Three Paris 2024 champions will headline Para powerlifting at the Para South American Games in Valledupar, Colombia. Brazil’s Mariana D’Andrea and Tayana Medeiros, alongside Venezuela’s Clara Fuentes, are among the 75 athletes from eight nations competing for 21 medal events from 4 to 6 July.
This is the second edition of the Para South American Games, returning after a 12-year hiatus since the inaugural event in Santiago, Chile.
Four additional Paris 2024 medallists will also be in action – and here is everything you need to know.
Where is it happening?
Valledupar, capital of the department of Cesar, sits in northern Colombia in the Caribbean region, on the banks of the Guatapuri River and at the foot of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta mountain range. The city blends tradition, history and nature, and has become a cultural and sporting reference point in the country.
Para powerlifting competitions will take place at the Gymnastics Coliseum of the Popular University of Cesar (UPC), a venue built in 2022 for the Bolivarian Games.
How to follow it
The Para South American Games will be streamed live on Inravision, Colombia’s National Public Service broadcaster, via YouTube.
Updates and information will also be available on the Valledupar 2026 and Americas Paralympic Committee channels.
The event programme
Valledupar 2026 features 18 individual events (11 male and nine female) and three team events (male, female and mixed).
Male
Up to 49kg
Up to 54kg
Up to 59kg
Up to 65kg
Up to 72kg
Up to 80kg
Up to 88kg
Up to 97kg
Up to 107kg
Over 107kg
Team event
Female
Up to 41kg
Up to 45kg
Up to 50kg
Up to 55kg
Up to 61kg
Up to 67kg
Combined Up to 73kg & Up to 79kg
Combined Up to 86kg & Over 86kg
Team event
Mixed
Team event
Historic summer for Brazil! 🇧🇷
Here’s a stat for you: Brazil had won just two Paralympic medals in Para Powerlifting before Paris 2024. A year ago, they claimed four medals in just five days! 📊🔥#Paris2024 #ParaPowerlifting @Paralympics pic.twitter.com/Kuf2T0BVGd
— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) September 8, 2025
Stars to watch
Clara Fuentes (Venezuela)
The dominant force in the women’s up to 50kg. Fuentes is the reigning Paralympic and world champion, with additional Paralympic bronze (Tokyo 2020), two World Championships podiums (silver at Dubai 2023 and Tbilisi 2021) and Parapan American Games gold (Santiago 2023).
Brazil’s Paris 2024 medallists
Brazil arrives with all four of its Paris 2024 podium finishers.
Mariana D’Andrea, double Paralympic champion in the women’s up to 73kg, remains the athlete to beat. Tayana Medeiros is the Paralympic champion in the women’s up to 86kg. They both claimed silver medals at the Cairo 2025 World Championships.
Lara Lima (women’s up to 41kg) and Maria de Fatima Castro (women’s up to 67kg) return to the categories where they won Paralympic bronze. Lima added another bronze at Cairo 2025.
D’Andrea, Medeiros and Lima are the current world champions in the women’s team event and will defend Brazil in the same competition in Valledupar.
In the men’s field, Brazil’s strongest contenders are Cairo 2025 medallists Gustavo Amaral de Souza (silver in the over 107kg) and Marco Tulio Cruz (bronze in the up to 49kg).
Colombia
The hosts will field nine athletes led by Fabio Torres, a two-time Paralympic medallist, two-time Worlds medallist and reigning Parapan American Games champion. He will compete in the men’s up to 97kg and both team events.
Ana Cristina Poblador, fourth at Paris 2024 and at the last two World Championships, will challenge Brazil’s Lara Lima in the women’s up to 41kg.
Francisco Palomeque aims for a second Para South American Games medal in the men’s up to 80kg after taking silver 12 years ago in Santiago.
Chile
A traditional Para powerlifting nation, Chile sends a strong delegation.
Marion Serrano, Paris 2024 bronze medallist, will make the women’s up to 86kg one of the standout events as she faces Paralympic champion Medeiros. She will also contend for team gold.
Juan Carlos Garrido, gold medallist in the men’s up to 59kg at Santiago 2014, returns to the same category and will also compete in both team events. Garrido is a two‑time Worlds medallist and three‑time Parapan Am Games champion.
Other nations
Argentina (six athletes), Panama (four) and Peru (three) complete the field. Panama’s Rey Melchior Dimas Vasquez, a Parapan Am Games silver medallist in the men’s up to 72kg, is among the notable medal contenders in Valledupar.
