Impairment Information |
Type of Impairment |
Cerebral Palsy |
Classification |
BC2 |
Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Granada, ESP |
Languages |
Spanish |
Sport Specific Information |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
In 1996 he began trying a number of sports, including football and athletics. He later realised he could be most competitive in boccia, a sport that he first tried in 2000 in Granada, Spain. |
Why this sport? |
He liked the philosophy and strategy of the game. |
Senior International Debut |
Year |
2007 |
Competing for |
Spain |
Tournament |
World Cup |
Location |
Vancouver, BC, CAN |
General Interest |
Nicknames |
Manolo, El Jamonero ['The Ham Maker' - a nickname given to him by his national teammates]. (Facebook profile, 09 Nov 2015; avancedeportivo.es, 18 Jun 2015; Athlete, 21 Aug 2012) |
Hobbies |
Supporting Spanish football team Granada. (Facebook profile, 25 Apr 2017) |
Most influential person in career |
Coach Francisco Cobo. (Athlete, 21 Aug 2012) |
Hero / Idol |
British boccia player Nigel Murray, Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal. (Athlete, 21 Aug 2012) |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"I'll never stop fighting." (Twitter profile, 01 Oct 2015) |
Impairment |
He has cerebral palsy. (fundacionandaluciaolimpica.org, Sep 2012) |
Other information |
RETIREMENT
He announced his retirement from competitive boccia in November 2016. "It may seem that there are more reasons to go on, but I can not compete to compete. I have to change many things, I could write, detail the thousands of reasons why I decided to quit, but it would not be fair. I just want to thank this blessed sport for giving me the best opportunity of my life, to continue living, to continue breathing." (bocherogranaino.blogspot.co.uk, 07 Nov 2016) |
