Luciana Carla Guedes, an athlete and user of the Santos Dumont Institute (ISD), won second place in the 2026 Pan-American Paracycling Championship. She competed in the time trial and endurance event (Class H2), performed with hand-propelled bicycles.
The athlete from Rio Grande do Norte finished the race with a time of 1h35min00s85. The gold medal was won by Gilmara do Rosário from São Paulo, who clocked 1h25min52s79. The Pan-American Paracycling Championship brought together more than 200 athletes from 14 countries across the Americas. The competition took place in the city of Indaiatuba, São Paulo.
Trajectory in Paralympic sport
Luciana was one of the first users to join the ISD's Paralympic care program. She suffered a car accident in 1994, which caused a permanent spinal cord injury. When she sought help from the Institute, she was going through a challenging time, unable to work and unmotivated to perform her routine activities.
After a comprehensive assessment, Luciana joined the Paralympic athletics program. One of the first activities she participated in was road racing with a handbike, which became her main sport.
“I was going through one of the most difficult phases of my life when I started doing para-athletics. Today, I find myself in this practice. The impact has been incredible: when I'm on the handbike, it's like I have wings. That's where I feel at home,” says the athlete.
With less than a year of handbike practice, Luciana participated in her first Pan-American Championship. The result, a silver medal, symbolizes second place and the overcoming of several challenges encountered during the continental competition, mainly due to travel and distance from family, friends, and fellow athletes.
Despite the challenges, the athlete is optimistic about her results at the Pan-American Games, attributing her success on the track to intensive work with the multidisciplinary team that supports her and the assistance provided by the ISD's Paralympic care program.
“I still haven’t been able to fully grasp the impact this has on my life, and I want to show this medal to everyone. It was incredible, and it’s incredible to receive this recognition. I’m 51 years old, and I never imagined in my life that I would get this far,” says the athlete.
Parasport at ISD
Paralympic sports activities at ISD are concentrated at the ISD/Macaíba Paralympic Reference Center, located at the Anita Garibaldi Health Education and Research Center (Anita), an ISD unit in Macaíba. Currently, boccia and para-athletics are offered free of charge to adults and children from 7 years old. Training ranges from sports initiation to high performance.
After scheduling an appointment, interested individuals undergo a remote screening followed by a comprehensive assessment to verify eligibility criteria for the programs offered at the Institute. Appointments can be made by phone at (84) 4042-0033; (84) 4042-0044, or via WhatsApp at (84) 4042-0044, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
About ISD
The Santos Dumont Institute (ISD) is a Social Organization of the Federal Executive Branch, supervised by the Ministry of Education, with the intervention of the Ministry of Sport. It encompasses the Edmond and Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience and the Anita Garibaldi Center for Education and Research in Health, both located in Macaíba. The ISD's mission is to promote education for life, forming citizens through integrated teaching, research, and outreach activities, as well as contributing to a more just and humane transformation of Brazilian social reality.
