José Antonio Villanueva Trinidad (born 3 February 1979 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

) is a Spanish former

track cyclist Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it wa ...

. Villanueva specialised in the sprint disciplines, where at world championships level he was won a silver medal in

keirin – literally "racing cycle" – is a form of motor-paced cycle racing in which track cyclists sprint for victory following a speed-controlled start behind a motorized or non-motorized pacer. It was developed in Japan around 1948 for gamblin ...

and a bronze and a silver medal in

team sprint The team sprint (also sometimes known as the Olympic sprint) is a track cycling event. Despite its name, it is not a conventional cycling sprint event – it is a three-rider team time trial held over three laps of a velodrome. The current men's ...

. A few years after his initial retirement from competitive cycling, Villanueva returned as a sighted pilot in tandem track cycling at 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 ...

, winning a silver and a bronze medal.

Career

UCI Track Cycling

Paralympics

In 2012, having been out of competitive cycling for more than the minimum required 12 months, Villanueva was able to compete as the sighted pilot teamed with vision impaired cyclist José Enrique Porto Lareo in the

tandem cycling A tandem bicycle or twin is a form of bicycle (occasionally a tricycle) designed to be ridden by more than one person. The term tandem refers to the seating arrangement (fore to aft, not side by side), not the number of riders. Patents relat ...

events the London

. The pair won the silver medal in the Men's 1 km Time Trial and the bronze medal in the Men's Sprint.

Awards

In 2013, in recognition of his dedication to sport and his achievements at the 2012 Paralympics, Villanueva was awarded the silver Spanish

Royal Order of Sports Merit The Royal Order of Sports Merit ( es, Real Orden del Mérito Deportivo) is a Spanish civil order of merit established in 18 June 1982. The order is indented to recognise distinguished service in sports, in teaching physical education, or the mana ...

References

External links

* * 1979 births Living people Cyclists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Paralympic cyclists of Spain Olympic cyclists of Spain Cyclists from Madrid Spanish male cyclists Spanish track cyclists {{Spain-cycling-bio-1970s-stub