#malformations
Raissa Rocha Machado is an amazing, 25 year old track and field athlete from Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia.
Raissa has been a wheelchair user for all her life because of Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita(AMC). This is a congenital condition which causes joint contractures, stiffness and muscle weakness in some or all of one’s limbs. Fortunately, only Raissa’s lower limbs were affected, albeit in a pretty serious manner. She has never been able to use her legs in any way and also has some slight malformations in both her feet.
In her early childhood, Raissa didn’t accept herself because of her condition and felt excluded from her classmates.
When Raissa was 11 years old, her mother and her teacher encouraged her to try out gymnastics and wheelchair dancing. At first, this was quite a challenge for her, but as time grew on, she started to like it more and more.
At the age of 13, Raissa started to practice athletics. This proved to be exactly what she wanted with her life. She even turned out to have a huge talent, especially for the javelin throw. Furthermore, her parents, teachers and classmates did a tremendous job in supporting her! She started to compete more and more in some smaller regional tournaments and at age 15, she played her first major tournament; the Brazilian Championships in São Paulo.
Raissa has booked some major successes in the previous years. In 2015, she won a bronze medal in the Parapan-American Games in Toronto. In 2016, she competed in the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2019, she won the gold medal at the Parapan-American Games in Lima! She was also runner-up in the 2015 World Athletics Championship in Doha.
Now, Raissa has been selected to represent her country at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, which will start in just a few weeks. Good luck Raissa!
If you’d like, you can visit Raissa on Instagram or you can check out her Facebook page by clicking the link down below!
Junior França is an amazing 25 year old paralympic weightlifter from Brazil. Junior was born and raised in the city of Natal, in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte.
Junior has been a wheelchair user for all his life because of Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita(AMC). This is a congenital condition which causes joint contractures, stiffness and muscle weakness in some or all of one’s limbs. Fortunately, only Junior’s lower limbs were affected, albeit in a very serious way. Junior has never been able to use his legs in any way and because his knees and ankles have always stood in a completely fixed position, he has some slight deformations in both his legs. Moreover, his leg muscles eventually completely wasted away and the bones in his legs became severely weakened, a condition also known as muscular atrophy.
As Natal has always been poorly accessible, Junior’s youth often had its challenges. Public transportation wasn’t adjusted for wheelchair users, sidewalks were often tough to navigate and buildings only seldom were equipped with elevators. Frustrating as it sometimes was, the tough streets Junior conquered with his wheelchair and the stairs he regularly had to climb with only the use of his arms made his upper body unbelievably strong!
Junior started weightlifting at the age of 18 after being encouraged by a good friend and after only two years, he already represented Brazil in the Paralympic Games of 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. Now, his goal is set for getting some great results at the 2021 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, for which he has recently been selected!
Besides his athletic aspirations, Junior graduated from a degree in law school two years ago and last year, the love of his life and fellow paralympian Maria Clementino gave birth to a beautiful son!
If you’d like, you can follow Junior on Instagram or you can visit his official Facebook page by clicking the link down below!
