Josiane Lima

Josiane Dias de Lima (born 25 February 1975) is a Brazilian para-rower in sculling events. She has won various accolades in her main event, the PR2 (formerly TA) mixed double sculls, including a bronze medal with Elton Santana at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, and a gold medal with Lucas Pagani at the 2007 World Rowing Championships. Lima has competed at every Paralympic Games that has featured rowing, and won Brazil's first Olympic rowing medal with Santana (thus also the first woman to win a rowing medal for Brazil). She has also competed in the women's single sculls and indoor rowing. Her father was a fisherman; she credits this and growing up knowing the sea with making her a good athlete in the water. After playing volleyball and practicing judo, she became a PE teacher, She was left with paralysis in her left leg. The then paired Lima with Elton Santana, from Bahia in the north of Brazil, ahead of the Beijing 2008 Summer Paralympics. Lima and Santana had focused pairs training for about eight months, despite living in different parts of the country; they trained in their own cities, sharing training online with the confederation, and met up at the University of São Paulo for two weeks training together at the Olympic lane every 40 days. The pair won their heat in Beijing, with the overall second-fastest time; in the final, they won the bronze medal. Sticking together for the 2009 World Rowing Championships, they won the silver medal. They were finalists for the World Rowing 2009 Adaptive Crew of the Year award, and Lima was named World Rowing Athlete of the Month in February 2011. she missed out on a medal at the London 2012 Summer Paralympics. This medal led to them being described by World Rowing as ones to watch ahead of the Rio 2016 Summer Paralympics, held in Brazil. When the 2020 Summer Paralympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Lima's home state of Santa Catarina supported her to continue training. Brazil's Paralympic rowers then relocated to the Paralympic Training Centre facility in 2021.

Having competed at all Paralympic Games to feature rowing, and has said she is proud to represent female, queer and indigenous people in sport.