Cristian Westemaier Ribera is a great, 18 year old paralympic athlete from Brazil. Despite his young age, he’s already holding the record of best Brazilian athlete in Winter Paralympic history!
Cristian was born in Cerejeiras, a small town in the Brazilian state of Rondônia. At birth, it became apparent that his umbilical cord had remained wrapped around his legs during pregnancy. This left him with Arthrogryposis Multiplex Congenita(AMC), a congenital condition which caused severe joint contractures and stiffness in both his legs. It also left him virtually without any muscle power from his waist down.
While Cristian’s upper body has always been in excellent health, it didn't take long before the muscles in his legs became atrophied. This caused him to gradually lose more and more of the muscle tissue in his legs. While muscle atrophy greatly increases the risk of fractures and can lead to blood flow problems, Cristian underwent many surgeries as a child to correct some of the worst joint contractures and to increase the flexibility in his legs.
Cristian also spent lots of time at physical therapy during his childhood. This was something he really loved, while it involved lots of different sports and brought him into contact with swimming, athletics, capoeira, tennis, bocce and dancing. It soon turned out that Cristian was a gifted swimmer and that he had some tremendous talent for athletics.
Encouraged by his therapist, Cristian eventually started to compete in wheelchair track and field events and soon specialized himself in the field of wheelchair racing.
After watching the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, Cristian gained more and more interest in para-skiing. While this was difficult to practice close to home, he found an alternative in para roller-skiing. Supported by his parents and trainers (Leandro Ribela and Taylor Brian) Cristian eventually started travelling to all places possible to train in para-skiing.
In 2018, Cristian won both a bronze and silver medal at the 2018 World Cup in Vuokatti in Finland. That same year, Cristian qualified to compete in the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. Here, he finished 6’th in the men’s 15K race making him the best Brazilian athlete in the history of the Winter Paralympics!
His current ambition is win a medal at the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing, China.
If you’d like to know more about, you can visit out his Facebook page by clicking the link down below or you can check out his Instagram page right here!
Cristian WR, Jundiaí. 818 likes · 12 talking about this. Atleta paralimpico brasileiro
CRISTIAN WR
