Brazilian Para swimmer led Santiago's 2023 performance chart with eight gold medals

Brazilian Douglas Matera won the eye-opening amount of eight gold medals in Santiago 2023, becoming the most laureated male athlete in the Parapan American Games. Meanwhile, fellow Brazilian Maria Carolina Gomes Santiago and Colombian Karen Palomeque won five each, tying at top of the female rank.

Matera, who turned 30 years old in May, thrived in the pool of the Centro Acuático and won the 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 100m freestyle in S12; the 50m freestyle and the 400m freestyle in S13; the 200m individual medley in SM13; the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay and the mixed 4x100 medley relay. In all of them, he achieved a Parapan American record.

"I am very happy about what I accomplished here. I felt great energy from the people in Chile, so it is really gratifying to give my best and return some of that happiness to the people that came to see the athletes. I am really happy about my results”, he said after one of his last triumphs in the Chilean capital.

The Rio de Janeiro native was born with retinitis pigmentosa, a hereditary genetic mutation causing a gradual loss of vision. He practiced swimming from a young age but stopped in 2009 due to the condition, however, after witnessing his brother Thomaz compete at the 2016 Paralympic Games, he decided to join Para swimming. 

He participated in Tokyo 2020 and won a silver medal in the mixed 4×100 m freestyle relay, but now his credentials make him dream with something more. 

"Most of all, I am really happy of contributing with medals for my country. I have always tried to give my all in the water and the results are starting to come", he added. 

Golden women

Gomes Santiago, on the other hand, came with big expectations, considering she is an eight-time World Championship gold medallist and a three-time Paralympic gold medallist from Tokyo 2020.

Among the almost 2,000 Para athletes present in the Parapan American Games, herself and runner Omara Durand were the only ones with this kind of  superstar CV.  And she delivered to perfection winning everything that she dived into.

Her explosiveness in the water led her to conquer the 100m breaststroke in SB12; 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle in S12, the mixed 4x100 freestyle relay and the mixed 4x100 medley relay. In these last two events she swam with Matera in the team.  

The 38-year-old from Recife has a congenital eye condition called morning glory syndrome, which is a defect in her optic nerve.  She is partially sighted in her left eye, but doesn't have peripheral vision in her right eye.

On the other hand, Palomeque was the undisputed queen of the track at the Santiago 2023 Games, securing her quota of medals over the five days of competition at the Centro Atlético Mario Recordón. 

She won the gold in the universal 4x100 relay, the 100m and 200m in T37; the 400m in T38 and long jump in T36/37/38.

She even stopped the clock faster than what stands in her own world record in the 100m T37 event (12.77 under 12.82); nevertheless; the wind threshold was +2.3 m/s, which is over the limit for the time to be valid.

“It seemed impossible, but despite of everything I managed to overcome the obstacles. The only thing I can say about it is that there are no words in the world to thank everybody for the support I have had this year”, she posted in her social media after her last golden race in Santiago.

Indeed, the Medellín daughter had an incredible 2023, with also three golds at the World Championships in Paris, which already put her in the map as a new star in the Para sports world. As of now, she has been nominated to two national sportsperson of the year awards in Colombia.

The 29-year old was born with hemiparesis, a neurological condition that makes it difficult to move half of the body, in this case, the left.

Another Brazilian Para swimmer got a big bag of medals out of Santiago too: Cecilia Araujo.

She won four golds (400m freestyle and 50m freestyle in S8 and mixed 4x100 freestyle relay and mixed 4x100 medley relay), three silvers (100m butterfly and 100m backstroke in S8, and 200m individual medley in SM8), and one bronze (100m butterfly in S9).

Araujo almost repeated her totals from Lima 2019, where she won four golds and three silvers.

The 25-year old, who has cerebral palsy, represented her country in the Paralympics in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, winning silver in the 50m freestyle S8 event in the latter.

Solid contribution for their countries

Rocha, Gomes Santiago and Araujo played important roles in the record-breaking loot that Brazil took from Santiago. The ‘verdeamarela’ delegation went home with 156 gold medals, 98 silver, 89 bronze, for a total of 343.

The total number surpassed the one achieved in Lima by the Paralympic powerhouse (308) and it was more than twice than what the United States, second country in the medals table, finished with (166). Brazil travelled to Chile with 324 athletes.

Colombia, headlined by Palomeque, also had a groundbreaking performance finishing in the third place of the medals table, with 50 gold medals, five less than the USA.

All of these Para athlete's names are expected to shine in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which will be held from 28 August to 8 September.  Palomeque will be the only one doing her maiden appearance.  

Tickets can be purchased here: Paris 2024 Official Ticketing – Olympic and Paralympic Games