Instituto Victorem prepares high-performance PwD athletes in Rio de Janeiro

Mylena Lemos is 18 years old and was born with congenital defects. Rossana Rocha, 43, with cerebral palsy. Edmilson Conceição, 33, has muscular atrophy. Thiago Baptista, 34 years old, has his right leg and left foot amputated. What these people have in common goes far beyond their disabilities. They are all medalists in federated Paralympic weightlifting and adapted powerlifting championships. 

This is thanks to the Instituto Victorem, a non-profit organization that transforms people with disabilities into high-performance athletes. Founded in Rio de Janeiro in 2018 by business administrator Gustavo Brito and physical educator and world champion Cátia Portilho, Instituto Victorem bears in its name a noble mission: victory. 

In 2022, for example, Thiago was the Paralympic bench press champion at the powerlifting world championships held in Slovakia. Last year, Mylena was a gold medalist in the Parapan youth competition, in Bogotá. The team was also a medalist in the powerlifting world championship held in Brazil. Thiago, Mylena, Edmilson, and Rossana won gold and broke records in their categories. 

To transform these athletes into champions, Cátia Portilho, who also continues competing and holds 17 world titles, carries out all the training. In addition, the institute offers psychological care, a physiotherapist, a general practitioner, and a nutritionist. “And when athletes start participating in competitions, all the logistics are up to us. Once this athlete reaches the podium, in the following month he will start receiving a scholarship”, says the president of the institute Gustavo Brito.

High-performance PCD athletes 

In 2021, Gustavo Brito ended up closing the gyms because of the pandemic, however, he managed to form a partnership with the City of Rio de Janeiro to keep the social project active. Through a cooperation agreement, the Instituto Victorem was installed in the Parque Olímpico and, today, athletes train at Arena 2 Carioca, in Barra da Tijuca. 

Currently, four athletes participate in the project, dedicating themselves exclusively to sport thanks to the support of scholarships offered by the institute and the federal government. “All of our athletes receive a scholarship from the Institute, two of which are also granted a government scholarship, one of them at an international level”, says Gustavo. 

Training takes place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 1 pm to 5 pm. To participate, simply access the link Be an athlete, on the Instituto Victorem website, register and attach the disability report. Remember that, for Paralympic weightlifting, only lower limb deficiencies are classifiable, such as dwarfism, amputations, spinal cord injuries, sequelae of infantile paralysis and cerebral palsy. 

The link remains active throughout the year and is also published on the institute’s social networks. “If it is a classifiable disability for the sport, the registered person enters the screening process and, as we obtain resources, we call new people to assist. Cátia invites us to have a conversation with the psychologist and finally we do an aptitude test for the sport”, says Gustavo.

Transformation and social inclusion 

In addition to training and support for athletes, the institute also promotes the Victorem Games and the Campeonato Carioca de Powerlifting, where people with and without disabilities compete in their different categories. The championship is held in partnership with the Confederação Brasileira de Powerlifting and is already in its second edition. 

To strengthen its actions, the Instituto Victorem is in the process of being certified as a training club, through Law 9,615/98, better known as the Pelé Law, for the development and democratization of sport. This year, fundraising began through the sports incentive law, both federal and state, and the project was approved to participate in the ESG goals of the Priner group, an industrial engineering and maintenance company publicly traded on B3.

Is sport capable of making a social impact? 

“Mylena arrived at the institute when she was 15 years old. The selection process was not open, but we welcomed her at her mother’s request. Mylena was in severe depression, thinking about committing suicide. She had never played any sports and, today, she is one of the main references of the Comitê Paralímpico Brasileiro”, remembers Gustavo. 

There is no doubt, therefore, that sport transforms lives. “In the future, we want to expand training to judo, swimming and athletics,” he says enthusiastically. 

Want to support this cause?

The Instituto Victorem relies heavily on donations to guarantee its activities. To donate, visit this link. The institute also welcomes volunteers. More details can be found on the Instituto Victorem website or on social media on Instagram and Facebook.