Lionel Morales from Lanzarote, among the five athletes from the Canary Islands preselected for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. The athlete, specialized in triathlon, will compete in the great event, which will take place in the French capital from August 28 to September 8.
The Spanish Paralympic Committee presented this Thursday the objectives of the national team for the upcoming Paralympic Games. The presentation event was attended by the Minister of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports, Poli Suárez, and the director of the Spanish Paralympic Committee, Alberto Jofre. In addition, representing the preselected athletes, Amadou Diallo (wheelchair basketball) and Lionel Morales (triathlon) participated, and Gara Fuentes (athletics) and Alejandro Rojas (swimming) were present. Furthermore, Raúl Vega (wheelchair basketball) completes the quintet of preselected Canarian athletes.
During his speech, Suárez thanked for the celebration of this meeting and recalled that "today is an important day for two reasons." Firstly, because the five athletes from the Canary Islands preselected to compete in the great event are presented, and secondly, because this collaboration agreement between the Government of the Canary Islands and the CPE for the development of the Canary Islands Paralympic Relay program is announced.
Alberto Jofre, after thanking for the welcome, explained how these athletes prepare and how they are financed. Jofre introduced the preselected Canarian athletes and expressed his hope that they can be part of the final list of the 240 who will form the Spanish Paralympic team in Paris.
Subsequently, Amadou Diallo took the floor, who recalled that these are his third Paralympic Games and acknowledged facing them with "pride in representing the Canarian people for the third time in the most important event for athletes." Diallo confessed that his goal is to win a medal. "We hope to give you a pleasant surprise," celebrated the athlete.
Likewise, Lionel Morales, after reviewing his most recent achievements, announced with joy that "mathematically I have a place for the Games and, on this occasion, I am going to have the pride of representing the Canary Islands in my second games." Morales's goal is to "go to the podium and be able to bring a medal for the Canary Islands."
Paralympic Relay Program
During the event, the collaboration agreement between the Government of the Canary Islands and the CPE for the development of the Canary Islands Paralympic Relay program was also signed, which aims to initiate children and young people with disabilities from the islands into sports practice with the aim of guaranteeing the generational renewal of the Spanish Paralympic Team. The director of Fundación DISA, Sara Mateos, was also present at the signing of the agreement, representing the entity that sponsors this project.
At this point, Mateos recalled that "the path must be made from the base." Therefore, DISA works so that "any child can choose the sport they want," and has advocated highlighting "the benefits of physical education." "Today is a happy day because the beginning of what is a change of century is signed" in which, according to Mateos, the desire is that "sport is a right for all."
To conclude, the Minister of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports, Poli Suárez, reiterated his initial message and added that "this agreement is a source of pride for me" because "it means helping those children and young people to get started in sports and sports practice." Finally, he wished the athletes "good luck" and exclaimed "we will celebrate your successes that will also be those of Canarian sport."
For the moment, Spain has secured 88 qualifying places for the Paris Games, distributed in 10 modalities: swimming (31), wheelchair basketball (24), athletics (10), table tennis (10), canoeing (6), boccia (2), taekwondo (2), cycling (1), shooting (1) and archery (1). The quota will be significantly expanded in the coming months in these and other modalities, such as triathlon, judo, wheelchair tennis, badminton, rowing, wheelchair fencing and weightlifting.
In this sense, the objective of the Spanish Paralympic Committee is to classify about 140 athletes, 125 of them with disabilities and 15 of support (guides or pilots), and to be able to match the medal count of the last Summer Paralympic Games, those of Tokyo 2020, in which the Spanish delegation won 36 medals and 102 diplomas.
The athletes of this preselection of the Spanish Paralympic Team do not yet have guaranteed their presence in the Games. The final list to go to Paris 2024 will come from among the more than 250 preselected and will be made public on July 15, following the classification criteria established by the International Paralympic Committee, the Spanish Paralympic Committee and the Spanish Sports Federations that include the 22 modalities of the Paris 2024 competition program.