Brazil made its Paralympic Games debut at the 1972 Summer Paralympics in Heidelberg, sending representatives to compete in track and field, para-archery, para swimming and wheelchair basketball. The country has competed in every edition of the Summer Paralympics since.[1]
As of 2026, Brazilian athletes have won a total of 467 Paralympic medals, among them 466 medals in 19 different Summer sports and 1 in a Winter sport, of which 135 gold, 161 silver and 171 bronze medals. This places the country 22nd on the all-time Paralympic Games medal table.
Brazil's first delegations experienced little success. No medals were won in 1972, and the country's only medal in 1976 was a silver, in the men's pairs in lawn bowls (through Robson S. Almeida and Luiz Carlos Costa). There were no medals either in 1980, but Brazilian Paralympians found notable success as from 1984, where they obtained their first gold: M. Ferraz won five silver medals and one gold in track and field; Márcia Malsar took three medals in para-athletics, of which the first gold for a Brazilian para athlete; Luiz Cláudio Pereira won four medals, of which two gold, in track and field; as did Amintas Piedade. Para swimmer Maria Jussara Matas obtained three medals, of which one gold, while Marcelo Amorim won four medals (three silver and a bronze), also in para swimming.
Pereira won three of Brazil's four gold medals in 1988, the fourth coming from para swimmer Graciana Moreira Alves. In 1992, four Brazilian para athletes each won a gold medal in track and field, while the country's two gold in 1996 were won in para swimming, with José Arnulfo Medeiros and para judo, with Antônio Tenório. Da Silva took another gold in 2000, adding to Brazil's four golds in track and field and one in para swimming that year. At the 2004 Games there were fourteen gold medals, of which five in para-athletics. Para swimmer Clodoaldo Silva became Brazil's most successful Paralympian in history, winning six gold medals in the pool, and Brazil also started the men's football 5-a-side dominination, defeating Argentina in a penalty shoot-out in the final. In the 7-a-side event, Brazil finished second, after a 1–4 defeat to Ukraine.
At the 2008 edition, para-athletics provided another four gold medals, boccia two, para judo one, and para swimming eight (four each from Daniel Dias and André Brasil). In football, Brazil finished fourth in the 7-a-side event, with losses to Ukraine (0-6) and Iran (0-4) in the final round. The country did, however, successfully defend for the first time its Paralympic title in 5-a-side football, defeating China 2–1 in the final.[2]
Brazil debuted at the Winter Paralympics during 2014 edition in Sochi, sending two para athletes. This made Brazil the second tropical nation ever to have competed at the Winter Paralympics, after Uganda and the third country in South America to have done so, the others being Chile and Argentina.
At the 2026 Winter Paralympics hosted in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Brazil won the first medal in their Winter Paralympics history[3] – para cross-country skier Cristian Ribera earned a silver medal in the Men's sprint - sitting.[4] Ribera's achievement also represented the first medal for a tropical nation and South America at the Winter Games.[5]
Medal tables
Medals by Summer Games
This are the historical medal table for Brasil at the Summer Paralympics.[6][7] This medal table also includes the 5 medals (1 gold, 3 silvers and 1 bronze) won at the 1992 Summer Paralympics for Intellectually Disabled, held in Madrid, who also organized by then International Coordenation Committee (ICC) and same Organizing Committee (COOB'92) who made the gestion of the 1992 Summer Paralympics held in Barcelona and also part of same event. But the results are not on the International Paralympic Committee 's (IPC) database.[8]
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1960 Rome | did not participate | |||||
 1964 Tokyo | ||||||
 1968 Tel-Aviv | ||||||
 1972 Heidelberg | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
 1976 Toronto | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
 1980 Arnhem | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
 1984 Stoke Mandeville 1984 New York | 30 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 28 | 24 |
 1988 Seoul | 59 | 4 | 9 | 14 | 27 | 24 |
 1992 Barcelona-Madrid | 41 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 28 |
| 1996 Atlanta | 60 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 21 | 37 |
 2000 Sydney | 63 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 22 | 24 |
 2004 Athens | 96 | 14 | 12 | 7 | 33 | 14 |
 2008 Beijing | 187 | 16 | 14 | 17 | 47 | 9 |
| 2012 London | 181 | 21 | 14 | 8 | 43 | 7 |
 2016 Rio de Janeiro | 285 | 14 | 29 | 29 | 72 | 8 |
| 2020 Tokyo | 258 | 22 | 20 | 30 | 72 | 7 |
 2024 Paris | 255 | 25 | 25 | 38 | 88 | 5 |
| 2028 Los Angeles | Future event | |||||
| 2032 Brisbane | Future event | |||||
| Total | 1,264 | 135 | 160 | 171 | 466 | 16 |
Medals by Winter Games
| Games | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 1976 Örnsköldsvik | did not participate | ||||||
 1980 Geilo | |||||||
 1984 Innsbruck | |||||||
| 1988 Innsbruck | |||||||
| 1992 Tignes-Albertville | |||||||
| 1994 Lillehammer | |||||||
| 1998 Nagano | |||||||
| 2002 Salt Lake City | |||||||
| 2006 Turin | |||||||
| 2010 Vancouver | |||||||
 2014 Sochi | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2018 PyeongChang | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2022 Beijing | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | |
| 2026 Milano Cortina | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 23 | |
| 2030 French Alps | |||||||
| 2034 Salt Lake City | |||||||
| Total | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 32 | |
Medals by Summer Sports (1972–2024)
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Athletics | 59 | 84 | 67 | 210 |
 Swimming | 47 | 48 | 56 | 151 |
 Judo | 9 | 11 | 13 | 33 |
 Boccia | 6 | 1 | 4 | 11 |
 Football 5-a-side | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
 Powerlifting | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
 Paracanoeing | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
 Parataekwondo | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
 Goalball | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
 Wheelchair fencing | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 Table tennis | 0 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
 Equestrian | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
 Football 7-a-side | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
 Cycling | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Lawn bowls | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Shooting | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Rowing | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 Volleyball | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
 Badminton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (19 entries) | 135 | 160 | 171 | 466 |
Medals by Winter Sports (2014–2026)
| Sport | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cross-country skiing | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals (1 entries) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Best results in non-medalling sports
| Summer | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sport | Rank | Athlete | Event & Year |
 Archery | 4th | Luciano Rezende | Men's individual recurve open in 2016 |
 Paratriathlon | 4th | Jéssica Messali | Women's PTWC in 2020 |
 Wheelchair basketball | 5th | Brazil men's team | Men's tournament in 2016 |
 Wheelchair rugby | 8th | Brazil mixed team | Mixed tournament in 2016 |
 Wheelchair tennis | 4th | Leandro Pena & Ymanitu Silva | Quad doubles in 2024 |
| Winter | |||
| Sport | Rank | Athlete | Event & Year |
 Alpine skiing | 28th | André Pereira | Men's snowboard cross in 2014 |
 Biathlon | 7th | Aline Rocha | Women's sprint, sitting in 2026 |
 Para ice hockey | Did not participate | ||
 Snowboarding | 10th | André Cintra | Men's banked slalom SB-LL1 in 2018 |
| Men's snowboard cross SB-LL1 in 2018 | |||
 Wheelchair curling | Did not participate | ||
Flagbearers
Multi-medalists
Brazilian athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five or more medals of any colour.[10][11]
| No. | Athlete | Sport | Years | Games | Gender | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Dias |  Swimming | 2008-2020 | 4 | M | 14 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| 2 | André Brasil | Swimming | 2008-2016 | 3 | M | 7 | 5 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 | Clodoaldo Silva | Swimming | 2000-2016 | 5 | M | 6 | 5 | 2 | 13 |
| 4 | Carol Santiago | Swimming | 2020-2024 | 2 | F | 6 | 3 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | Luiz Cláudio Pereira |  Athletics | 1984-1992 | 3 | M | 6 | 3 | 0 | 9 |
| 6 | Gabriel Araújo | Swimming | 2020-2024 | 2 | M | 5 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | Ádria Santos | Athletics | 1988-2008 | 6 | F | 4 | 7 | 1 | 12 |
| 8 | Antônio Tenório Silva |  Judo | 1996-2016 | 6 | M | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 9 | Dirceu Pinto |  Boccia | 2008-2016 | 3 | M | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 10 | Jefinho |  Football | 2008-2024 | 5 | M | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| Ricardinho | Football | 2008-2024 | 5 | M | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 | |
| 12 | Damião Robson | Football | 2004-2020 | 4 | M | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Marcos Felipe | Football | 2004-2016 | 4 | M | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 14 | Terezinha Guilhermina | Athletics | 2004-2016 | 4 | F | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 15 | Petrúcio Ferreira | Athletics | 2016-2024 | 3 | M | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 |
| Lucas Prado | Athletics | 2008-2016 | 3 | M | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
| 17 | Claudiney Batista | Athletics | 2012-2024 | 4 | M | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 18 | Cássio Reis | Football | 2012-2024 | 4 | M | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Raimundo Nonato | Football | 2012-2024 | 4 | M | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| Yeltsin Jacques | Athletics | 2016-2024 | 3 | M | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | |
| 21 | Fábio Vasconcelos | Football | 2004-2012 | 3 | M | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Gledson Barros | Football | 2012-2020 | 3 | M | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Severino da Silva | Football | 2004-2012 | 3 | M | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| 24 | Felipe Gomes | Athletics | 2008-2024 | 5 | M | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 |
| 25 | Talisson Glock | Swimming | 2016-2024 | 3 | M | 2 | 2 | 5 | 9 |
| 26 | Jerusa Geber dos Santos | Athletics | 2008-2024 | 5 | F | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 27 | Luis Silva | Swimming | 2000-2008 | 3 | M | 1 | 5 | 1 | 7 |
| 28 | Miracema Ferraz | Athletics | 1984 | 1 | F | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 |
| 29 | Adriano Lima | Swimming | 1996-2012 | 5 | M | 1 | 4 | 3 | 8 |
| 30 | Gabriel Bandeira | Swimming | 2020-2024 | 2 | M | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 |
| 31 | Yohansson Nascimento | Athletics | 2008-2016 | 3 | M | 1 | 3 | 1 | 5 |
| 32 | Phelipe Rodrigues | Swimming | 2008-2024 | 5 | M | 0 | 6 | 3 | 9 |
| 33 | Odair Santos | Athletics | 2004-2016 | 4 | M | 0 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
See also
References
- ↑ Brazil at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
- ↑ Brazil at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
- ↑ "Cristian Ribera wins Brazil's first ever Winter Paralympic medal". Paralympics. 10 March 2026. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ "'Always my dream': Ribera wins Brazil's first Winter Paralympics medal". BBC (sports). 10 March 2026. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ "Cristian Ribera conquista prata histórica para o Brasil nas Paralimpíadas de Inverno". Globo Esporte (in Brazilian Portuguese). 10 March 2026. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ↑ "Brazil Summer Paralympics". Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ↑ "Resultados do Brasil nos Jogos Paralímpicos". cpb.org.br. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- ↑ "Madrid 1992 – the Paralympic Games that time forgot!". Paralympic Anorak. 25 June 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
- 1 2 Committee, Alexander Picolin, International Paralympic. "IPC Historical Results Archive - Brazil at the Paralympic Games". db.ipc-services.org. Archived from the original on September 1, 2021. Retrieved 2016-10-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Brasil ganha 100º ouro em Paralimpíadas: conheça os maiores campeões do país nos Jogos". BBC Brasil (in Portuguese). 30 August 2021. Archived from the original on 6 September 2024.
- ↑ "Jogos Paralímpicos: quem são os maiores medalhistas do Brasil". Olympics (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 June 2025.
 Nations that have competed at the Paralympic Games | |
|---|---|
| Africa |
|
| Americas |
|
| Asia |
|
| Europe |
|
| Oceania | |
| Other | |
| Historical | |
1 Israel has been a member of the European Paralympic Committee (EOC) since 1994. | |