Brazil sent a delegation to compete at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, held between 7–16 March 2014. This marked the country's first entry into the Winter Paralympic Games. Brazil sent two athletes, snowboarder Andre Pereira in Alpine skiing and Fernando Rocha in cross-country skiing.[1] The country's best performance in any event was 15th, achieved by Rocha in the 15 km sitting competition.
| Brazil at the 2014 Winter Paralympics | |
|---|---|
 | |
| IPC code | BRA |
| NPC | Brazilian Paralympic Committee |
| Website | www |
| in Sochi | |
| Competitors | 2 in 2 sports |
| Medals |
|
| Winter Paralympics appearances (overview) | |
Background
editBrazil has competed in every Summer Paralympics since making their debut at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, Germany.[2] The nation made its first appearance in a Winter Olympic Games in the 1992 Albertville Games, and has participated in every Winter Olympics since, as of the conclusion of the 2018 Winter Olympics. However, the 2014 Winter Paralympics was the nation's first appearance in the winter version of the Paralympics.[3] Andre Pereira was chosen as the Brazilian flag-bearer for the parade of nations during the opening ceremony.[4] Fernando Rocha was chosen as the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony.[5]
Disability classification
editEvery participant at the Paralympics has their disability grouped into one of five disability categories; amputation, the condition may be congenital or sustained through injury or illness; cerebral palsy; wheelchair athletes, there is often overlap between this and other categories; visual impairment, including blindness; Les autres, any physical disability that does not fall strictly under one of the other categories, for example dwarfism or multiple sclerosis.[6][7] Each Paralympic sport then has its own classifications, dependent upon the specific physical demands of competition. Events are given a code, made of numbers and letters, describing the type of event and classification of the athletes competing. Events with "B" in the code are for athletes with visual impairment, codes LW1 to LW9 are for athletes who stand to compete and LW10 to LW12 are for athletes who compete sitting down. Alpine skiing and cross-country skiing events grouped athletes into separate competitions for sitting, standing and visually impaired athletes.[8]
Alpine skiing
editFor the 2014 Winter Paralympics, snowboard cross was considered a discipline of Alpine skiing, rather than a separate sport.[9] Snowboarding was offered only for athletes who competed in a standing position.[9] The men's snowboard cross event was held on 14 March 2014. Andre Pereira was 34 years old at the time of the competition.[10] Over three runs, Pereira improved his time on each run.[11] Only the two best runs for each rider counted, and his combined time was 2 minutes and 42 seconds, placing him 28th out of 33 competitors. The race was won by Evan Strong with a combined time of 1 minute and 43 seconds.[9]
Men
edit| Athlete | Event | Race 1 | Race 2 | Race 3 | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | Time | Rank | ||
| André Pereira | Snowboard cross[11] | 1:37.17 | 30 | 1:23.09 | 27 | 1:18.98 | 26 | 2:42.07 | 28 |
Cross-country skiing
editFernando Rocha was 35 at the time of the Games.[12] He competes in cross-country skiing from a sitting position. He was classified as LW11.5, and as such, his final times were only 97% of his real times.[12] Athletes classified as LW12 had their full times counted, whereas athletes classified LW11 had 94% of their times count. Athletes classified LW10 had only 86% of their times count.[13]
On 9 March 2014, he competed in the 15 km sitting competition, and finished with an adjusted time of 49 minutes and 31 seconds, placing him 15th out of 21 competitors, and over 8 minutes behind the winning time of 40 minutes and 51 seconds.[14] Three days later, on 12 March, he participated in the qualification round of the 1km sprint sitting. He finished with an adjusted time of 2 minutes, 29 seconds, good for 20th place, however, only the top 12 were allowed to advance to the semi-finals. The slowest qualifying adjusted time was 2 minutes and 20.12 seconds.[15] His final event was on 16 March, the 10 km sitting competition. He finished with an adjusted time of 35 minutes and 37 seconds; good for 21st place out of 26 competitors who finished the race—two competitors did not finish. The winning time for this event was an adjusted 30 minutes and 52 seconds.[13]
Men's sprint
edit| Athlete | Event | Qualification | Semifinal | Final | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Time | Result | Rank | Real Time | Result | Rank | Real Time | Result | Rank | ||
| Fernando Rocha | 1km sprint sitting[15] | 2:33.78 | 2:29.17 | 20 | did not advance | |||||
Men's distance
edit| Athlete | Event | Final | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real Time | Result | Rank | ||
| Fernando Rocha | 15 km sitting[14] | 51:03.3 | 49:31.4 | 15 |
| 10 km sitting[13] | 36:44.0 | 35:37.9 | 21 | |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Paralimpiadas de Inverno 2014 – André Cintra e Fernando Aranha serão os primeiros atletas da história a representar o Brasil nos Jogos Paralímpicos de Inverno que serão disputados em Sochi, na Rússia". portalbraganca.com.br. 10 December 2013. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
- ^ "IPC Historical Results – Brazil". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "Brazil: Eight facts on the Sochi 2014 Paralympics". International Paralympic Committee. 17 January 2014. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "Sochi 2014 Opening Ceremony flag bearers". International Paralympic Committee. 7 March 2014. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "Sochi 2014 Closing Ceremony flag bearers". International Paralympic Committee. 16 March 2014. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ "Paralympics categories explained". ABC. 3 September 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ "Making sense of the categories". BBC Sport. 6 October 2000. Archived from the original on 28 May 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ^ "Sochi Winter Paralympics: Guide to the sports". BBC Online. 18 February 2014. Archived from the original on 19 December 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "Alpine Skiing at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games – Men's Para Snowboard Cross Standing". International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original on 10 March 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ "Andre PEREIRA – Alpine Skiing – Brazil". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Men's Para Snowboard Cross – Standing – Alpine Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Fernando ROCHA – Cross-Country Skiing – Brazil". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ a b c "Men's 10km, Sitting – Cross-Country Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Men's 15km, Sitting – Cross-Country Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.
- ^ a b "Men's 1 km Sprint Qualification, Sitting – Cross-Country Skiing". Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 22 April 2018.