Gabriel Araújo (swimmer)
Araújo in May 2025 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araújo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nickname | Gabrielzinho | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| National team | Brazil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 16 March 2002 (age 23) Santa Luzia, Brazil | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Disability class | S2 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araújo (born 16 March 2002), also known by his nickname Gabrielzinho, is a Brazilian Paralympic swimmer.[1]
Career
Araújo has phocomelia, which resulted in him having atrophied legs and no arms. He swims by undulating like a dolphin,[2] and has earned the nickname "rocketman" for his speed.[3] He began competing at 13 years old, and entered into the 2020 Summer Paralympics at 19,[2] where he won two gold medals and one silver medal.[3] In the 2024 Summer Paralympics he broke the world record for SM2 classification twice in one day[4] and went on to win three gold medals that year.[5][6]
At the 2024 Para Swimming World Series, Araújo earned 4,229 points, winning the overall men's title.[7] At the 2025 Para Swimming World Series, Araújo won gold in the men's 100m freestyle, the 150m individual medley, the 50m butterfly, and the 50m backstroke events. He also won silver in the men's 200m freestyle and the men's 50m freestyle events.[8]
At the 2025 World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore, Araújo won the gold medal in the men's 100 m backstroke S2 with a championship-record time of 1:54.58, marking his first world-title gold in that event. He also broke his own SM2 world record in the 150 m individual medley SM3 final earlier at the same championships.[9]
References
- ^ "Gabriel Geraldo dos Santos Araujo - Profile". paralympic.org. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Brazil's Gabrielzinho aims for Paralympic pool treble - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. 26 August 2024. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ a b "'Rocketman' Gabrielzinho wins third Paralympics swimming gold". France 24. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Sophie (1 September 2024). "2024 Paralympics: Gabriel dos Santos Araujo Breaks 150 IM SM2 World Record Twice In One Day". SwimSwam. Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
- ^ "Video: Brazil's Gabriel Araujo wins 3 gold medals at 2024 Paralympics". Deseret News. 5 September 2024. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ "Paralympic swimmer born with short legs and no arms obliterates the competition leaving people stunned". UNILAD. 6 September 2024. Archived from the original on 9 September 2024. Retrieved 9 September 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, Sophie (9 January 2025). "Gabriel Araujo and Alice Tai Win 2024 Para Swimming World Series Overall Titles". SwimSwam. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
- ^ Pereira, Victor (28 April 2025). "World Series 2025: Leanne Smith and Gabriel Araujo deliver strong performances in USA". paralympic.org.
- ^ "Singapore 2025: Gabrielzinho clinches his first gold with championship record". International Paralympic Committee. 23 September 2025. Retrieved 20 October 2025.