Aline dos Santos Rocha

Started: She took up Para athletics in 2010 in Joacaba, Brazil. Having competed in athletics at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, she had her first skiing training session in December 2016 in Sweden. She took part in her first Para cross-country skiing competition in January 2017 in Ukraine. (Athlete, 09 Feb 2018, 04 Mar 2022; givemesport.com, 04 Feb 2022; cpb.org.br, 01 Nov 2018) Reason: She decided to pursue Para athletics seriously after seeing all the other athletes at her first competition. "The first time I saw those 3000 athletes competing happily, I said, 'Okay, I want this happiness for myself too'." She took up Para Nordic skiing after another athlete invited her to give it a try. When she took part in her first skiing competition, a World Cup event in Ukraine, she saw snow for the first time. "I barely knew how to ski. I was so nervous. I finished my first event crying, my hands freezing, and I was cursing my husband a lot because it was his idea. I thought it couldn't get any worse than that, and actually it has been getting better." (givemesport.com, 04 Feb 2022; OIS, 02 Mar 2022; cpb.org.br, 01 Nov 2018; Athlete, 09 Feb 2018) Milestones: She became the first female athlete representing Brazil to compete at the Paralympic Winter Games when she raced in four cross-country skiing events at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. (SportsDeskOnline, 12 Apr 2018; cpb.org.br, 28 Mar 2018) Awards: She and fellow cross-country skier Cristian Westemaier Ribera were named Brazil's flag bearers for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing. (IPC Entries, 04 Mar 2022) She was named the 2018 Best Female Para Cross-Country Skier of the Year by the Brazilian Confederation of Snow Sports [CBDN]. (portalesportenet.com.br, 05 Jun 2018) She was flag bearer for Brazil at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. (pyeongchang2018.com, 09 Mar 2018) In 2015 she received a Cruzeiro Medal in Joacaba, Brazil. (ederluiz.com.vc, 03 Sep 2015) Additional Info: IMPACT OF SPORT She was not interested in sport growing up, but she found she became a lot more active during her rehabilitation after she was involved in a car accident at age 15. "I do not look at my life in terms of what happened before and after the accident, but in terms of before and after sports. The accident may have taken away my right to walk, but the sport gave me wings." (Athlete, 09 Feb 2018)

Sporting Relatives: Her husband Fernando Orso has served as a coordinator at the Regional Association of Athletes with an Impairment [ARAD] in Joacaba, Brazil. He has also served as Rocha's personal coach. (Athlete, 09 Feb 2018; cbdn.org.br, 12 Jan 2017)