A wheelchair player from Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island that has never participated in the Winter Paralympics, made his first appearance in the men's giant slalom on the 10th in alpine skiing. It ’s the best. ”

First representative of the Winter Paralympics

Puerto Rico, an autonomous territory of the United States in the Caribbean Sea, has about 3 million people living on an island as large as Kagoshima prefecture, and baseball is popular, but the climate is warm all year round and I have never participated in the winter Paralympics. ..

Orlando Perez (46), who participated in Alpine Skiing's sitting and skiing class at this Beijing tournament, is Puerto Rico's first winter Paralympic representative.

Mahi on both legs after surgery "I thought I couldn't do much in my life ..."

When Perez was 19 years old in the US military, a tumor was found in the spinal cord and he underwent surgery and had paralysis on both legs.

Perez recalls, "I was very depressed and anxious about his feelings at this time. He felt that he was useless and couldn't do much in his future life."

Parasports make you feel positive

It was Parasports that saved Perez.

When I skied at a gathering of veterans, I began to feel free, saying, "I feel free. I can go where I want to go and I think I can do the same as everyone else."

In wheelchair basketball, which started three years after the disability, he went up to Puerto Rico.



In 2017, he learned that the Paralympic Committee of Puerto Rico was looking for a player who wanted to participate in the winter tournament, so he devoted himself to para alpine skiing in earnest.

Perez, who lives in Utah, USA, was coached at a national sports facility for the disabled and practiced with American and Canadian athletes to improve his skills and became Puerto Rico's first winter Paralympic representative.

"I want to say thank you to everyone who is proud of me."

Perez said, "The people around me cooperated with me, including my daily life, and I was able to achieve each goal one by one and become a representative by accumulating them. I want you to see that if you have a goal, you can achieve it." On the 10th, we faced the men's giant slalom, which will be our first appearance at the Beijing Paralympics.



Giant Slalom slipped twice and competed for the total time, and Perez started the first time at the end of the 40 people who participated in the sitting and slipping class and passed through the gate with a hard slip.

However, when I entered the last steep slope, I fell and abstained on the way, so I could not proceed to the second time.



After the race, Perez said, "It was a little more. It was really difficult to turn on a steep slope."

"I'm proud of myself and I want to say thank you to everyone for coming this far. It's great to be a Paralympian as a representative of Puerto Rico. I'm excited to be able to participate from a snow-free area," he said once every four years. I was impressed when I stood on the stage of the winter festival in Puerto Rico.



Perez will also participate in the men's slalom on the final day of the tournament on the 13th, "I just want to score a goal, and I want to continue participating in the Paralympics. I will participate in more teams and bring more medals to Puerto Rico. It would be great if I could do it. "