Two years after receiving the Canary Islands Sports Award following his brilliant performance at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Lionel Morales González is once again among the main protagonists of sports in the islands. At 53 years old, the paratriathlete from Lanzarote continues to compete at the highest international level and has had another extraordinary season, with two victories in the World Cup, two Spanish championship titles, and a fifth position in the World Championship. These merits have earned him the Canary Islands Sports Award 2026 again in the adapted sports category.
The recognition, awarded by the Ministry of Education, Vocational Training, Physical Activity and Sports of the Government of the Canary Islands, led by Poli Suárez, distinguishes the career and results of an athlete who continues to expand his record and has established himself as one of the great benchmarks of Spanish paratriathlon.
Morales thus succeeds Carmelo Pérez in the record books, winner of the distinction in the adapted sports category in 2025, and becomes, along with Pedri González, one of the first athletes to repeat an award in the history of the Canary Islands Sports Awards, after being recognized in the inaugural edition of 2024. Two years later, his results once again justify his presence among the awardees of an initiative that recognizes the most outstanding careers and merits in the archipelago's sports.
The 2026 season has once again confirmed the extraordinary competitiveness of the athlete from Lanzarote, who has managed to remain among the best specialists in the world in the PTS2 category, intended for paratriathletes with certain physical disabilities.
One of his first major successes of the year came in March, when he was proclaimed Spanish Paralympic Duathlon Champion in Cáceres, representing the Club Deportivo Natación Nadamás Las Marinas. There he once again demonstrated his dominance of the specialty to add a new title to his extensive national record.
In July, Lionel Morales transferred that good form to the international circuit. First, he won the bronze medal in the Hamburg World Series in Germany, and just six days later, he won the Tata World Cup in Hungary, adding another victory to his international record.
His next major goal was the Spanish Paratriathlon Championship, held in Mérida. Morales once again reached the top of the podium in the PTS2 category, with a wide margin over his pursuers.
The streak of success continued in September, when he achieved another international victory in the Alhandra World Cup, in Portugal. The Lanzaroteño dominated the competition and crossed the finish line with more than a seven-minute lead over the second-placed competitor.
With two World Cup wins and the national triathlon and duathlon championships under his belt, Morales approached the Pontevedra World Championship, held at the end of September, as one of the main Spanish references in his category.
In the Galician event, he finished in a meritorious fifth position, confirming his presence among the best paratriathletes on the international scene and closing a season of enormous consistency.
An extraordinary track record
The results of 2026 extend a career that places Lionel Morales among the most decorated athletes in Spanish paratriathlon. His record already includes twenty-one Spanish championship titles in triathlon and duathlon, to which are added ten medals in World Cup events, fourteen in World Series, four in world championships, and another four in European championships.
A history built over more than a decade at the elite level, which gains even greater significance due to the Lanzaroteño's ability to remain competitive against rivals of different generations.
His name is also closely linked to the Paralympic history of Canarian sport. In Rio de Janeiro 2016, he participated for the first time in the Paralympic Games, where he achieved a diploma thanks to his seventh-place finish. Eight years later, in Paris 2024, he once again represented Spain at the highest adapted sports event and improved on that result with a sixth place.
Between these two participations, Morales accumulated numerous national and international victories and finished the 2023 season in third position in the world rankings, a result that confirmed his consolidation among the great specialists in the PTS2 category.
A life of overcoming
Born in Caracas in 1973 and closely linked to Lanzarote, Lionel Morales found in sport a new way to face life after suffering a motorcycle accident in 1997 that caused him to lose part of his left leg.
Years later he began to practice athletics and, subsequently, incorporated swimming into his training until making the leap to paratriathlon. What started as a way to stay active ended up becoming a top-level sports career, marked by consistency and an extraordinary capacity for overcoming challenges.
From his first national titles to his Paralympic participations, the Lanzarote native has shown that age has not been an impediment to continuing to compete at the highest level. His career also represents an example of the potential of adapted sports and the importance of creating opportunities for people with disabilities to develop their sporting talent.
His contribution to Spanish paratriathlon received another important recognition this year, when the Spanish Triathlon Federation awarded him its Gold Badge for his career, dedication, and commitment to the discipline.
Heading to Los Angeles
Far from considering his career concluded, Lionel Morales already has a new challenge marked on the horizon: the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games. The Lanzarote athlete aims to qualify for his third Paralympic event, a goal for which he will have to remain among the best international specialists during the next cycle.
His fifth position in the Pontevedra World Championships and the results obtained throughout 2026 constitute important support for facing this path, in which he will continue to work to improve his performance and continue representing the Canary Islands in major international competitions.
The new distinction from the Canary Islands Sports Awards recognizes precisely that ability to prolong an extraordinary career and continue adding successes when he has already been competing among the world's best for over a decade.
Lionel Morales will receive the award on November 13 at the Pérez Galdós Theater in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, during the third edition of the Canary Islands Sports Awards gala, which will be held coinciding with ExpoDeca 2026, the Canary Islands Physical Activity and Sports Fair.
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