Jose Pablo Gil

Started: He began playing tennis at age 10. He began playing wheelchair tennis in 2016. (observador.cr, 01 Feb 2020; ITF Twitter profile, 20 Mar 2019) Reason: He began playing tennis at age 10. At age 13 he got a scholarship to study and play tennis in the United States of America. He returned to Costa Rica at age 18, and two days before he was due to leave for university in California, he was involved in a car accident. After his rehabilitation, he tried wheelchair basketball before switching to wheelchair tennis. (observador.cr, 01 Feb 2020) Milestones: He became the first wheelchair tennis player from Costa Rica to compete at the Paralympic Games when he took part in the 2020 Games in Tokyo. (SportsDeskOnline, 03 Aug 2024) Additional Info: OTHER ROLES He is a motivational speaker and in 2023 he gave a speech at a business congress in Vatican City. He founded the 'Tenis sobre Ruedas Costa Rica' [Wheelchair Tennis Costa Rica] project with the aim of promoting the sport in the country and through which he serves as coach. He also co-owns an apparel brand in Costa Rica. He plans to publish a book about his life experience. "It [writing a book] is a project that fulfils me a lot." (hoyeneldeportecr.com, 16 Mar 2023; Instagram profile, 01 Aug 2024; larepublica.net, 02 Jun 2023; Tenis Sobre Ruedas Costa Rica Facebook page, 08 Sep 2023; Pietro Habla Con YouTube channel, 22 Feb 2024)