Santiago 2023 made old rivalries in team sports reborn, but also sprouted new ones

One major component of sports are the rivalries, and the world of Para sports has plenty of them. Fierce ones too. And within the Santiago 2023 Parapan American Games some of them had added important chapters to their old and sometimes not so old stat books.

Goalball, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, blind football and even non-Paralympic sport CP football have had intense fights so far in Chile, and in the next few days, there will be a couple more, since the medals will be on the table.

“Brazil is fantastic, they are the gold standard. I have thought about this match for a long time, we owe them one from the last Parapan American Games (Lima 2019). In the final, the gloves will be off”, said Tyler Merren, from the United States, after qualifying for the gold medal match in goalball.  

“United States is our most dangerous rival in the Americas, we know it and whenever we play against them, we get really hyped and excited. It is intense”, said Josemarcio Santos, from Brazil.

Both teams have a history not just in Parapan American Games, but in Paralympics. Most recently, in Rio 2016, the USA knocked off Brazil from the semifinals, meanwhile, in Tokyo 2020, the Americans beat the Brazilians in the first round, but then were eliminated in the semifinals by China and had to watch on TV how the ‘Verdeamarela’ rode to the gold medal.

In the women’s side, USA and Canada will play against each other, after dominating in Santiago. They have also a history in Parapan American Games.

Friends but enemies

The final in women’s wheelchair basketball will also have these two countries in front of each other. And there is real fire between them, with Canada as the current Parapan American champion, but with blood in their eye after being eliminated by the USA in the Tokyo 2020 quarterfinals.

Cindy Ouellet, from Canada, stated that “We are fighting for one spot to the Paralympic Games here in Santiago. We know each other well; we have played against each other I don’t know how many times. It is really fun when we play each other. So, we are even friends outside the court, but inside of it, we are not”.  

“We always compete against each other for crucial accolades and spots, for example, for the Paralympics. We have a target on each other us back all the time. They have it out for us as much as we have it for them, which is great for competitiveness, we push each other”, replied Rose Hollerman, from the United States.  

In the men’s wheelchair basketball, the final will be the USA against Colombia, after the South Americans surprised Canada in the semifinals.

Regarding, wheelchair rugby, USA and Canada also met for the gold medal match, which went to the first ones, by a score of 57-51.

Because of the victory, USA qualified to Paris 2024, sending Canada to a qualification tournament in New Zealand, next March.

Sarah Adam, the first woman from the US on a mixed gold medal team, said: “We had to play really aggressive against them, because we match up really well against each other. They are always great games, close games, so it is really fun to play them”.

Third force

But when there is a rivalry, there is always a third party trying to stick their foot on the door. That is currently happening in blind football with Colombia.

The ‘cafeteros’ produced a huge upset in Santiago 2023 by beating world champions and Paralympic silver medallists Argentina in the last fixture of the preliminary round, causing them to be outside contention of the gold medal.

Therefore, there will not be another Argentina versus Brazil final in blind football. Colombia took one of those spots.

“This means incredible happiness for us. This is the work of many years, the sacrifice. We have gone through a lot to get to this point. Technically, we had always been on par with Brazil and Argentina, we were just missing some details. Even some luck. And we are having everything now”, stated one of Colombia’s main players, John González.

Three-time Paralympic champion from Brazil, Jefinho, added: “Colombia has grown a lot in recent years. You can feel the improvement. It is not going to be easy for us”.

“Our match against them in the first round was really hard. We won at the very end (1-0), they have two really quick and strong forwards, with precision in their finishing. We expect a very difficult game. They beat Argentina and they are in their first Parapan American finals, they will be motivated”, he added. 

Colombia and Brazil will play this 24 November for the title.  

Finally, on CP football, there will be a ‘world classic’ in the gold medal match. Brazil and Argentina have cruised through the tournament, and they have shown why their countries are powerhouses in every style of football possible.

The match will be played on 25 November.

At the end of the seventh day of the Parapan American Games, Brazil is still on top of the medals table with 116 gold, 65 silver and 69 bronze, for a total of 250. The USA is next (35, 38, 36, for a total of 109), followed by Colombia (34, 45, 38, for 117).

Santiago 2023 brought together almost 2,000 athletes from 31 different nations to battle from 18 to 26 November. This is the seventh edition of the Games, which is the biggest competition for Para sport in the Americas.