A new video has been released to coincide with the latest Agitos Foundation Session ©Agitos Foundation

A video charting the rise of Colombian teenager Luis Herazo to becoming a Paralympic hopeful following his involvement in an Agitos Foundation project has been unveiled to coincide with a penultimate Road to Rio Foundation Session.

Javelin thrower Herazo took part in a workshop run by the Foundation, the IPC's Development Arm, in São Paulo in July after being identified in a project in Colombia in 2013.

The 19-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, was sent to São Paulo after winning F36 javelin bronze at an open competition in Medellin, Colombia.

He is now national record holder and a firm prospect for Rio 2016.

“Most of the people bullied me and they looked at me with pity but I have always thought of myself as a normal person, keeping a positive attitude,” Herazo said.

“People don’t see me as an unimportant boy anymore. 

"Now they see me as an example of success; a medallist.

"If I can be successful, why can’t they?"


The video launch is coinciding with the conclusion of the penultimate Foundation Session before the Games opens next year.

A total of 34 athletes and coaches gathered in Natal, the Brazilian city to the north-east of Rio de Janeiro, for training workshops.

Delivered in partnership with Rio organisers and the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, the sessions are designed to increase the standard of Para-sport in the Americas.

It focused specifically on coaching for goalball and sitting volleyball, with sessions facilitated by experts including Brazilian national goalball team coach, Alessandro Tosim, and Amauri Ribeiro, the former coach of the national sitting volleyball team.

A final workshop is scheduled for January.



Related stories
August 2015: 
Agitos Foundation announce Grant Support Programme funding for 31 projects
April 2015: 2015 Grant Support Programme launched by Agitos Foundation
July 2014: Agitos Foundation to dole out €650,000 to 28 projects through Grant Support Programme
April 2014: Agitos Foundation calls for grant applications to support Para-athletes
December 2013: Agitos Foundation Grant Support Programme hailed after worldwide progress in 2013