Star of the Paris Paralympic Games where he won three gold medals, Gabriel dos Santos Araujo told the newspaper L’Equipe about his difficult beginnings in the water due to his disability. The Brazilian also expressed the wish to meet Léon Marchand.
Triple Paralympic champion in Paris, Gabriel dos Santos Araujo has become a star thanks to his performances in the pools. It must be said that “Gabrielzinho”, born without arms and with atrophied legs, made an impression thanks in particular to his undulation in the water.
In an interview with the newspaper L’Equipe, which awarded him the title of “World Champion of Champions in para-sport”, the 22-year-old swimmer returned to his discovery of his sport: “In Corinto, it is very hot . We were looking to cool off and the swimming pools were a good place for that. I often drowned, but these are obstacles that you have to overcome to move forward, right?
“I would like to meet Léon Marchand”
“It’s strange, but the more I drowned, the more I wanted to control my fear and my difficulties,” explained Gabriel dos Santos Araujo. “I had to survive. Like everything else, I learned on my own. When I was 13, my sports teacher at school signed me up for a competition. He knew I swam but never told me seen in a swimming pool (laughs) He challenged me and revealed my talent that I didn’t know existed.”
Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, who swims between 2.5 and 3 kilometers per day, “loves” his new celebrity. He also extends an invitation to Léon Marchand, four-time Olympic champion in Paris. “I would like to meet him and talk with him,” said the man who had already won two titles at the Tokyo Games.
“We look a bit similar, I think,” continued Gabriel dos Santos Araujo, asked about Léon Marchand’s undulation, which is also his strength. “The execution of the movement is different, but we both have talent for undulating and swimming underwater.” As for the future, the Brazilian would like to participate three more times in the Paralympic Games, enough to continue to impress the crowds.
