Name: Giovanna Boscolo Castilho Gonçalves
Age: 23 years old
Where do you live? São Paulo, Brazil
What is your education [degree(s)]? What is a current goal you have with your education/career? I have a degree in Biomedicine and I am currently a professional athlete, a Paralympic athlete.
What is your relationship status? I’ve been dating for 7 years.
Who do you live with? My parents.
What is a typical day like for you? I train, do neurological physiotherapy, and study.
How long have you known you have FA? For 7 years. I’ve been involved in sports since I was a child. At age 11, I started competing in Aerobic Gymnastics for Palmeiras, and I was a Brazilian champion in 2014. In 2015, I started experiencing injuries that weren’t compatible with the sport, and because of that, I underwent investigative tests that indicated I had Friedreich’s ataxia.
Is there anyone with FA in your family? No
Describe your transition from walking alone to using a walker/wheelchair? At the beginning of the year, I was walking alone without support, but I ended up falling and breaking my foot. Then I realized the need to use a walker. I thought it would be more difficult to accept, but I feel freer, more independent, and safer to carry out my activities.
What do you like to do to stay active, and what kind of exercises work for you to stay strong? I love physical activity; I’ve been involved in sports since I was little, and my parents are physical education teachers too, so everything contributed. I do a lot of weight training to gain strength and neurological physiotherapy to learn and relearn how to use the strength I have.
Do you have any hobbies or special interests? I really enjoy training, being with my training friends who are also disabled. I train at the Brazilian Paralympic Training Center and getting to know it was essential for me. Seeing people with much greater physical difficulties than me (some without all their limbs, training there!!) doing so much more than I do makes me realize that yes, it is possible! I also really enjoy watching series and listening to music!
What’s a good trick to make daily life easier? Trying to look at life in a lighter way and understanding that everything is where it needs to be, even if we don’t understand it now. Everything has a reason, so let’s do our best every day.
When FA knocks you down, what do you think/do to feel better? I try to think about how much FA has made me grow, that despite the daily difficulties I wouldn’t be half the person I am today if it weren’t for the lessons the disease provides me.
How has FA positively affected your life? In many ways, it has made me grow and mature; it doesn’t let me get into my comfort zone; it’s a constant learning process. It’s not easy, “Great battles are only given to great warriors” Mahatma Gandhi
What is your favorite motivational quote? “Great battles are only given to great warriors.” Mahatma Gandhi or “Just keep swimming” from Dory, Finding Nemo, and having the opportunity to see firsthand her joy of living amidst so many difficulties.
What is the best advice you could give to someone who has recently been diagnosed with FA? Live in the present, don’t project into the future because nobody knows what will happen. It is through the present that we change our future. When I was diagnosed in 2018, the doctor told me that I could no longer be an athlete; if I had listened to him, I wouldn’t have been a Paralympic bronze medalist in the F32 Club Throw – Athletics in Paris 2024. And in no projection of the future did I imagine that; we tend to think of the worst, so don’t think about it, think about today, because through it, EVERYTHING is possible.
What is the first thing you want to do when a cure/treatment for FA is found? Run barefoot on the beach with my friends who have FA.
“I have FA, but FA doesn’t have me.” What does this statement mean to you? How do you live your life in the face of adversity? It means a lot; we are much more than FA, may we transform difficulties into impulses to continue stronger.
Tell us a little more about yourself… Since childhood I had been involved in sports, at age 11 I began competing in Aerobic Gymnastics for Palmeiras, and was a Brazilian champion in 2014. In 2015, I began to present injuries that were not compatible with the sport and, because of this, I underwent investigative tests that indicated that I had Friedreich’s ataxia. Friedreich’s ataxia is a rare neurodegenerative disease that mainly affects balance and coordination, due to the involvement of peripheral neurons and the spinal cord. Before the discovery of the disease, I worked in advertising, creating catalogs and advertisements that later led to the portrayal of the character Michelle in Chiquititas (soap opera). Due to ataxia, I became interested in the field of genetics, choosing to study biomedicine in 2020. In 2021, I discovered the Paralympic Training Center and began training in swimming, but with my morning classes at university, the training became too demanding, and I decided to stop to focus on my studies. In my final year of university, I returned to the CPB (Brazilian Paralympic Committee) to intern in the area of sports science, where many encouraged me to return to sports and try out for the club in athletics. I began training in the sport in October 2023, took the club and weight tests, and really suited myself to the field events.
Main achievements in sports: First place and Americas record in the Club Throw at the Dubai Grand Prix 2024. Bronze medalist at the Kobe 2024 World Athletics Championships. Bronze medalist at the Paris 2024 Paralympics. Bronze medalist at the New Delhi 2025 World Athletics Championships.
Interview by:
Natache Iamaya Gomes