Álvaro Borges Neto (nickname "Alvinho") is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner based in Salvador, Bahia. According to BJJ World and Brazilian-Portuguese press, he is documented as the first male athlete with Down syndrome to earn a BJJ black belt, following Rachel Burns of Spokane, Washington, who in October 2024 became the first person overall to reach the rank. Local coverage frames Álvaro more narrowly as the first athlete from Bahia state with Down syndrome to reach black belt.
He trained for close to a decade under coach Pablo Passos, who has worked with him since 2016. His affiliation is with the Federação de Jiu-Jitsu da Bahia; no specific gym or team name is identified in the available sources. His black belt was awarded on September 13, 2025, at a public ceremony held on the São Braz field in the Federação neighborhood of Salvador, during the Setembro Verde disability-awareness month, with Passos officiating.
In competition, Álvaro was documented as a Bahian state champion in Para Jiu-Jitsu and a South American vice-champion in Salvador in 2024. He also competed in Brazil's inaugural national Para Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2023 and the first Pan-American Para Jiu-Jitsu Championship in 2024. Beyond sport jiu-jitsu, he took part in a charity MMA exhibition bout against UFC heavyweight Jailton Almeida in Salvador in January 2024 — an exhibition event separate from his BJJ competition record.
Álvaro's Down syndrome is the explicit, publicly stated basis of his notability; he holds a public-relations role with the Associação Baiana de Síndrome de Down and is a self-advocate. Reported to be 28 years old at the time of the September 2025 ceremony, his exact birth year is not confirmed in the available sources.