the S9 class (physical-motor impairment), in 2023. Mariana Manager he also swam the 50m freestyle in 28.74, which would have been the second best time of 2023, if the same class was considered. At the Paralympic Games, however, the race will be held together with athletes from the S10 class, in which Mariana’s time Manager it would be 13th in the world.
The athlete stated that her results make her confident to seek qualification for the Paris Games in the coming days. “It was a great test. I felt really good, even with many races in the same morning and coming from a strong training pace. This week I’m going to start slowing down to do some polishing and look for a better finish. The passages are already in place, now it is time to sustain the race further, which depends on this rest”, explained the swimmer, who was born with Arnold-Chiari Syndrome, a malformation of the central nervous system that affects coordination and balance.
An athlete who is beginning to emerge on the international swimming scene, Breno Braga from Espírito Santo celebrated his time of 1min01s17 in the 100m butterfly for class S12 (low vision) achieved at the Meeting on Saturday (04). The brand would be ninth in the world in the 2023 ranking.
“I had the best time of my life. Before, I had 1min02s94 [em outubro de 2023, na Segunda Etapa Nacional do Circuito Loterias Caixa de natação, no CT Paralímpico]. I know that my opponents will start to look at me and realize that I am coming strong for the next few years”, said Breno Braga, who has Stargardt’s disease, which causes progressive degeneration of retinal cells.
On the Ufes athletics track, sprinter Marcos Vinicius de Oliveira, from class T12 (low vision), finished the 800m race in 2min06s89, which would be the fourth time in the world last year. “I enjoyed reaching this milestone again. Now it’s time to prepare myself to return to training stronger and more focused to pursue the year’s big goal. It was a very good competition, with my family watching and with the participation of many children who are just starting out in the sport. This opportunity to be with them, encourage them and show them that they are capable was incredible,” he said.
In sports shooting, the Vitória Meeting featured Bruno Kiefer from Espírito Santo and Jéssica Michalack from Santa Catarina, two athletes from the Brazilian team, team bronze medalists, alongside Alexandre Galgani, at the World Championship in Lima, Peru, in 2023 Bruno Kiefer scored 627.9 points in R4 Air Rifle – Standing position SH2, while Jéssica Michalack recorded 630.9 points in the R5 Air Rifle test – Mixed Prone Position SH2. Both won gold in the Meeting.
Athlete Scholarship
Bolsa Atleta’s main objective is to benefit high-performance athletes and para-athletes, with monthly financial assistance that must be used to maintain the results obtained and the athlete’s sporting career in the year in which the benefit is received.
With an investment of R$3.9 million, the 2024 call for proposals reached a record number of high-performance athletes selected, with 234 selected, 43 more than in the previous call. Those selected will be paid 12 monthly installments, according to the category: student (R$500), national (R$1,500), international (R$2,000) and Olympic (R$4,000).
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Ana Sá / Rodolfo Mageste
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