Paralympic champions to line up in Brazil

The third of six IPC Athletics Grand Prix events heads to Sao Paolo, Brazil this week. 25 Apr 2013
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Gold medallists at London 2012 Terezinha Guilhermina of Brazil and guide Guilherme Soares de Santana could be amongst the star-athletes at Rio 2016

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By Ros Dumlao | For the IPC

“I want to do better than London. This time, I'll be more loose and calm. In London, the pressure was bigger. But due to my results there, I got more sponsors and now I have other people to share the responsibilities with.”

More than 10 countries will be represented at the 2013 Loterias Caixa Brazilian Athletics Open Championships, the third of seven IPC Athletics Grand Prix events this season.

The event takes place from Thursday to Saturday (25-27 April) in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Among those competing are Paralympic stars and home favourites Alan Fonteles Oliveira and Terezinha Guilhermina.

Guilhermina won double sprint gold in the 100m and 200m T11 at the Paralympic Games last year, and the 34-year-old will race in those events again this week.

The Loterias Caixa Grand Prix will be the first major meeting of the outdoor season for Guilhermina as she prepares to defend her global titles at the IPC Athletics World Championships in July.

The three-time Paralympian sprinted into the spotlight at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in New Zealand, where she won gold in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 4x100m relay T11 events.

This January, Guilhermina raced for the first time since the London 2012 Paralympic Games when she took part in the 60m T11/12 sprint at British Athletics' Glasgow International Match in Scotland.

The Brazilian clocked 8.17 seconds in her indoor competition debut, finishing ahead of Slovakia’s Hanka Kolnikova and Great Britain’s Libby Clegg.

“It was my first indoor competition ever, but it was a good surprise,” Guilhermina said. “I was very insecure, but there I got my best start. Usually, it is not that good. I think I was more relaxed. After all, it was a good motivation. I’m very positive for 2013.

“I want to try to repeat the starting I did in Glasgow, and get close to my results in London, but my focus is on the World Championships in France.”

Oliveira, the reigning 200m T44 Paralympic champion, is returning to the Brazilian stage after defeating the USA’s Jerome Singleton in March in a one-on-one 150m race in Copacabana for the Mano-a-Mano.

This week, the 20-year-old will compete in the 100m and 200m T45 events.

But for these athletes, the memory of London is just a stepping stone to future success in this World Championship season.

“I want to do better than London,” Guilhermina said. “This time, I'll be more loose and calm. In London, the pressure was bigger. But due to my results there, I got more sponsors and now I have other people to share the responsibilities with.”

More than 300 athletes will be competing in athletics and swimming events. It is Brazil's first IPC competition held this year.

In addition to Oliveira and Guilhermina, other Paralympians participating are Canada's Earle Connor and USA's Richard Browne.

Connor took gold at London in the 100m T42, and Browne won silver in the 100m T44.

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