María Vanesa Ortega Godoy facts for kids
María Vanesa Ortega Godoy is a former Paralympic athlete from Spain. She competed in track and field events, mostly in the T11 sprint category. Vanesa won a silver medal at the Paralympic Games.
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| Born | 24 March 1981 Malaga, Spain |
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| Country |  Spain |
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| Sport | Paralympic athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Congenital cataracts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Contents
Vanesa Ortega's Early Life and Career
How Her Journey Began
María Vanesa Ortega Godoy was born on March 24, 1981, in Malaga, Spain. She was born with a condition called congenital cataracts. This affected her eyesight from birth.
Her amazing sports journey started in January 1994. Her parents took her to the Louis Braille Education Resource Centre in Seville. There, she met her first coach, Florencio Morcillo.
First Competitions and Big Wins
Florencio Morcillo trained Vanesa for less than a month. Soon after, she competed in her first track and field event. This competition was for blind and visually impaired athletes in Torremolinos.
Vanesa did so well that she qualified for the IBSA European Championships in London. IBSA stands for the International Blind Sports Federation. At these championships, she was incredible! She won four gold medals in sprinting events and the long jump.
A year later, Vanesa became a national champion. She won the 400m and 800m races in Spain. She was chosen to compete again at the IBSA European Championships in Valencia. However, she could not go because she needed eye surgery.
Competing at the Paralympics
Atlanta 1996: A Silver Medal
Vanesa joined the Spanish Paralympic athletics team for the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta. She had won two national championships in a row. At just fifteen years old, she was one of the youngest athletes from Spain.
In the 200m race, she finished second in her heat. She was right behind Claire Brunotte from Germany. Claire even set a new world record in that heat!
Vanesa then competed in the 400m final. She finished second, earning a silver medal for Spain. Russia's Rima Batalova won the gold in that race. This was a huge achievement for such a young athlete!
More Medals and Championships
After winning her Paralympic silver medal, Vanesa continued to compete. In 1998, she participated in the IBSA World Games in Madrid. She won two more medals there.
Later that same year, she won two gold medals. This was at the 1998 World Junior Championships in Prague. She won in the 400m race and the shot put event. Vanesa also took part in the 100m T12 demonstration event. This was at the 2001 IAAF World Championships.
External links
- Maria Ortega at the International Paralympic Committee
- Vanesa Ortega at the International Paralympic Committee
See also
In Spanish: María Vanesa Ortega para niños
