Brazilians Igor Tofalini and Fernando Rufino respectively won gold and silver in the VL2 200m event this Saturday morning, 6th, at the Canoe-Kayak World Championships. On this last day of disputes in Halifax, Canada, Adriana Azevedo, Giovane Vieira de Paula and Mari Santilli also entered the water for the final disputes.

Brazil ends its participation in the competition in third place in the overall medal standings with one gold, two silver and one bronze, behind England and Ukraine.

The Brazilian double in the 200 meters VL2 was formed by Fernando Rufino and Igor Tofalini who were side by side in the lane. In the end, Tofalini exceeded the current Paralympic champion with a time of 51s67, only 33 hundredths ahead of the Steel Cowboy who took silver.

“I want to thank our whole team, our coach Thiago Puppo, Felipe, the people of Ilha Comprida, the people of Londrina in Paraná, my wife, my son who is about to be born, this victory is for all of you”, Tofalini dedicated.

“We have been fighting since training, our preparation has been a bit short, but next year we will be much better, a real athlete is what wears the shirt and makes things happen. The “veiarada” of the rodeo is stable while paddling,” Rufino said.

Brazil was also present in other finals this Saturday morning with Adriana Azevedo in the KL1 200m, who was in seventh place with a time of 57s96 Giovane Vieira de Paula was also in seventh position after finishing the test in 49s77 of the VL3 200m. Mari Santilli finished eighth in the KL3 200m (50s41).

In all, Brazil have won four World Cup medals: a gold with Tofalini; two silver medals with Fernando Rufino and Luis Carlos Cardoso (KL1 200m); bronze with Mari Santilli in the VL3 200m.

“A very strong teamwork and with a lot of learning with the results we have obtained. With or without a medal, our goal is to learn from the results to seek more medals at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games,” comments Fátima Fernandes, Paralympic Canoe Supervisor at the Brazilian Canoe Kayak Confederation (CBCa).

*With information from the Brazilian Canoeing Confederation (CBCa).

Caixa Lotteries High Level Athletes Program
Athletes Fernando Rufino, Giovane Vieira de Paula, Igor Tofalini, Luis Carlos Cardoso and Mari Santilli are members of the Loterias Caixa High Performance Athletes Program, the Loterias Caixa individual sponsorship program that benefits 91 athletes.

Communications Office of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (imp@cpb.org.br)