Gerard Descarrega Puigdevall

Extreme sports, cooking. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

Winning gold in the T11 400m at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

His family. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

In September 2019 he underwent surgery to remove a fibroma [benign tumour] in his right foot. He returned to training in November 2019. (dxtadaptado.com, 27 Feb 2021)

He sprained a muscle in his left foot in 2018. (marca.com, 19 Aug 2018)

He broke his right arm in 2008 and again in 2009. It took three months for him to recover each time. In 2010 he sustained a stress fracture to his right foot, and it again took him three months to recover. (Athlete, 06 Nov 2019, 15 Nov 2010)

"I always say that I prefer to be fourth and improve my personal best by a second, than finish first with a time that is worse than what I have done." (avancedeportivo.es, 18 Mar 2015)

He was named Best Para Athlete of 2017 by the Madrid Athletics Federation in Spain. (marca.com, 01 Mar 2018)

In 2017 and 2018 he was named Best Athlete in Reus, Spain. (reus.cat, 07 Sep 2018, 08 Sep 2017)

In 2016 he was presented with the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit of Spain. (csd.gob.es, 18 Oct 2016)

His wife Marta Maria Gomez represented Spain in Para swimming at the Paralympic Games in 2012 and 2016. (SportsDeskOnline, 19 Mar 2021; Instagram profile, 29 Aug 2020)

To win a medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (lavanguardia.com, 08 Jun 2019)

He has a genetic eye condition called retinitis pigmentosa. (as.com, 02 Dec 2019; Athlete, 06 Nov 2019)

GUIDE
He has formed a close bond with his guide Guillermo Rojo Gil. "There are a lot of hours a day together. If we didn't get along, it would be impossible. In sport there are good days and bad days, in which you have to work hard in the shadows and when you don't even want to be with yourself, let alone put up with someone next to you. But I don't have that option. Unfortunately it's a necessity and it's better if it's with some you get along with." (marca.com, 06 Nov 2019)

PSYCHOLOGY
He studied psychology at the Catholic University of Murcia [UCAM] in Spain. His father is a psychologist and his mother is a psychiatrist. "The mind plays a large part in what someone can achieve, whether it is in sports or any other job. It is very important in sports to have a clear mind and clear objectives. I calculate [success] is 50% psychological and 50% physical. Studying psychology is going to help me as an athlete and will allow me to help others in the future." (ucam.edu, 28 Jun 2019; Paralimpicos TV YouTube channel, 19 Dec 2018)

MOUNTAINEER
He has climbed Pico Aneto, the highest point in the Pyrenees, as well as the Allalinhorn in the Swiss Alps that stands at 4027 metres. One of his ambitions is to summit a mountain above 8000 metres. "I'd say no blind person has accomplished that. I'd like to be the first one to do it." (gerarddescarrega.com, 25 Oct 2018; diaridetarragona.com, 20 Sep 2017)