Paralympian loses medals and equipment in Brazilian floods but is improvising to qualify for Paris

By Mauricio Savarese | The Associated Press Paralympian fencer Vanderson Chaves poses for a photo in the gym where he trains, in Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Just days before he started decisive competitions to secure his spot at the Paris Paralympics, his apartment was inundated, losing all his gear, medals, trophies and his passport. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (AP) — Vanderson Chaves has faced many challenges in more than a decade as a Paralympic fencer, but none as fearsome as the massive floods in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state. The waters washed away his equipment, dozens of medals, his passport — and might have even thwarted his chances of reaching the Paris Games in September. Chaves’ ground-floor apartment, ideal for his wheelchair, lies in an elevated area of state capital Porto Alegre. Still, that didn’t spare him from becoming one of the 230,000 people displaced by the floodwaters. Volunteers gather in order to help residents evacuate from an area flooded by heavy rains, in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner) Days later, his home remains submerged, his few remaining belongings fit in a car, and...