The Special Brazilian Team Brings Home Four Medals from the Tournament in the Netherlands
Breno Viola won the gold medal whereas Yves Dupont, Nicola Sasso and Antonio Lima are bronze awarded at the Venary stage of Judo for All. Judokas arrive to Brazil on Monday.
The main goal was not reaching the podium, but just making the four judokas who traveled to the Netherlands be familiarized with the competitive environment, since in the Paralympic Games only judokas with some degree of visual impairment compete. But Breno Viola (Flamengo / RJ , Down syndrome), Yves Dupont ( SOGIPA / RS, Down syndrome), Nicola Sasso ( SION / RJ , Smith Magenis Syndrome ) and Antonio Lima ( SION / RJ , X Fragile syndrome) did more than that . They will arrive to Brazil late on Monday with four medals from the Dutch stage of Judo for all.
Breno won his five fights by ippon and was gold awarded. Nicola Sasso defeated three opponents and got the bronze medal as well as Yves Dupont and Antonio Lima did. The team’s coach and head of delegation, Ricardo Lucio, celebrated the good year 2013 , when the ties to the Brazilian Judo Confederation were narrowed. The BJC provided all the necessary sports equipment to athletes.
"We’ve trained teachers with the support of Special Olympics Brazil, we’ve added more judokas to our group, we have participated in two stages of the European Tour (Italy and the Netherlands), achieving excellent results especially in the latter one," he said.
For next year, the goal is getting sponsorship to continue our work and participate in at least two competitions of the European circuit, increasing the number of judokas and adding a girl to the team.
"It is also very important to train our teachers to prepare better our judokas and to pass the knowledge to each other," he added.
Besides the Brazilian athletes, 265 judokas from nine countries- the Netherlands, Germany, England, Wales, France, Scotland, Belgium, Italy and Brazil - competed for medals, according to their skills level and weight category. The goal is developing the participants’ self-confidence, self-esteem, overcome their limits and live together in group.
