Fernando Álvarez Ortiz de Urbina (born 17 November 1973) is a Spanish adaptive sailor who has represented

Spain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Spain competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom, from 29 August to 9 September 2012. Spain sent 142 competitors to London, 23% of whom were women. The team was composed of 224 people, with 127 sportspeople and 15 guides, a ...

where he came away with a Paralympic diploma.

Personal

Álvarez is a member of

Fundación También Fundación is a town and municipality of the Colombian Department of Magdalena. Its people are known as Fundanenses. The primary economic activity is livestock-raising, for production of both meat and milk. Other crops are: corn, yuca, or ...

. In March 2011, he was part of a delegation who went to the

Zarzuela Palace The Zarzuela Palace ( ) is the residence and working offices of the reigning monarch of Spain (King Felipe VI), although the official residence of the Spanish royal family is the Royal Palace of Madrid. The Zarzuela Palace is on the outskirts o ...

and were received by

Felipe de Marichalar y Borbón Felipe Juan Froilán de Todos los Santos de Marichalar y Borbón, Lord of Tejada (born 17 July 1998), widely known as Froilán, is the elder child and only son of Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo, and Jaime de Marichalar. He is the maternal-line ...

and

Letizia, Princess of Asturias Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano (; born 15 September 1972) is Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI. Letizia was born in Oviedo, Asturias. She worked as a journalist for '' ABC'' and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Televisión ...

. It was part of a wider program aimed at integration of people with disabilities in Spanish society through sports.

Sailing

Ortiz encouraged

Carolina Lopez Rodriguez Carolina may refer to: Geography * The Carolinas, the U.S. states of North and South Carolina ** North Carolina, a U.S. state ** South Carolina, a U.S. state * Province of Carolina, a British province until 1712 * Carolina, Alabama, a town in t ...

to take up sailing more seriously. The pair were not confident they would qualify for London but decided to take part in qualifying tests anyway and were pleasantly surprised to qualify for the Games. He was a member of the 2011 Spanish adaptive sailing team in the Skud 18 class event. He qualified for the London Games by September 2011. That month, he competed in the Spanish 2.4mR Cup. He left for London from Madrid in late August. He competed at the

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

in the Mixed Two Person SKUD18 event, where he did not medal. In two sessions, the pair finished in seventh place. The pair earned a Paralympic diploma. It was the best performance ever by Spanish sailors. In December 2012, they were recognised for their elite sportsmenship by the

Union of Sports Federations Madrid Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Union ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz de Urbina, Fernando Alvarez 1973 births Living people Spanish male sailors (sport) Paralympic sailors for Spain Sailors at the 2012 Summer Paralympics