Goalball and weightlifting athletes from Team SP embark for Parapan in Chile

The goalball and weightlifting athletes from the São Paulo Paralympic Team, created and sponsored by the Government of São Paulo through the State Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, embarked for Santiago, Chile, on Monday (13) , for the Parapan-American Games taking place between the 17th and 26th of November. On Sunday (12), the swimming and table tennis teams traveled.

Team SP is made up of 106 athletes and, of these, 61 were called up for the continental competition – which represents almost 60% of the entire team.

Goalball representative on Team SP, multi-champion Josemarcio da Silva Sousa is one of the athletes who traveled yesterday to fight for medals in Chile. Josemarcio won gold at the Championship of the Americas in 2022, two-time champion at the Parapan American Games (Lima 2019 and Toronto 2015) and gold at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020, among other achievements. The following athletes from the sport were also called up: Katia Aparecida Ferreira Silva, Leomon Moreno da Silva, Moniza Aparecida De Lima and Romario Diego Marques.

In weightlifting, it is worth highlighting athlete Mariana Dandrea, who won gold in the up to 79kg category at the Dubai World Cup in 2023; gold at the Dubai World Cup in 2022; gold in the up to 73kg category at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020; and gold in the Tbilisi stage of the World Cup in 2021, among other podiums. Dandrea is currently the leader of the world ranking and the only representative of Team São Paulo in its sport in Chile.

“The call-up of 60% of Team SP for an event like Parapan makes us very happy. It reflects the dedication and talent that our athletes have, every day, to grow in their sports. Now, our role is also to support them so that they can overcome themselves and add to the achievements that Brazil must obtain in international competition”, comments the Secretary of State for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Marcos da Costa.

Team SP will make the trip to Chile in splits. Athletes from swimming, table tennis and now goalball and weightlifting have already traveled. On Tuesday (14), bocce, cycling and judo athletes will fly; on Wednesday (15) athletics travels; the 17th badminton; and taekwondo takes place on the 18th, Saturday.

In total, 322 Paralympic athletes won a place to be part of the Brazilian delegation in the most diverse sports, such as athletics, badminton, wheelchair basketball, bocce, cycling, blind football, PC football (athletes with cerebral palsy), goalball, weightlifting, judo, swimming, wheelchair rugby, taekwondo, archery, table tennis and wheelchair tennis.

Team SP
Created by the State Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SEDPcD) in partnership with the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), the São Paulo Paralympic 2023 Team has R$6 million in investment from SEDPcD directed to 106 athletes from 14 sports, who have represented the State and the Country in national and world championships throughout the year.

Check here the complete list of those called up for Parapan.

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