Leandro, Leonardo, João Paulo, Daniel, Chitãozinho, Xororó, Zezé di Camargo, Luciano, Milionário, José Rico … You can spend countless characters narrating the outstanding duo of Brazilian music. In Paralympic Sports, it is also a partnership that takes this culture around the world, planting the green and yellow flag at the top. Fernando Rufino and Igor Tofalini starred at the Paris (France) Games, in the Paracano Games, designed in rodeo and viola costumes.
It’s not an exaggeration. Days after winning gold at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo (Japan), in 2021 Fernando, the “Cowboy of Steel”, was the world champion in the VL2 class (a canoe event for athletes using their arms and torso to row) in the 200m, in Copenhagen ( Denmark). At this year’s edition, in Halifax (Canada), it was Igor, the “water pawn”, who won the best, who was not in last year’s edition, leaving his compatriot in second place. The positions were repeated at the Paraben American Championships, also in Halifax.
The dispute, however, is limited to water. And outside of them, they have a strong friendship that ties them together in sport and origins. Born in Itaqueray (MS), Fernando worked in rodeos until 2005, when he was hit by a bus and hit a spinal cord, paralyzed. Igor, on the other hand, is from Cambé (PR) and was a pawn for nine years, until he fell in the ring and was trampled by a bull in 2011, breaking his spine. He is currently training in Londrina (PR), 420 kilometers from where Cowboy lives.
“I learned from my first coach that sports are fleeting, but friendships remain. Spin the stick in the water. Outside, have coffee together and listen to Viola Modas. We are very connected, have a good and healthy friendship, without any deception, which is very important. Today to Pretty much the same. We milk [de vaca]Fernando said Brazil Agency.
“Although we compete in the same category and fight equally in training and competitions, our origins are practically the same. This makes things lighter, routines more enjoyable and we manage to juggle all of this. Living in an environment where you have a training partner, an athlete,” Igor added. From the same culture as yours, it’s very cool.”
If it was Fernando in Tokyo who participated, five years ago, Sertanejo’s representative at the Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro was Igor. Although Cowboy won Brazil’s place in the KL2 (a kayak competition for athletes who use their arms and trunks to row) at the 2015 World Cup in Milan (Italy), a heart problem cut him into just two months of games, making way for a water pawn, who He reached the semi-finals at the Paralympics.
“At the Paralympics [do Rio]He must have had a cowboy [risos]. I followed Igor in training, in preparation, we talked, we were together at games. “We are masters,” recalls Fernando.
“It was the most amazing moment in Rio, being in that version of the Games and being able to represent a strong athlete like him. [Cowboy], despite it being a very sensitive moment on his part. I gave myself and did my best to represent Brazil and an athlete like Fernando Rufino. Igor remembers.
With a promising start for the Paracano drivers on their way to Paris, the expectation of a doubling on the podium in 2024 is real. Next year’s World Cup, in Duisburg (Germany), will determine the first secret. The Games in the French capital will bring together one hundred athletes (50 men and 50 women) in ten classes (five for each gender). The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will still announce the criteria for obtaining seats.
“I think Brazil will have two strong athletes in VL2, wearing the jersey, me and Rufino, in training and in competition, in the cold and in the rain. We work every day to represent the country very well. We can get a great result in Paris and get medals, Which would be a very impressive achievement,” the Peão das Águas team predicted.
“We have in [canoagem] Olympian or Isaquias [Queiroz] and erlon [Souza] as references. In Paracanoeing, we have Igor and I. Who will be the hero? You will decide in the water. I’m going to win and so will he. [O Igor] He’s an athlete I respect and wears the jersey. To beat it, I have to be really good. If I make a mistake I will lose. We could be in Paris and fight for the top there,” concluded The Cowboy of Steel.
In Tokyo, Brazil climbed to the podium three times. In addition to Rufino’s gold, Luis Carlos Cardoso of Piauí (silver in KL1, kayaking for kayakers who use only their arms in rowing) and of Parana Giovanni Vieira di Paola (bronze in VL3, canoe for non-disabled athletes in the upper limbs) arrived there, and a job part of the basement). With seven representatives in the Japanese capital, the country took third place in the medal table, behind the United Kingdom (leader) and Australia (second).
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