Valledupar, October 18, 2025. At the Valledupar 2026 Parasuramerican Games, goalball will once again stage the invisible force of sound. At the Óscar Muñoz Oviedo Combat Coliseum, the men’s and women’s teams of the continent will compete from July 4 to 8 to reach the top of a sport created for visually impaired people, where hearing is the guide, intuition is defense and each goal is celebrated with the soul.
In this second edition of the Parasuramerican Games, goalball ratifies its place as one of the most symbolic disciplines of the Paralympic movement. With six countries competing and two gold medals in dispute, Valledupar will be the stage where silence becomes strategy and the balls with bells become the echo of effort and inclusion.
Sport created for people with visual impairment
.The goalball was born after World War II as a form of rehabilitation for veterans with visual loss. Its first international tournament was held in 1972, and since the Toronto 1976 Paralympic Games it has been part of the official program. Unlike other adapted sports, goalball does not derive from a conventional discipline: it was designed exclusively for athletes with visual impairment.
What to expect in Valledupar 2026
After the successes of the Parapan American Games of Santiago 2023, where Brazil was crowned champion in both branches, followed by the United States and Argentina, goalball arrives in Valledupar with the highest technical level of the continent. In that event, the Brazilian men’s team defeated the United States 8-3 in the final, while the Brazilian women won the gold medal by beating Canada. At the Lima 2019 Parapan American Games, the story was similar: Brazil dominated both tournaments, consolidating its position as the great continental power, with Leomon Moreno as the outstanding figure for his precision and leadership.
In the First Parasuramerican Games Santiago 2014, goalball was not yet part of the sports program, so its presence in Valledupar 2026 will mark its official debut in the hemispheric fairs. This premiere not only expands the sporting offerings of the event, but also reinforces the Games’ commitment to inclusion and representation of different disabilities. In the Colombian Caribbean, silence will once again be synonymous with emotion: when the ball is kicked, the battle to hear the echo of victory will begin.
