Terezinha Guilhermina of Brazil and guide Guilherme Soares de Santana cross the line to win gold in the Women's 100m T11 Final at the London 2012 Paralympic Games
© • Getty Images
Gold medallists at London 2012 Terezinha Guilhermina of Brazil and guide Guilherme Soares de Santana could be amongst the star-athletes at Rio 2016
© • Getty Images
The world’s fastest fully blind (T11) sprinter Terezinha Guilhermina was in dominant form at the London Paralympics.
She won gold and broke the world record in 100m (12.01) and, together with her guide Guilherme Santana also took top spot in the 200m (24.82) in a new Paralympic record.
Born with pigmentary retinosis in 1978, the popular Brazilian only took up athletics thanks to the generosity of her sister who let her borrow her trainers so she could take part in a local running event.
The Brazilian’s first Paralympic Games were in Athens in 2004 where she competed against T12 athletes, who have less of a visual impairment, in the 400m, 800m and 1,500m, taking bronze in the shorter distance.
At the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships in the Netherlands, she took home 200m gold (26.32) and silver in the 100m T11 (13.00) and 400m T12 (58.42).
Two years later in Beijing, she won her first Paralympic gold in the 200m T11 (25.14), 100m T11 silver (12.40) and 400m T12 bronze (57.07). When she took the medals home to show her father, he had to hold them up to the candlelight as his home had no light. She promised him she would buy him a new house, and by Christmas, had kept her word.
Although a big name in Brazil following her Paralympic success, it was not until 2011 that the whole world stood up and took notice of Guilhermina after a number of staggering performances in the T11 class.
At the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand, she won four gold medals and set a host of records. She lowered her own 100m world record, set in 2007, from 12.27 to 12.13 seconds and in the 200m ran 24.98 to break a 10 year old world record. She also took gold in the 400m (57.18) and as part of the 4x100m T11-13 (50.51) relay team.
Following her achievements she was welcomed home by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who Guilhermina tried to hand her medals over to.
Six months after New Zealand, she clocked 12.04 seconds at a meeting in Germany to lower her 100m record further and is now determined to run under 12 seconds.
Many will be hoping that happens at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lyon, France and with the philosophy “You are the only one responsible for making your dreams come true,” few will doubt she achieves it.
