Autor: São Paulo

Over six days, more than 800 athletes aged between 13 and 20 from 19 countries took part in the biggest and best edition of the Youth Parapan American Games, in São Paulo, Brazil. The event ended on Saturday, March 25, with the Closing Ceremony and a party for the athletes at the Anhembi Events Center. The competition’s schedule comprised 12 sports (athletics, wheelchair basketball, boccia, football 5-a-side, football 7-a-side, goalball, powerlifting, judo, swimming, table tennis, wheelchair tennis and sitting volleyball). The vast majority of tournaments took place at the Brazilian Paralympic Training Centre – only the wheelchair tennis was held at Clube Espéria.

The competition has the important objective of developing Paralmypic sport in the Americas. With this in mind, holding the event in one of the greatest legacies of the Rio 2016 Games, the Paralympic Training Centre, was vital and pleased directors of national paralympic committees (NPCs), the Americas Paralympic Committee (APC) and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), the highest authority in Paralympic sport.

“I am certain that this wonderful stage, the greatest legacy of the Paralympic Games, will serve as a huge inspiration for these athletes, who will give their best to obtain results”, said José Luis Campo, president of the APC.

The performance of the athletes caught the attention of the Youth Parapan Organizing COmmittee. For Andrew Parsons, president of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) and the Organizing Committee, the growth in the number of athletes and the increased quality of the athletes present has left the competition more and more interesting.

“The level has increased greatly. If we compare this edition to Buenos Aires 2013, Bogotá 2009 and Barquisemeto 2005, we can see the progress of the younger athletes. [This week] we saw athletes here achieving results worthy of senior world championships. So this shows the quality of the young athletes we have here in the Americas”, stated Parsons.

In truth, Parsons’ analysis touches upon the role of continental youth competition. If we look at the last edition of the Youth Parapan, some medalists from that competition went on to make the Paralympic Games, such as the Argentinian swimmer Facundo Arregui, or the Brazilian athletes Danielle Rauen (table tennis) and Verônica Hipólito (track and field), both medal winners in Rio.

For the competition’s director, Edilson Rocha, there is no doubt that many of the more than 800 athletes who were in São Paulo this week will appear in the leading Paralympic competitions in future years. “If we look at the 2013 Games, we see athletes who in 2016 won medals in the Rio Games. So, some of those who won medals here in São Paulo will definitely be in Lima 2019 [Parapan American Games] and in Tokyo 2020 [Paralympic Games]”, he emphasized.

Cooperation of countries and mutual development
Another positive point of the São Paulo 2017 Youth Parapan was the increasing rapprochement between the national Paralympic committees of the region. This contact, according to Andrew Parsons, strengthens the whole region through the exchanging of experiences between athletes, directors, referees, coaches and everyone connected to sport.

“We took advantage of the situation to strengthen our ties with the other national Paralympic committees. And we made it so that other countries could strengthen relations between themselves too”, noted the CPB president while discussing the importance of the exchange of information among nations.

This rapprochement may see the benefits enjoyed by Colombia, for example. The country finished only in sixth place on the overall medals table four years ago in Buenos Aires. They signed a cooperation agreement with the Brazilian Paralympic Committee and worked on developing Paralympic sport. In São Paulo, Colombia improved their performance and finished in second place in the ranking, only behind Brazil.

The Youth Parapan American Games are held every four years. This was the fourth edition. The next one will be held in 2021, the host city has yet to be announced.

The home of the 2017 Youth Parapan Games, the Brazilian Paralympic Training Centre in São Paulo, was full to the brim throughout the entire competition. Over six days, fans packed the stands and cheered on the teams from the 19 participant countries. More than 50 schools came to the Training Centre to watch the games.

Many visitors were watching adapted sports for the first time, as was the case of 10-year-old Nicole, who had never seen a wheelchair basketball match. Pedro, also cheering on Brazil, understands the sport well – he has been playing basketball for two years. His mother, Regiane, took photos of her son and said that his favorite pastime is practicing basketball. Paulo, a volunteer from the São Paulo Sports Department who worked at the Games, brought his wife and children to spend the day at the Centre and summed up his time participating in the Youth Parapan as a great learning experience.

At the Football 7-a-side final between Argentina and Brazil, there were many supporters who knew the sport well. Henrique took part in the 2015 Schools’ Paralympics and watched the game alongside his parents. “It was great to play here last year, the structure is really good. When I see them playing I miss doing it myself”, he said.

As Argentina and Brazil battled it out for the Football 7-a-side gold medal, Brazil and Mexico played the final of wheelchair basketball in front of a packed crowd. Felipe danced along with the music and the dance routines of the volunteers during half time. He has played boccia at the Sporting Association for Disabled Athletes (ADD) for one year. His parents, Killiam and Fernanda, said that adapted sport is a new world for them and watching the Youth Parapan was a new and interesting experience, not just for them, but also for their son.

The 2017 Youth Parapan captivated new fans and attracted those who already follow Paralympic sport to the stands, courts and the Paralympic Movement. The fans congratulated the organization of the event and the structure of the Brazilian Paralympic Centre, which will continue hosting competitions throughout the year.

Brazil won the gold medal in men’s goalball today, beating Argentina 12-2. Brazil, who was undefeated during the entire tournament, came into the match as the favorite.  It looked like it might end by mercy rule during the first half but a quick penalty by Argentina sent the game to the second. It wasn’t enough to stop the momentum, however, and after two quick goals shortly into the second half, Brazil pulled ahead 12-2 and was declared the victor.

Goalball, which was originally invented as a means of assisting the rehabilitation of visually impaired World War II veterans, requires complete silence. The referee had to stop the game repeatedly for noise caused by airplanes flying overhead and a boisterous crowd which did its best to contain its cheers and screams to the moments after goals when noise is briefly permitted. The frequent pauses did not seem to have an effect of the Brazil team, however, as it rained goals into the Argentinian net.

Throughout the tournament, Emerson Silva was one of Brazil’s key players. After the match he said, “It was a game in which we came out more aggressively than in the first round, but we were able to apply our style and managed to liquidate the match in the beginning of the second period. I would also like to say to anybody who has any type of deficiency, even if it is something of a more minor level: find a sport to play.  Sports is one of the best things there is and something that will help you for your whole life in a lot of different ways.  Find a sport to play, don’t be sedentary.

In the first match of the day, Colombia took the Bronze medal beating Mexico 10-6 in a more tightly disputed match. Complete results for today’s events can be found here.

On Saturday afternoon, Argentina rounded off the São Paulo 2017 Youth Parapan American Games by defeating host nation Brazil 2-1 in the Football 7-a-side final (played by athletes with cerebral palsy), avenging yesterday’s defeat to their traditional rivals in the 5-a-side event.

The first half was very tight, with more stoppages than shots on goal. Both sides showed brief glimpses of their technical quality, but first-half chances were restricted to set-pieces.

The biggest story of the first half came in the stands, where those in attendance made sure the match had the traditional Argentina v Brazil atmosphere, one of the biggest rivalries in world sport. On the last day of the Youth Parapan, athletes who competed earlier in the week came out in force to watch Saturday’s finals.

Argentina started stronger in the second half, creating chances and forcing Brazil to defend in their own half. Midfielder Carlos Carrizo struck the crossbar with a free-kick and soon after scored the game’s opening goal, taking advantage of an error in the Brazilian defence.

Just as all appeared to be lost for the home side, who were unable to create any meaningful chances for large parts of the second half, Gustavo de Jesus scored Brazil’s equaliser with minutes left to play, sending the final to extra time.

Argentina regained their lead in the second half of extra time, with Carlos Carrizo scoring his second of the match and the goal which won his country the final gold medal of the Games.

“Thank god we were able to get this victory against our rivals Brazil”, said Carrizo, moments after the final whistle. “We won thanks to the effort of my team-mates.”

Earlier on Saturday, Colombia sealed the bronze medal with a 3-1 win over Venezuela.