Young Brazilians Make Paralympic Scholar Programme a Success

The third edition of the Brazilian Paralympic Scholars programme, which saw more than 1,000 students aged 14-21 years compete in 10 different sports, came to a close on Tuesday (30 August) in Sao Paulo.

The event is the largest of its kind in the world and a major opportunity to scot new talent in Brazil. This year saw significant improvements since the first edition in 2009, especially in terms of the technical level of athletes.

“We’ve been following the students and some of them are already taking part of the national team. This event is the first step for those who want to reach the elite sport”, said Murilo Barreto, the National Swimming Technical Co-ordinator.

A number of athletes expected to represent Brazil at the London 2012 Paralympic Games such as swimmers Clodoaldo Silva and Andre Brasil, the judo player Antonio Tenorio and the runner Terezinha Guilhermina attended the camp to show their support to the new generation of athletes.

Brazil is one of the 25 countries competing at the Guadalajara 2011 Parapan American Games which take place between 12-20 November in Mexico.