Herbert Aceituno

Started: He took up the sport at age 23 in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Athlete, 24 Aug 2021) Reason: He was encouraged to try the sport by a friend, and he also wanted to improve his health. "I always played soccer, but one day it was raining a lot and we couldn't go. A friend invited me to train at the gym together. There I started to like it more and more, until I got the hang of it, and going became a habit." (santiago2023.org, 26 May 2023; Athlete, 24 Aug 2021) Ambition: To win a medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympic.org, 08 May 2024) Milestones: He became the first athlete representing El Salvador to win a medal in any sport at the Paralympic Games by claiming bronze in the men's 59kg category at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. At Rio 2016, he had become the first powerlifter from El Salvador to compete at the Paralympic Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 21 Dec 2023; olympics.com, 05 Oct 2021; laprensagrafica.com, 12 May 2016) Awards: He and boccia player Rebeca Duarte were El Salvador's flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. He performed the same role at the 2016 and 2020 Paralympic Games, and at the Parapan American Games in 2019 and 2023. (medias.paris2024.org, 28 Aug 2024; paralympic.org, 17 Nov 2023; olympics.com, 05 Oct 2021; informatvx.com, 29 Aug 2019; myinfo.rio2016.com, 06 Sep 2016) He was named the Star of the National Paralympic Committee of El Salvador for 2023 at the Golden Spike awards ceremony in El Salvador. (elsalvador.com, 27 Jan 2024) In 2023 he was named Male Athlete of the Year by the National Sports Institute of El Salvador [INDES]. (elsalvadorinfo.net, 11 Dec 2023) In 2023 he lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador, El Salvador. (Instagram profile, 24 Jun 2023; elsalvador.com, 23 Jun 2023) He was voted Best Male Athlete at the 2019 Parapan American Games in Lima, Peru, in a public poll organised by the Americas Paralympic Committee. (paralympic.org, 11 Oct 2019) Additional Info: TRIBUTE TO HIS FATHER His father Gilberto passed away in July 2020 after contracting the COVID-19 virus. "The loss of my father was a difficult process to assimilate. I'm always going to think about him. I'm going to keep fighting, I made him the promise that I would always have him in my mind and in my heart." (indes.gob.sv, 23 Feb 2021; diario1.com, 02 Jul 2020)