Chronicle Editor
Brazil’s Bruna Alexandre is set to become the second table tennis player, and the first from her country, to compete at the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in the same year.
The 28-year-old lost her right arm shortly after birth due to a blood clot, but she hasn’t let her disability define her table tennis career.
Alexandre has won medals at para table tennis competitions and able-bodied championships. She is a four-time Paralympic medallist, including a silver medal in the women’s C10 individual event at Tokyo 2020. She was also part of the Brazilian team that won a bronze medal at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games.
Her participation at the Olympic Games will be a historic first for a country with a strong tradition in para-sport. The gravity of the moment is not lost on her.
In an interview with Olympics.com earlier this month, she said, “I’m very happy to represent all people with disabilities and to show that everything is possible.
“I think this (. . .) makes me more willing to want to continue and pursue my dreams, thinking not only of myself but of all people with disabilities.”
She will play against players without disabilities at Paris 2024, an occurrence she hopes will be more common in the future.
“I hope that someday this will be something normal in the world: a disabled person playing against someone who has both arms, regardless of disability,” said Alexandre.
She has been selected to fill a quota place in the women’s team event, which begins on August 5 at the South Paris Arena. – Online.
Online Reporter