GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING OF BRAZILIAN PARALYMPIC ATHLETES

Abstract

The study conducted a geographic mapping of Brazilian Paralympic athletes practicing swimming and athletics and identified their disabilities. Data about the athletes were provided by the Brazilian Paralympic Committee (CPB), where we sought information about those who participated in the 2015 competition Circuito Loterias Caixa. The sample consisted of 1,708 paralympic swimming and athletics athletes - 913 and 795 respectively. The study found that most athletes came from Brazil’s Southeast region (66%), followed by the South (11%), Northeast (11%), Center-West (9%) and North (3%). Athletes with physical-motor disabilities (65.5%) were the majority, followed by the visually (25.1%) and intellectually (9.4%) impaired. We concluded that the Brazilian region with the most athletics and swimming athletes is the Southeast while the North region had lowest number. In addition, we found predominance of physical-motor disabilities in both sports.

Keywords:
Geographic Mapping; Sports for Persons with Disabilities; Swimming; Athletics