Bruna Alexandre: the player who competed at both Olympics and Paralympics

Bruna Alexandre is one of Brazil's most successful para table tennis players, and she holds a unique record: at Paris 2024 she became the first Brazilian to compete at both the Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games of the same edition. She played the Olympic team event and, weeks later, went home with two Paralympic bronze medals.

On this page you will find Bruna Alexandre's story, the medals she has won and how her classification works.

Who is Bruna Alexandre

Bruna Costa Alexandre was born on March 29, 1995, in Criciúma, in the southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. When she was six months old, her right arm was amputated because of a thrombosis. She grew up playing sports and found in table tennis her path to elite competition.

She plays with her left arm and has her own way of serving: she holds the paddle and tosses the ball up with the same hand. ITTF rules let the umpire relax the serve requirements when a physical disability prevents a player from meeting them. The standard requirements are in table tennis serve rules.

What class 10 means

In para table tennis, athletes are grouped into classes. Classes 1 to 5 are for wheelchair players, classes 6 to 10 for standing players and class 11 for athletes with an intellectual impairment. The higher the number, the smaller the impact of the impairment on play. Bruna competes in class 10, the standing class with the least impairment. It is all explained in para table tennis.

Paralympic medals

Bruna has won medals at three Paralympics in a row:

That makes six Paralympic medals. Para table tennis has no third-place match: both semifinal losers get bronze.

Outside the Paralympics, she has also won world para titles, such as team gold in 2017 and mixed doubles gold in 2022 with Paulo Salmin.

The Paris 2024 Olympics

What makes Bruna's career unique is that she also competes in Olympic table tennis, against players without an impairment. She was part of the Brazilian squad that took team silver at the 2023 Pan American Championships, a result that helped Brazil qualify a women's team for Paris. The same year she played the Pan American Games in Santiago and won team bronze.

At Paris 2024 she played the women's team event with sisters Bruna Takahashi and Giulia Takahashi. Brazil lost to South Korea, but history was made: the first Brazilian athlete to compete at the Olympics and the Paralympics. Soon after, she returned to Paris for the Paralympic Games and won her two bronze medals. The Olympic tournament is covered in table tennis at Paris 2024.

Playing style

Her serve is often described as her biggest weapon, precisely because it looks so different from what opponents are used to returning. Playing with one arm also means balance and footwork matter even more for her than for most players.

Why she matters

Bruna Alexandre's career shows that the line between Olympic and Paralympic sport is thinner than it looks. She trains and competes with able-bodied players, and that has made her stronger in both worlds. For many kids with a disability, she is proof that ping pong can be a sport for life. More Brazilian names are in Brazilian table tennis players to know.

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