Vinicius Rodrigues
Vinicius had a motorcycle accident when he was 19 years old. He knew right away that he wanted to get back to sports.
Vinicius had a motorcycle accident when he was 19 years old. He knew right away that he wanted to get back to sports.
Obsessed with athletics
After his accident and the amputation of his left leg, he heard about Heinrich Popow. His positive attitude concerning sports with a leg amputation, his success at the Paralympic Games in London 2012 and his passion to inspire people brought Vinicius to the decision: "I want to be like him!"
At the Running Clinic in Brazil 2013, he met Heinrich and ran on a sports prosthesis for the first time. Since then he has been obsessed with para athletics and sprinting, and trains hard to improve as an athlete.
Vinicius Rodrigues, Para-Leichtathlet und Ottobock Botschafter”As an Ottobock Ambassador, it's very important to me to motivate and inspire people with a disability to do sports.”
Training for a new personal best time
In April 2019 during the Sao Paulo World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Brazil, Vinicius impressed everybody in the men’s T63 class 100 metre race. The clock stopped at 11.95 seconds – the first and until now only person in his classification breaking the 12-second mark.
In November of the same year, at the World Para Championship in Dubai, he won the bronze medal in the 100 metres with a time of 12.38 seconds.
He qualified for his first Paralympic Games in Tokyo and won silver in the 100 metre sprint.
Key facts
Nation: Brazil
Year of birth: 1994
Sport: Para athletics – 100 m
Classification: T63
Coaches: Amaury Vagner Veríssimo, Fabio Dias
Club: CPB – Brazilian Paralympic Center
Victories and achievements
Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games:
Silver medal in the 100 metres
World Para Athletics Championships Dubai 2019:
Bronze medal in the 100 metres
Para Athletics Grand Prix Sao Paulo 2019:
Gold medal in the 100 metres (11.95 sec – world record)