Maciel Sousa Santos (born 5 September 1985) is a Brazilian

boccia Boccia ( ) is a precision ball sport, similar to bocce, and related to bowls and pétanque. The name "boccia" is derived from the Latin word for "boss" – '. The sport is contested at local, national and international levels, by athletes ...

player. Santos started playing boccia at the age of eleven and was already competing internationally at fourteen. He trains daily for six to eight hours. At the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, he won the gold medal by defeating

Yan Zhiqiang Yan Zhiqiang is a Chinese Paralympic Games, paralympic Boccia, boccia player. He participated at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the Boccia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, boccia competition, being awarded the silver medal in the Boccia at the 20 ...

in the Individual BC2 event. At the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, he won the bronze medal in the same event.

References

1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Ceará Paralympic medalists in boccia Boccia players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Boccia players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic boccia players for Brazil Paralympic gold medalists for Brazil Paralympic bronze medalists for Brazil 21st-century Brazilian people {{Paralympic-medalist-stub