Carme García Rigau (born 25 June 1974 in

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

) is a Spanish visually impaired B3 classified

para-alpine skier Para-alpine skiing is an adaptation of alpine skiing for athletes with a disability. The sport evolved from the efforts of disabled veterans in Germany and Austria during and after the Second World War. The sport is governed by the International ...

, blind sailor and journalist. She represented Spain at the

2002 Winter Paralympics The 2002 Winter Paralympics, the eighth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, from 7 to 16 March 2002. A total of 416 athletes from 36 nations participated. They were the first Winter Paralympics in the Ameri ...

and

2006 Winter Paralympics The 2006 Winter Paralympic Games (), the ninth Paralympic Winter Games, took place in Turin, Italy, from 10 to 19 March 2006. These were the first Winter Paralympic Games to be held in Italy. They were also the first Paralympics to use the n ...

in para-alpine, and did not medal in either Games appearance. In 2011, she participated in the International Association for Disabled Sailing International (IFDS) Championship where her boat finished sixth.

Personal

García has a visual impairment, a condition she has had since birth. García was born on 25 June 1974 in

, in the Catalan region of Spain. She moved to

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

in Galicia in 2009 in order to live with her boyfriend. She has difficulties navigating the streets of Vigo because of several factors, including the occasional lack of streets with sidewalks. García joined Organización Nacional de Ciegos Españoles (ONCE) when she was 19 years old. In 2008, her book ''Sueños Paralímpicos'' was published. She did a book launch in Almería. In 2009, she was studying music with a goal of making music a greater part of her life. This stemmed from her love of music, especially the styles of punk rock and heavy metal which she really enjoyed as a teenager. García has a bachelor's degree in the Information Sciences, and is a journalist. For a while, she worked for Servimedia, the media branch of ONCE, but was unemployed in 2011 because of the difficulties of finding a job while competing at an elite level.

Skiing

She is a visually impaired B3 classified skier. Her guide is Carles Vila. She started skiing in 1995, when she was 20 years old. She was encouraged to take up the sport by

ONCE Once may refer to: Film, television and theatre * ''Once'' (film), a 2007 Irish musical film by John Carney ** ''Once'' (musical), a 2011 stage adaptation of the film * ''Once'' (TV series), a 2017–2019 Argentine telenovela * Canal Once (Mex ...

, and initially had problems finding a ski club to join because clubs were not equipped to deal with someone with a visual impairment. Starting out, she could only participate in ONCE organised events, which put her on the snow for a total of 8 to 10 days in a ski season. Her first major international competition was European Championship in 1999 where she earned three bronze medals. García competed at the

. Her best finish was a fifth. In all her other races, she had DNFs. She was the 2004 World Champion in women's visually impaired para-alpine skiing after winning an event at the Australian hosted World Championships. She competed at the

. Her best finish was a fourth place. By 2009, she had earned two gold medals at the World Cup. In early 2009, she joined the newly formed Spanish ski club, Club Siempre. It was a club for skiers with visual impairments. In March 2009, she participated in the Spanish hosted club event, Campeonato Interautonómico de la Federación Española de Deportes para Ciegos where she earned a silver medal in the slalom event. At the 2010 Spanish national championships, she finished second in the super g with a time of 2.15.76. She participated in Spanish national team competition from 5 to 7 April 2010 in Vancouver. It was organised by the Federación Española de Deportes de Personas con Discapacidad Física (FEDDF), Federación Española de Deportes para Paralíticos Cerebrales (FEDPC) and Federación Española de Deportes para Ciegos (FEDC). She earned a medal in her group.

Sailing

García is a member of the Club Náutico Un Mar sin Barreras. She competed in the Australian hosted 2011 International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) International Championship, finishing sixth in a three-person boat with Manuel Gimeno and Federico Giner. The competition was her first international one, though her teammates had competed internationally before. Her selection for the boat occurred at the last minute after the original woman who was supposed to participate was unable to do so. Prior to leaving for Australia, she trained on a

ria A ria (; , feminine noun derived from ''río'', river) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendriti ...

in Vigo and attended a conference with a member of the local government. In 2011, García was working on sailing with the aim of qualifying for the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

. Her event was an exhibition sport at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Carme Living people Spanish female alpine skiers Spanish para-alpine skiers 1974 births Spanish female sailors (sport) Spanish blind people