REN’s sponsored athlete at the Tokyo Paralympics

João Correia, a wheelchair athletics athlete, who has been supported by REN for several years, will represent Portugal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, from 24 August to 5 September.

The current national 100m champion (T51 class) and the first Portuguese athlete to win an international medal in wheelchair athletics will make his debut at the Paralympic Games. 'I finally have the opportunity to fulfil the dream of a lifetime and wear the Portuguese jersey at a Paralympic Games', said the athlete who has suffered several serious injuries that prevented him from going to the last two Games. Without ever giving up doing what he loves most, João Correia reveals his 'ambition of reaching the final and bringing the best possible classification to Portugal'.

With a career spanning 20 years, João Correia, who this year became the Portuguese 100m champion for the eighth time, has already participated in more than 68 national and international competitions and is currently 3rd in the 100m World Ranking.

João Correia was born in 1983 and at the age of two had an accident that left him in a wheelchair. In 1991, he started practicing sports and became the first Portuguese athlete to win an international medal in wheelchair athletics.  After a delicate cervical surgery in August 2018, the athlete returned to competition in January 2019.