Jardênia Félix Barbosa da Silva (born 9 September 2003), commonly known as Jardênia Félix, is a Brazilian para-athlete who competes in T20 events. She has represented Brazil in several national and international events, such as the Summer Paralympics, the World Para Athletics Championships, and the World Para Athletics Grand Prix, among others. Félix is part of the LGBTQ+ community.[1]
Early life
Jardênia Félix Barbosa da Silva was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte on 9 September 2003. In 2016, she began competing in able-bodied athletics and the following year, she switched to para-athletics after her coach identified some signs of intellectual disability.[2]
Career
At the 2019 World Para Athletics Junior Championships, Félix won the silver medal at the 400m event. Two months later, at the 2019 INAS Global Games, she won a bronze medal in the 100m and 200m events.[3][2] After these achievements, she rose to 3rd place in the world rankings in her category.[4]
At the age of 17, Félix won a bronze medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in the 400 metres event, recording her best time of 57:43.[5][6] She also competed in the long jump, finishing in fifth place with a then career-best time of 5.29 metres, breaking the Americas record in the process.[7][8]
In June 2022, during the 2nd Phase of the National Athletics Circuit, at the Paralympic Training Centre, in São Paulo, Félix jumped 5.71 metres and set the best mark in the Americas in the long jump of the T20 class, surpassing her own record of 5.69 metres.[9] In September of the same year, at the World Para Athletics Grand Prix, in Marrakesh, Morocco, she won the gold medal in the long jump.[10] In the 400 metres, she took silver in a group event of the T13/20/37 classes.[11]
^"T20 results"(PDF). Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original(PDF) on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
