My best and worst moments with Brazil’s Veronica Hipolito

Brazilian sprinter Veronica Hipolito struck gold on her international debut at the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, winning the 200m T38.

Success continued for the 19-year-old at the Toronto 2015 Parapan Am Games, where she won a spectacular three golds and one silver medal - here she reveals her ‘Best and Worst Moments’.

My best moment

It was when I went to Lyon for the World Championships in 2013. I wasn’t the favourite front runner in that race but I was able to pull it off and overcome the Russian, British and Chinese athletes.

Not only did I win the gold medal but that was my first time with the Brazilian team, so I got to know all the Brazilian athletes better like Yohansson Nascimento, Daniel Silva and all the other guys.

So it was a special moment for me not just on the track, but off it too. It was when I started to be part of the Brazilian team.

My worst moment

It was the moment that I found out that I would have surgery last year. I found out one week before the Parapan Am Games in August, so I felt like I had wasted all my efforts preparing for the World Championships.

But I knew the faster I got it done the faster I would be back training for Rio, so I decided to have the surgery right away. I wasn’t scared because I knew there was a solution to the problem.

After that there was also something that happened that I didn’t feel good about. Mateus Evangelista the T37 long jumper is a really good friend and he promised he would go to Doha and get a gold medal for me. But he got injured just two or three weeks before the World Championships and I felt guilty that Meteus got injured trying to get better to go to Doha and get a medal for me. I felt bad for days after and couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Sport fans from around the world can now buy their Paralympic tickets for Rio 2016 from authorised ticket resellers (ATRs).

The IPC’s Global ATR is Jet Set Sports, and Rio 2016 tickets and packages can be purchased on the CoSport website.

Residents of Brazil can buy 2016 Paralympics tickets directly from the Rio 2016 website.