TESERO, Italy (AP) — Less than a month after Brazil won its first medal at the Winter Olympics, the tropical nation claimed its first piece of hardware at the Winter Paralympics.
Cristian Westemaier Ribera finished second in the men’s sprint sitting discipline in Para cross-country skiing on Tuesday to become Brazil’s first-ever Winter Paralympic medalist.
That came hot on the heels of Brazilian ski racer Lucas Pinheiro Braathen’s gold medal in the men’s giant slalom at the recently concluded Olympics.
Both were also South America’s first medals at the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
“It was always my dream,” the 23-year-old Ribera said. “When I started to compete in this sport, I thought I would be a Paralympian. After I did that, my goal was to win a medal. And now it’s happened, so I’m very, very proud.
“We always train so hard in Brazil. We don’t have snow so we have to train on roller skis. It’s very different, it’s very difficult, but I’m here, representing Brazil and I’m very happy.”
Ribera was introduced to Para cross-country skiing in 2015 as part of a project put together by the Brazilian Snow Sports Federation with the support of the International Paralympic Committee’s development arm.
The project’s aim was to have a Brazilian athlete contending for a medal at the 2030 Paralympic Winter Games.
But Ribera is ahead of schedule, although he wasn’t completely satisfied with silver.
“It is so emotional. It was very good. I would’ve wanted to come away with a gold medal but the Chinese (gold medallist Liu Zixu) was very strong,” Ribera said.
Ribera, who was born with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, is competing at his third Winter Paralympics after making his debut as a teenager at Pyeongchang in 2018.
AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games
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