Parathlete looking for support to fight for national title

Handbike paracycling athlete since 2015, Garcia has since been cycling for his dream, when he got to know the sport in a lecture. “I started training and taking a liking to the sport and competition. I worked and continue to work hard to be able to evolve at the highest level”, he explains.With extensive experience in national competitions - 6 times runner-up in the Portuguese Cup - and internationally - he ran the Spanish Paracycling Cup and participated in the World Championship, in Cascais - Ruben Garcia has been paying for his own participation.Therefore, he needs support for coaching expenses, materials for handbikes, supplements and travel (travel, accommodation and car), in order to complete his 13 race-calendar for 2022. With most competitions taking place in the mainland, the need for support is great. “My biggest goal is to be a national champion and, who knows, to reach the Paralympic Games, the biggest dream of any athlete. To do so, I must participate in international competitions, to be able to score points for the individual world ranking, because the points of the national competitions only count for the national competitions themselves”, he says.These dreams are to come true always with the Azorean flag on his chest. “I want to continue adding on victories, making our Region and Country proud, showing that Portugal is not only made of soccer”.In addition to sporting ambitions, the parathlete has another target for 2022: to change categories. Ruben Garcia started paracycling in the H4 category, but in 2021 he moved to H3. As he explains, “the main difference at the moment is that H3 is a much more competitive category at all levels, not to mention that it has twice as many athletes as H4”. Due to the worsening of his illness (see box), having more difficulty in moving his hands, he should undergo a new reassessment. Then he should be able to move to H2, an evaluation that must be done at a World Cup. “I have always been a fighter and today I fight daily for a normal life”Diagnosed at age 5 with Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia, a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of neurodegenerative diseases characterized by progressive hyperreflexia and spasticity of the lower limbs, Ruben Garcia has been a fighter all his life. “I go through several health difficulties, such as: difficulty in walking, sometimes dragging my feet slightly, lack of balance or momentary loss of strength in the lower limbs, leading to falls. I have always been a fighter and, contrary to all warnings, today I fight daily for a normal life, even with my limitations. I took swimming at school, as well as other sports.  I have always lived an active life."