Javier Merida (born 15 April 1973) is a Spanish athlete best known for competing in

paratriathlon Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI; formerly known as the International Triathlon Union or ITU), and was first held as a Paralympic event at the 2016 S ...

. He was born in

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...

and lost his leg in a traffic accident in 2007, after which he began training for paratriathlon. Some of his more notable successes include several championships of Spanish paratriathlon, a European championship of paratriathlon, as well as being world vice champion in paraduathlon. One of his accomplishments includes being the first disabled person from Spain to cross the English channel in 2013. He mentions that his next goal would be crossing Loch Ness. He also states that he intends to train 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 ...

in Rio de Janeiro which will introduce his discipline of paratriathlon for the first time. Javier Merida is a brand ambassador of Bulgarian company TRYMAX.

References

1973 births Living people Paratriathletes Spanish male triathletes Sportspeople from Marbella {{Spain-athletics-bio-stub