My aim is to become the first female Paralympic athlete to run the 100 metres under 12 seconds.

It has been a good year for me because at the 2011 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Athletics Championships in New Zealand in January, I won three gold medals in the T11 100m, 200m and 400m, breaking world records in the 100m and 200m.

In June, at a meet in Germany, I then lowered my own 100m world record of 12.13sec to 12.04.

But my ultimate goal is to make history by running the 100m in under 12 seconds and I am very close now.

That what I've been preparing myself to run in training and hopefully I can achieve this goal in Mexico at the 2011 Parapan American Games.

My other big goal is London 2012 and winning three gold medals there because at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, I only won one gold medal in the 200m.

I won a silver medal in the 100m and bronze medal in the in Beijing but I think if I am at my best, I get all three golds in the events at the Paralympics next year.

What makes me strong is that I meet up with my main rival every day for training.

I class myself as my biggest rival.

I don't want to lose to Terezinha and I don't want Terezinha to lose to me.

I also hope I can inspire people because all Paralympians with great achievements inspire me and I try to learn things from each of them.


I particularly want to inspire people from my own country Brazil.

Paralympic sport in Brazil is getting bigger every day because the country is hosting the Rio Paralympic Games in 2016.

I think Rio 2016 is a chance of showing the world that Brazil is not just the land of football.

Brazil has athletes and winners in many sports and we hope the Brazilians will get to know their real heroes.

It's expected that by 2016, Paralympic Sports in Brazil will be at a level whereby athletes, investors and the audience feel there is professionalism and that, independent of our disabilities, we master our sports and we are as capable of great achievements as other athletes.

Terezinha Guilhermina is a visually impaired sprinter from Brazil and is the fastest female Paralympian on the planet with world records in the T11 100 and 200 metres. She won three Paralympic medals at Beijing 2008, including gold in the 200m, and three gold medals at the IPC World Athletics Championships at Christchurch