Cristina_Gonçalves

Cristina Gonçalves

Cristina Gonçalves

Portuguese boccia player

Cristina Gonçalves (born 15 September 1977) is a Portuguese boccia player who has cerebral palsy, She has competed for her country and won medals at several Summer Paralympics.

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Career

Cristina Gonçalves was born on 15 September 1977 in Lisbon, Portugal.[1] When she was 11 months old, she contracted meningitis resulting in cerebral palsy.[2] She began competing nationally in boccia in 1998,[1] having taken up the sport at the age of 14. She is classified as BC2.[2] Gonçalves' first overall victory came in 2003 in the boccia World Cup in New Zealand.[3]

She attended her first Summer Paralympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece, where she won a gold medal as part of the team BC1-2 competition with a victory over New Zealand.[4] She continued to compete at successive Paralympic Games,[5] where she won a silver medal in the team event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, but failed to win a medal at the 2012 Games in London, England.[6]

At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, she was the only female player on the mixed boccia team. They qualified out of the group stage following a loss to Argentina followed by victories over Slovakia and Brazil. They were beaten 8-5 by Japan in the semi-final,[7] resulting in a rematch against Argentina in the bronze medal match. Despite the earlier 1–7 loss, they defeated Argentina 6–2 to win the bronze medal.[8]

References

  1. [1]
    "Cristina Gonçalves". Comite Paralimico Portugal. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  2. [2]
    "Cristina, a rainha das medalhas" (in Portuguese). Santa Casa. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  3. [3]
    "Cristina Gonçalves, boccia". Expresso. 25 November 2006. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  4. [4]
    "Equipa portuguesa de boccia conquista ouro nos Paralímpicos". Publico (in Portuguese). 28 September 2004. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  5. [5]
    "Atletas de boccia são os primeiros portugueses a competir nos Paralímpicos". Publico (in Portuguese). 6 September 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  6. [6]
    "João Paulo Fernandes admite erros da equipa de boccia". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 4 September 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  7. [7]
    "Paralímpicos'2016: bronze no boccia foi "fruto do trabalho de toda a equipa"". O Jogo (in Portuguese). 12 September 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  8. [8]
    "Paralímpicos'2016: bronze para Portugal no boccia". O Jogo (in Portuguese). 12 September 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
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