Colombia is currently represented at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games with 31 female athletes. Throughout the history of Paralympic sport, women in various disciplines have raised the country to the top. Their resilience, empowerment and talent are admirable.
News Colombia
Female paraathletes who strive every day to improve their performance and achieve medals at the Paralympic Games every four years. Their representation puts Colombia on high.
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Paralympic sport goes beyond being a simple physical rehabilitation technique for people with disabilities. Paralympism is a high-performance sport that demands effort, dedication, passion and gives those who practice it the opportunity to excel in a sporting discipline.
In 1976, the country took its first steps as a participant in the most important sporting events, with Toronto being the bridge that allowed the tricolor flag to be seen internationally for people with disabilities.
After Holland, the country brought Para Athletes to New York 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992, Atalanta 96, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and now Paris 2024.
Below we highlight the talent of Paralympic athletes
Women medalists at the games
Erica Castaño: the first woman to win the world championship in para athletics
Érica Castaño, 37, has won a medal from the Parapan American Games in Toronto 2015 and Lima 2019; medals from the World Championships in London 2017 and Dubai 2019; and Olympic diplomas from the Paralympic Games in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. In addition to these successes, she stands out for being the first Colombian woman to win a gold medal at a world championship in para athletics.
Her career in Paralympic sport began after she was confined to a wheelchair at the age of 23 due to a gun accident.
Yesenia Restrepo
In 2005, at the age of 23, para-athlete Yesenia Restrepo experienced a severe headache. In the emergency room, she was diagnosed with optic nerve death, which means that when these nerves are damaged, the brain stops receiving information due to the lack of visual stimuli. Since the nervous tissue does not regenerate, this leads to irreversible vision loss.
However, she was suggested to take up sport. Although she was reluctant at first, Joe, her husband, convinced her. She started swimming, but it did not appeal to her.
She then moved on to track and field, where she found an immediate connection. She devoted herself to running constantly, but a mistake in registering for a tournament in 2010 led her to try the shot put. She won the competition and decided to stay in that discipline. Now, with an assistant acting as her eyes, she is competing in the Paralympics.
Sara Vargas, the youngest woman to compete in the Paralympic Games
At the age of 14, Sara Vargas travelled to Tokyo to compete in her first Paralympic Games, becoming the youngest woman to reach this stage. “It was an incredible dream. I had the opportunity to meet women I admire and learn numerous techniques from them,” she says. She finished fourth in para swimming. She inherited her passion for this sport from her sister Ana Gabriela, a high-performance swimmer.
Karen Palomeque
Her triumphs began to arrive: In 2018, at the age of 11, she won three gold medals in the United States. In Lima, a year later, at the Parapan American Games, she won four gold medals and one silver, becoming the best female athlete of the games.
Karen Palomeque is a para-athlete and social worker who represents struggle, perseverance and hope. Born in Medellín in 1994, she grew up in the La Iguaná neighborhood, where she met coach Raúl Díaz, who played a crucial role in her sporting development.
She found love on the track; her partner, Yilmar Herrera, is her greatest support. Although motherhood is in her future plans, for now they are both focused on sport.
Daniela Carolina Munévar
What Daniela Carolina Munévar does in cycling is truly inspiring. Although she lost a leg in 2014, she never stopped aspiring to excel in high-performance sport.
Daniela was hit by a tractor-trailer while riding her bike after leaving the studio and had to undergo eight surgeries. Today, she is a prominent medalist.
Maria Angelica Bernal
María Angélica Bernal suffered from phocomelia, a congenital condition that causes malformations in the limbs, and was born without her right leg.
She has used prosthetics since she was a child, which she used throughout her school and university education while studying business administration. She only gets rid of this device when competing in tennis, where her wheelchair becomes her best ally. Since 2007, she has participated in this sport, constantly standing out.
