Arnulfo Castorena

Started: He took up the sport at age 17 at the CODE club in Guadalajara, Mexico. (Athlete, 03 Dec 2017; discapacinet.gob.mx, 06 Jun 2007) Reason: He wanted to become a member of the Mexico national team. (Athlete, 03 Dec 2017) Ambition: To win a medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympic.org, 19 Nov 2023) Awards: He received the 2023 National Sports Award in the Paralympic Sport category from the Mexican government. (elpopular.mx, 31 Oct 2023) In 2022 and 2023 he was presented with the Jalisco State Sports Merit Award in Mexico. (meganoticias.mx, 23 Oct 2023; jalisco.gob.mx, 21 Nov 2022) In 2015, 2020, and 2023 he received the Sports Merit Medal from the city of Guadalajara in Mexico. (informador.mx, 29 Feb 2024; notisistema.com, 24 Feb 2021; polideportivo.mx, 17 Dec 2015) Additional Info: DIFFICULT CHILDHOOD His mother died during his birth and he was raised by relatives. In childhood he spent six years living in a boarding school in Mexico City, Mexico, and after returning to his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico, at age 12, he found that his family had been affected by drug addiction. "My dad left me when I was born, he said he couldn't take care of someone like me. Many times I thought about committing suicide. I was always told that I was useless. I have struggled with a lot of things since I was born, especially the loss of my mother and the rejection of my father. All this effort that I made was to move forward and to show my family that everything was possible despite all the adversity. I always say that I lived within fire but never got burned. I saw how my family consumed drugs and I said, 'I want to know how that feels. I want to forget everything'. But thank God I didn't do it and kept fighting." (yotambien.mx, 31 Aug 2021; tecreview.tec.mx, 31 Aug 2021; unotv.com, 10 Sep 2021)