For many, perhaps, sport is perceived as entertainment, a hobby or even a recreational activity. But there are stories that show its other facet, the most substantial, and perhaps the most important: that of the motor that leads young people from all over the world to get ahead, leaving behind those barriers that are imposed on them along the way. That is the case of Belén Ameijenda, the 25-year-old young motorist who since birth has lived with a congenital malformation called Spina Bifida, but who dreams of a place in the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 in archery and running, at the same time , professionally on the motor racing circuit. The athlete is raising funds to buy an adapted seat that allows her to compete professionally.
In his first days of life, doctors had assured his parents that he would not be able to walk. Despite this, and after 11 years of kinesiological rehabilitation, Belén was able to start taking her first steps in a walker at one year of age and currently walks independently with Canadian canes.
The consequences of this malformation make her have less muscle and strength in her legs, but this did not prevent her from competing in motorsports, far from it, but, on the contrary, Belén is currently the first female driver with a disability in Latin America in sports racing .
The Road Tourism and Formula One races were the ones that prompted Belén to enter the automotive world from a very young age. She was barely 4 years old when she already dreamed of running and succeeding on the circuit. The young pilot says that “I always wanted to be a pilot, but since I didn’t see it as possible due to my disability, I decided to study sports journalism.”
In one of her practices at the Mouras de La Plata racetrack, she meets who would be her main inspiration and reference in adapted sport: Juan María “el kitito” Nimo, who, like her, also has a disability. Belén recalls that “really seeing him was what motivated me to try to be a pilot. There I began to internalize myself in my objective ”.
From her place, Belén Ameijenda militates for a greater diffusion and acceptance of adapted sport in society. “We, the athletes who have the possibility of being more visible, have the responsibility to make visible and bring people with disabilities closer to adapted sport, since many people do not know it,” he says.
Regarding the diffusion in the media, he thinks that “there is a lot to do to be taken in the same way as conventional sport. Those of us who dedicate ourselves to this want to have the same possibilities ”. The visibility of adapted sport, for Belén, helps to break with the established canons of what a person with a disability should do with their life.
On the other hand, the motorist is currently looking for sponsors and sponsors to help her fulfill her dream. To participate in motor racing, it is essential for her to get an approved seat of $ 170,000 that allows her to adapt the car to be able to drive. For that, he is raising money through different means through his instagram account @ belu.honda.
Juan Juarez
