Imagen
Man without legs sitting poolside

Gustavo Sanchez Martinez

Swimming
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Seventies rock fan Gustavo Sanchez was the top performing Mexican male Para swimmer at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships, winning five out of the six medals his country’s men secured in Montreal, Canada.

With a raft of Americas records to his name, he is also one of the most prolific Para swimmers in the region.

Born with a congenital limb deficiency, Sanchez began Para swimming at the age of seven.

His first World Championships were in the same year as his international debut (2010) where he quickly made his mark with three bronze medals in freestyle S4 events.

From there Sanchez progressed, winning four medals – two gold – at his home 2011 Para Pan American Games in Guadalajara.

By the time London 2012 came around, the then 18-year-old was ready for the biggest competition of his life and delivered two golds, one silver and one bronze in front of thousands at the Aquatics Centre.

A 200m freestyle specialist, Sanchez was again the best performer in his team and as a result was awarded the 2012 National Sport Award in the Paralympic athlete category by the Mexican Olympic Committee.

He enjoys sushi, science fiction and video games and believes that “everything you want, you will get if you want it hard enough.”

In his classification he faces a tough challenge from Slovenia’s Darko Duric who, in Montreal, beat him to the 50m butterfly S4 and 100m freestyle S4 world titles.

In 2015, once again at the Worlds, the field had got even deeper. South Korea's Giseong Jo burst onto the scene to win two titles, including the 200m freestyle.

But Sanchez proved his podium potential once again, claiming bronze in his favourite 200m freestyle. In 2017, he will have the chance to go for medals in his home country when the World Para Swimming Championships roll into Mexico City from 30 September. Sanchez will be looking to give Mexico something to cheer about as one of his country's brightest hopes.

Results

Unit Date Rank
IPC Swimming World Championships Eindhoven 2010 (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 3
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2
Men's 50 m Butterfly S4 Final Round 4
Men's 50 m Butterfly S4 Heat 1 2
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Heat 1 5
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Final Round 5
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Heat 2 3
Men's 4x50 m Medley 20pts Final Round 7
Men's 4x50 m Medley 20pts Heat 2 4
Men's 4x50 m Freestyle 20pts Final Round 8
Men's 4x50 m Freestyle 20pts Heat 1 4
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 3
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Heat 1 4
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 3
London 2012 Paralympic Games (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2012-08-31 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 2012-08-31 5
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Heat 2 2012-09-02 2
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Final Round 2012-09-02 2
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Final Round 2012-09-03 5
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Heat 1 2012-09-03 4
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 2012-09-05 1
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2012-09-05 1
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Final Round 2012-09-06 3
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Heat 1 2012-09-06 2
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2012-09-08 1
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 2012-09-08 1
2013 IPC Swimming World Championships (Montreal, Canada)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2013-08-12 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2013-08-12 2
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Heat 2 2013-08-13 2
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Final 1 2013-08-13 3
Men's 50 m Butterfly S4 Final 1 2013-08-14 3
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2013-08-15 3
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2013-08-15 1
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2013-08-16 1
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Final 1 2013-08-17 4
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Final 1 2013-08-18 9999
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Heat 2 2013-08-18 8
2015 IPC Swimming World Championships (Glasgow, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2015-07-13 3
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2015-07-13 3
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2015-07-14 4
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2015-07-15 5
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Final 1 2015-07-15 8
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Heat 1 2015-07-15 7
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2015-07-16 3
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2015-07-16 6
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Heat 1 2015-07-17 9
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Final 1 2015-07-19 4
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Heat 1 2015-07-19 7
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2016-09-08 3
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 2016-09-08 6
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Final Round 2016-09-12 8
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Heat 1 2016-09-12 4
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2016-09-13 2
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 2016-09-13 6
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Heat 1 2016-09-14 9999
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Heat 2 2016-09-16 4
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Final Round 2016-09-16 6
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Final Round 2016-09-17 6
Mexico City 2017 World Para Swimming Championships (Mexico City, Mexico)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Final 1 2017-12-03 3
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2017-12-05 2
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2017-12-06 1
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Final 1 2017-12-07 2
London 2019 World Para Swimming Championships (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2019-09-10 6
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2019-09-10 5
Men's 50 m Butterfly S5 Heat 1 2019-09-12 9999
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Heat 2 2019-09-12 7
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Final 1 2019-09-12 6
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2019-09-13 6
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2019-09-13 7
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2019-09-14 6
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final 1 2019-09-14 6
Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games (Tokyo, Japan)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Breaststroke SB3 Heat 2 2021-08-25 5
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Heat 2 2021-08-26 3
Men's 100 m Freestyle S4 Final 2021-08-26 8
Men's 150 m Individual Medley SM4 Heat 1 2021-08-28 5
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Heat 1 2021-08-30 4
Men's 200 m Freestyle S4 Final 2021-08-30 6
Men's 50 m Freestyle S4 Heat 3 2021-09-02 5
Men's 50 m Backstroke S4 Heat 1 2021-09-03 7