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 List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

, he won the gold medal by defeating Yan Zhiqiang in the Individual BC2 event. At the 2020 Summer Paralympics in

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

, 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