Francisca Mardones (born 24 September 1977) is a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an Paralympic athlete and former

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designed wheelchairs, a ...

player. She has competed at both the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in tennis, before retiring in 2017 to concentrate on athletics. She broke her own world record in the F54 Women's shot put event at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

Career

As a child, Mardones aspired to compete in sports and represent Chile at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. She pursued studies in hotel management and eventually managed cabins in

Culebra, Puerto Rico Isla Culebra (, ''Snake Island'') is an island, town and municipality of Puerto Rico and geographically part of the Spanish Virgin Islands. It is located approximately east of the Puerto Rican mainland, west of St. Thomas and north of Vieque ...

. In 1999, Hurricane Lenny struck the resort. While ensuring her guests reached a shelter, she was hit by a

landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

, falling into a ravine. Unable to move for several minutes, she crawled to a nearby shelter, where she was discovered two days later. The fall damaged her spine, necessitating the use of a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

. After several operations and four years of recovery, she learned to walk short distances with a cane, albeit in pain. Following her injury, Mardones embraced wheelchair tennis, playing for Chile and teaching the sport. Mardones had started at the Grey Rock Tennis Club in

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, learning there about her selection for the Chilean team. Financially supported by sponsorships, she occasionally dipped into savings for World Championship travel. She competed in the

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

, winning bronze in

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

(

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

) and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

(

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( , ) is a metropolis in western Mexico and the capital of the list of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population of 1,385,629 people, making it the 7th largest city by population in Me ...

). Representing Chile, she participated in the

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

in London and the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. Her achievements garnered awards, including recognition for inspiring others and a Golden Condor for the best Paralympic Tennis performance in 2014. In 2017, Mardones suffered further injury, cutting her right hand in the kitchen, causing nerve damage. Attempting field athletics to reduce travel, she feared the injury's impact on wheelchair performance but not on

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

, discus, or

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

. Consequently, she retired from tennis, focusing solely on athletics. In 2019, Mardones participated in the

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of t ...

, where she won a silver medal and set a record in her category. That same year, she competed in the

World Para Athletics Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

in the shot put and javelin disciplines. She learned, just hours before her debut, about the death of her father in Chile but decided not to withdraw from the championship in his honor. In shot put, she won the gold medal and broke the world record with a mark of 8.19 meters in the F54 class. The Paralympic Committee of the Americas proclaimed Mardones as the "best athlete of the month of November" in 2019. In 2021, Mardones achieved gold in the discus throw final at the Tunisia Grand Prix with a record of 17.50 meters. On August 30, 2021, Mardones won the gold medal in the F54 shot put at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. With a throw of 8.33 meters, she set a new world record, breaking her own record from 2019. In her 6 throws, she broke the world record of 8.19 meters twice, first in her third throw with 8.21 meters and finally in her last throw with 8.33 meters. While she was considered to participate in the javelin throw at the Paralympic Games, she decided not to do so due to physical discomfort and the recommendation of specialists.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mardones, Francisca Living people 1977 births Paralympic wheelchair tennis players for Chile Wheelchair tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Wheelchair tennis players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic athletes for Chile Chilean female shot putters Chilean female discus throwers Chilean female javelin throwers Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games World Para Athletics Championships winners Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics People with paraplegia 21st-century Chilean women Place of birth missing (living people)