Adiaratou Iglesias Forneiro

Started: She took up the sport as a teenager in Lugo, Spain. "I've always loved running and been passionate about it but I couldn't [practise athletics] due to life circumstances until 2014." (straitstimes.com, 22 Aug 2024; Athlete, 06 Nov 2019) Reason: She began dreaming about becoming an athlete after watching an advertisement on TV in Mali as a child. "I watched some girls starting running from the blocks and I said, 'I want to do that'. I didn't even know that its name was athletics. As a little girl I was always running." (marca.com, 01 Apr 2022) Ambition: To win gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (relevo.com, 14 Nov 2023) Awards: In 2023 she received the Professionalism and Commitment Award from the Diagrama Foundation in Spain. (Fundacion Diagrama YouTube channel, 15 Apr 2024) In 2023 she received the Gold Medal of the Royal Order of Sports Merit from the Spanish government. (paralimpicos.es, 22 Jun 2023) In 2022 she was presented with the 2019 King Juan Carlos National Sports Award for Revelation Athlete of the Year. (marca.com, 05 Apr 2023; casareal.es, 18 Jul 2022) Additional Info: FROM MALI TO SPAIN Born in Mali, she moved to Spain at age 11 to live with her stepbrother. In 2014 she was adopted by a Spanish woman and relocated to Lugo, Spain. "I arrived in Spain in 2010 to live with some family members in Logrono, but things didn't go as planned and I ended up in a foster care centre where I spent two years. That's where my mother became interested in adopting me. I came to Lugo to meet her, to get to know the city and the atmosphere and the first impression was great. I liked everything from the first minute." (lavozdegalicia.es, 20 Oct 2019; Servizio de Audiovisuais da Deputacion de Lugo YouTube channel, 25 Sep 2019; elpais.com, 09 Sep 2019) RUNNING REFERENCES She uses visual reference points on the track to help guide her during races. "In almost all of the tracks there is a stand for the judges right before the finish line that I take as a reference to extend my body. If there isn't one I look at a competitor who's next to me. If I run in lanes one or eight there's a good chance I will run off the track." (lavozdegalicia.es, 20 Oct 2019) TEACHING CHILDREN While living in Lugo, Spain, she used to train children between ages five and eight and still enjoys going to schools to teach athletics. "Just imagine that in those events there is a little girl with an impairment. I suppose that if she sees me or any one of my teammates she would say, 'I can do it too', and that is what this is all about." (marca.com, 05 Apr 2023; telva.com, 28 Jul 2022)