Around a hundred people attended the live talk, where the speakers shared personal examples to discuss the difficulties and challenges faced by people with disabilities.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Bellavista Auditorium hosted the “Inclusive Sports” talk, part of the events for Les Franqueses, European Sports Town 2024. The round table featured athletes Àlex Roca Campillo and Jordi Madera Jiménez, along with Jana Arimany Cañas, the founder of the Capaç i Vàlida Association. Through their personal experiences and involvement in sports and social inclusion, they reflected on the current challenges faced by people with disabilities, both in daily life and in the sports world, where there is still much work to be done to achieve a fairer society and an inclusive, not exclusive, sports environment.
Jordi Madera Jiménez, ambassador of Les Franqueses del Vallès, European Sports Town 2024, is a Paralympic athlete who suffered a traffic accident at the age of twenty that resulted in paraplegia. A sportsman before and after the accident, Madera dedicated himself fully to athletics and began training at the High Performance Sports Center in Sant Cugat del Vallès. Since then, he has continued to compete in marathons and half-marathons, reaching the Top 10 internationally in this sport and competing in the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Madera discussed the current state of Paralympic athletics and highlighted the challenges that disabled athletes face in reaching the highest levels of competition. He lamented that the treatment of the Paralympic Games, which take place a month after the Olympics, is a clear disadvantage for Paralympic athletes and that the event’s organization and publicity are distinctly different and not inclusive.
In 2017, at just twenty years old, Jana Arimany Cañas suffered an accident while traveling in Bali that resulted in a spinal cord injury. From that moment, she had to adapt to a completely different reality that showed her that society was neither aware of nor prepared to understand her situation. In 2019, she co-founded the Capaç i Vàlida Association with her partner Gerard Soler, aiming to help people understand the reality of disability, break stereotypes, and get closer to that experience. Her work with the association has led her to initiate projects both locally and internationally, including inclusive and unique events in various Catalan schools, workshops, and children’s races. This work has also enabled them to undertake international cooperation projects in Kenya and Peru. Arimany explained that these projects, both local and international, aim to transform society’s view of people with disabilities and agreed with her fellow speakers that much work remains to achieve full inclusion in both sports and life.
Àlex Roca Campillo is an athlete who suffered viral herpes encephalitis when he was six months old, resulting in cerebral palsy with 76% physical disability affecting the left side of his body, causing reduced mobility and speech difficulties. His story of overcoming challenges, both in sports and personal life, has marked his trajectory and made him a role model for many. He has participated in extreme races such as the Titan Desert and the Pilgrim Race. Notably, in 2019, he achieved one of his most significant milestones by finishing the Titan Desert, becoming the first person with cerebral palsy to complete it. He has also participated in five triathlons, one aquathlon, and eleven half-marathons. Additionally, he is the first person with 76% physical disability to finish a marathon, specifically the 2023 Barcelona Marathon, and an Olympic route marathon, the Paris 2024 Marathon pour tous. As an ambassador for the FC Barcelona Foundation, Àlex Roca Campillo also engages in informative talks aimed at raising awareness in society. Accompanied by his partner, Mari Carmen Maza, who assists him with sign language translation, he shared his personal story, detailing how, as a child, he struggled to relate to others and accept his disability. Roca described how he was treated differently and often faced bullying from other children. These tough experiences were met with humor and courage, leading him to learn self-love and live without fear or shame. This individual acceptance has propelled him to achieve milestones he once thought impossible, using his experiences to educate and help those in need. Through sports, Àlex Roca Campillo has found a way to work towards a more just and equal society and a more inclusive sports environment.
These powerful examples captivated the audience, who took the opportunity to ask questions and later took photos with the three speakers.
