Gema Hassen-Bey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gema Victoria Hassen-Bey González
Gema Hassen-Bey (ESP) 2017.jpg
in 2017
Born (1967-07-02) 2 July 1967 (age 54)
Madrid
NationalitySpain
Occupationjournalist
Known forParalympic wheelchair fencer

Gema Victoria Hassen-Bey González or Gema Hassen-Bey (born 2 July 1967) is a Spanish journalist and wheelchair fencer. She has competed at several Paralympics and she won two medals in 1992. She was the flag bearer for Spain in 2004. She has taken part in wheelchair mountain climbing.

Life[]

González was born in Madrid in 1967. She became paraplegic after a car accident when she was four years old.[1] She spent a year recovering in a bed for a year after she had an operation on her spine.[2] She is a graduate in Information Science. She is a Category B fencer and a journalist.[2]

González fenced at the 1992 Summer Paralympics and she won two bronze medals as an individual in the epee category B wheelchair fencing and in the women's team epee.[3]

She was at the 1996 Summer Paralympics where she won another bronze medal in the women's epee team. She fenced at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney. She was the flag bearer at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens and she competed again at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing.[3]

González with her specialist bike in 2017 as the police returned it to her

González planned to become the first woman in a wheelchair to reach the top of Kilimanjaro,[2] although before this she tried in 2017 to reach the top of Spain's highest peak, Teide, on the island of Tenerife.[4] Gema Hassen-Bey failed to reach the peak at over 3,700 metres but she became the first Paralympic athlete in a wheelchair to reach 3,000 meters altitude using only her arms.[5] The challenges are sponsored and the objectives include the development of a handbike that is capable of allowing her to climb these mountains.[6]

In 2017 her specialist bike was stolen when she parked it in a space reserved for people with disabilities. She was attending a Pride event and on her return she had to report the theft. The police were able to return it to her the following day.[7]

Private life[]

She revealed that she was bisexual when she was asked to talk about combating homophobia. She believes she is the only Paralympic athlete to come out. At the time there were no openly gay male footballers in Spain and a referee, , had endured homophobic attacks the year before.[8][1] As an open lesbian she is regarded as one of the most influential in Spain.[9]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Pérez-Bryan, Ana (2020-08-17). "'It's hard to learn to be calm: if the body doesn't move, the mind flies around'". surinenglish.com. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  2. ^ a b c Pérez-Bryan, Ana (2020-08-17). "'It's hard to learn to be calm: if the body doesn't move, the mind flies around'". surinenglish.com. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  3. ^ a b "Gema Victoria Hassen Bey - Wheelchair Fencing | Paralympic Athlete Profile". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  4. ^ "El Teide será el próximo gran reto de Gema Hassen-Bey". AS.com (in Spanish). 2017-09-19. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  5. ^ 20minutos (2017-11-14). "Gema Hassen-Bey abandona el ascenso el Teide a 3.000 metros". www.20minutos.es - Últimas Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  6. ^ "Gema Hassen-Bey【Elite Athelete】Thinking Heads". Thinking Heads. Retrieved 2021-08-24.
  7. ^ "Policía Municipal recupera la bicicleta de la atleta Gema Hassen-Bey". Diario de Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  8. ^ "Paralímpica se declara bisexual". El Universal (in Spanish). 2017-02-17. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  9. ^ Sopa, Hay una Lesbiana en mi (2014-07-04). "La verdadera lista de las lesbianas y bisexuales influyentes en España (Actualizada 2016)". Hay una lesbiana en mi sopa (in Spanish). Retrieved 2021-08-24.
Retrieved from ""