Saturday, November 25th, 2023.- Osiris Machado is currently Mexico's top Para-athlete. At 19 years old, she is one of the Paralympic Committee's key prospects for initiating the generational shift in adaptive sports. Today, at the Centro Atlético Mario Rocordón of the Estadio Nacional, she took a significant step in her consolidation as a professional athlete by winning the gold medal in the F64 discus throw (lower limb physical disability competing with prosthetics), with a mark of 41.16 meters, breaking the world record previously held by the Polish athlete Faustyna Kotlowska. 

Machado's short career has been on an upward trajectory. She won gold and silver at the Youth Parapan American Games in Bogotá 2023 and is a champion in discus throw at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix in Veracruz and Italy, both held earlier this year. She ranks among the top five in her discipline, thanks to her outstanding performance at the World Para Athletics Championships held in July in Paris. 

The F64 discus throw event also awarded the silver medal to Jessica Heims from the United States, with a record of 35.37, and the bronze to her compatriot Alicia Guerrero, who achieved a throw of 29.01. 

Machado's world record is the fifth in Para-athletics at Santiago 2023, following the records set by Colombian José Gregorio Lemos in the F37-38 javelin, Samuel Oliveira from Brazil with a time of 46.48 in the men's T20 100 meters, Elizabeth Rodrigues from Brazil breaking the world record in the F51 discus throw with 17.80 meters, and Cuban Robiel Yankel Sol setting a new record in the T47 long jump (physical disability in upper limbs) with a jump of 7.74 meters on Thursday. 

Written by Ernesto Bustos B.–María Fernanda Pavez; translated by Paulette Bertín / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo by Jonnahtan Oyarzún / Santiago 2023 vía Photosport