Two hundred days before the Paralympic Games kick off, construction of the training centre has been finished

The structure is practically ready and the sporting equipment is being procured. Two hundred days before the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB) is planning to use the new Brazilian Paralympic Centre in São Paulo for the final training stage and acclimatisation.

"The centre is of an extremely high standard and will provide better training conditions than any other facilities in Brazil. As soon as it is operational, it will be put at the service of the confederations and sports, so it may be used by the whole delegation in their final training stage and acclimatisation, around two weeks before they move into the Vila", explains CPB president Andrew Parsons.

The venue has lodgings for almost 300 people and training structure for 15 sports in the Paralympic programme: athletics, wheelchair basketball, boccia, swimming, wheelchair fencing, 5-a-side football, 7-a-side football, goalball, weight lifting, judo, wheelchair rugby, table tennis, wheelchair tennis, triathlon and sitting volleyball.

Located at the Fontes do Ipiranga State Park, in a 100 thousand m² area (around 65 thousand m² of built up structure), construction work for the centre started in December 2013 and is undergoing its final adjustments.
"The construction works are finished. We're working with the pool operation, which starts this month. We have done leakage tests and we're now going to turn the equipment on, like the heating, filter and water treatment components", explains the site's coordinator, architect Mei Ling. "All of the fittings will be ready by the end of February. Courts with wooden floorboards have been finished, as well as the pool, athletics track, the electrical and hydraulic fittings, PA and access control system, in addition to logic network and WI-FI", she says.

Currently, equipment is being procured, under the charge of CPB and through partnership agreements with the Ministry of Sport and São Paulo State Secretariats. "In around 90 days most of the equipment will have been procured", states Parsons. The management model, also under the charge of the Committee is having its final details ironed out.

"It's the fulfilment of a dream having a high standard, multi-sport training centre specific for Paralympic sports. It is a legacy of the Games that we're offering the athletes. When we do this, it'll feel as if we've done our duty", says the president.

Federal investments

In addition to the Paralympic Training Centre, which is the result of R$ 167 million in investment by the Ministry of Sport and R$ 115 million from the São Paulo State Government, the federal government has allocated other funds to Paralympic sport. Since 2010, 17 partnership agreements have been signed with the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), which add to R$ 67.3 million and are aimed at the preparation of the permanent national squads in 16 sports for the 2016 cycle. This includes things like enabling athletes to take part in training and competitions in Brazil and abroad.

The last agreement signed with the Committee was in 2015 and published in the Federal Official Gazette at the beginning of this month. The agreement is allocating R$ 4.4 million for action aimed to support athletes, beneficiaries of the Brazil Medals Plan and the Podium Grant, by hiring multidisciplinary professionals for 12 sports.

Today, there are 94 Paralympians in individual sports that benefit from the Podium Grant, which means an investment of R$ 14.9 million. Through the Brazil Medals Plan, 60 athletes from collective sports (sitting volleyball, 5-a-side football, 7-a-side football and goaball) are also being supported.

In addition, the Agnelo/Piva Law transferred R$ 209.8 million to CPB between 2007 and 2014. The next few years this figure shall increase, as in July 2015, the Brazilian Inclusion Bill was passed, increasing the percentage allocated to the Paralympic Committee from federal lottery resources from 15% to 37.04%. Based on 2014 amounts, funds transferred to CPB annually will increase from R$ 39 million to approximately R$ 130 million.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Sport signed partnership agreements with the Brazilian Table Tennis Confederation (CBTM). One of the agreements reached R$ 2.3 million, allowing for two Paralympic training centres to be structured (one in Brasilia, for athletes who can walk and one in Piracicaba for wheelchair users), as well as enabling the procurement of equipment, setting up of multidisciplinary team, covering technical staff expenses and supporting the preparation of the national squad, currently with 15 athletes. Another agreement signed with CBTM in 2013, allocated R$ 1.1 million so that athletes could take part in the world's major competitions, focusing on the qualifiers for the China World Championship in 2014.

Since the Athlete Grant Programme was implemented, 8,991 grants have been awarded to Paralympians, as well as others that are not part of the Games' programme, reaching R$ 12.6 million in investment. In 2015, from 6,131 beneficiaries, 1,298 were Paralympians (R$ 18.7 million). In order to provide incentives to junior levels and find new talent, 254 Sport Initiation Centres (CIEs) were set up in 240 towns throughout the country, which was the result of R$ 910.5 million in investment. Each centre caters for 13 Olympic and 6 Paralympic sports (wheelchair fencing, judo, power lifting, table tennis, sitting volleyball and goalball), as well as a non-Olympic sport (futsal).

Investments in Paralympic sport have been bringing Brazil several results. At the Toronto Parapan American Games last year for instance, the country finished the competition top of the table for the third time running. In all, 257 medals were won, 254 (98.8%) of them scooped up by beneficiaries of the federal government programmes. From the 215 athletes who managed a podium finish in Canada, 199 (92.5%) are grant holders. The goal for the Paralympic Games in Rio is to finish the competition in the top 5 positions.

Ana Cláudia Felizola - brasil2016.gov.br