Fernando Rufino De Paulo will lead the eight-member Brazilian Paracanoe squad for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
This is the largest-ever delegation from the South Americans nation for the Paralympics.
Rufino is the reigning VL2 Paralympic champion, and the 39-year-old also has three world gold medals to his name.
Joining him is the experienced Luis Carlos Cardoso Da Silva, a six-time world champion, who is heading to France as a KL1 silver medallist from Tokyo 2020.
Igor Alex Tofalini, who reached the semi-finals at Rio 2016, will also contest in the VL2 200.
The 41-year-old, who is a two-time world champion, has been sharing a superb rivalry with De Paulo and will do so again at Paris 2024.
Miqueias Elias Rodrigues will be another one to watch out for in Paris, securing a world bronze in his first attempt in Szeged this year, which also confirmed his Paralympic ticket.
Among the Brazilian women, Mari Christina Santilli and Debora Raiza Ribeiro Benevides are world medallists and can be considered potential favourites for a podium spot.
Santilli won a world VL3 bronze in 2022 and also has a gold in kayak and silver in the canoe at the Parapan American Championships in Halifax in 2022.
Benevides won the VL2 bronze at the 2015 and 2022 World Championships and has World Cup medals on her CV.
Adriana Gomes de Azevedo and Aline de Oliveira complete the team, with the former winning bronze in kayak in the Parapan American Championships in Halifax in 2022.
Brazil’s Paracanoe squad in full: Fernando Rufino De Paulo, Luis Carlos Cardoso Da Silva, Igor Alex Tofalini, Miqueias Elias Rodrigues, Adriana Gomes De Azevedo, Aline Furtado de Oliveira, Debora Raiza Ribeiro Benevides and Mari Christina Santilli.
Related links
