Gabriel Juan Gorce Yepes (born 2 August 1990 in Madrid)[1][2] is a visually impaired Spanish B2 classified para-alpine skier. He has had several guide skiers including Aleix Suñé, Félix Aznar and Arnau Ferrer. He competed in the European Cup and the IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup, at the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships 2011 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships and the 2010 Winter Paralympics. He was also a competitor in the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.[1][2]

Gabriel Gorce
Personal information
Full nameGabriel Juan Gorce Yepes
NationalitySpanish
Born2 August 1990 (1990-08-02) (age 33)
Madrid, Spain
Sport
Country Spain
SportPara-alpine skiing
Event(s)Downhill
Slalom
Giant slalom
Super combined
Super G
Coached bySylvana Mestre, Jordi Carbonell

Personal edit

Gorce lives in Escadarcs, La Cerdanya and become a Catalan citizen in 2007,[3] and has a visual impairment.[4] He was honoured at the 2010 Sports Gala XV.[5]

Skiing edit

Gorce is a B2 classified visually impaired skier.[3] His guide skier was Aleix Suñé.[4] For the 2007/2008 season, he was guided by Aitor Martínez.[6] For the 2009/2010 season and the 2010 Winter Paralympics, his guide was Félix Aznar.[7] Arnau Ferrer was his guide in 2012.[8]

Gorce competed at the 2007 European Cup Alpine skiing for the disabled.[9] At the 2007 Paralympic Winter World Cup, he earned a gold medal and a bronze.[10] He finished the 2006/2007 European Cup season in eighth place.[11] At the March 2008 Italian National Championships, Gorce and Martinez finished fourth in the Super G, third in the giant slalom and third in the slalom.[12] At the last round of the European Cup in March 2008, an event held in La Molina, Spain, Gorce and guide Aitor Martínez were some of the Spanish skiers competing at the event.[6] He finished the 2007/2008 European Cup season in eleventh place after the five test events.[11] At the first IPC Alpine Skiing World Cup event in the 2008/2009 ski season, which was held at La Molina in Spain, he finished third overall.[13] In March 2009, he competed with guide Suñé at the European Cup Alpine skiing for the Disabled. He finished second in the slalom event. The pair finished sixth overall with 437 points.[4] At the 2009 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, he and his guide finished fifth in the Super Combined event.[14] It was the first World Championship he had competed in.[15]

In November 2009, Gorce attended an event in Madrid organised by the Programa de Alto Rendimiento Paralímpico (Programa ARPA) as part of the preparation for the Vancouver Games.[16] Following this, he participated in additional team training at the Centro de Tecnificación de La Cerdanya (Gerona).[16] He competed in the third round of the European Cup in January 2010 at La Molina in Spain with guide Anzar.[17] At the January 2010 Austrian World Cup event, he finished eleventh in the giant slalom event.[18] He was unable to compete in the Super Combined event because it was cancelled.[19] At the final event of the 2009/2010 World Cup season, an event held in March 2010 in Aspen, Colorado, he earned an eleventh position in the giant slalom with a time of 1:24.99. He finished seventh in the Super Combined. This was the last major event before the 2010 Games.[20][21] He came into the Aspen World Cup event with 199 World Cup points, ranking eleventh in the competition.[22]

 
Gorce and Ferrer at the 2013 IPC Alpine World Championships in the downhill event

Before departing for Vancouver, he participated in a departure ceremony attended by State Secretary for Sport Jaime Lissavetzky, secretary general of Social Policy Francisco Moza, the President of the Spanish Paralympic Committee Miguel Carballeda, and managing director of the Spanish Paralympic Committee Alberto Jofre.[23] His youth was one of the contributing factors in being chosen for the 2010 Paralympic team as the Spanish Paralympic Committee believed investing in him then would result in a skier who would be around for several Paralympic Games.[24] The entire Spanish team arrived in Whistler ahead of the 2010 Games by 7 February.[25] He was the youngest member of the Spanish team,[26] competing as a nineteen-year-old.[7] He was guided by Félix Aznar.[7][26] Skier and guide shared a room in the Paralympic Village during the Games.[26] Fog in Vancouver resulted in a change in scheduling for his ski events.[27] At the 2010 Games, he and his guide were disqualified from the downhill event after missing a gate.[28] He fell twice in two different events at the 2010 Games.[29] Following the Games, the Spanish Paralympic team attended a welcome back celebration at the ONCE Foundation that was also attended by Infanta Elena, Duchess of Lugo.[30]

Gorce played in Vancouver from 5 to 7 April 2010. It was organised by the Federación Española de Deportes de Personas con Discapacidad Física (FEDDF), Federación Española de Deportes para Paralíticos Cerebrales (FEDPC) yand Federación Española de Deportes para Ciegos (FEDC).[31][32] He competed in a November 2010 ski competition in Landgraaf, Netherlands. He earned a gold medal in the downhill event while skiing with guide Arnau Ferrer.[33] At the first World Cup event in the 2010/2011 season, which was held in Arta Terme, Italy, he was guided by Ferrer. The pair finished fifth in the first of the four events held.[34] He participated in the 2012 Campeonatos de España de Esquí held in Valle de Arán, where the slalom, giant slalom and Super G events were contested. He finished second in all three events where Arnau Ferrer was his guide.[8] At the 2011 World Championships held in Sestriere, Italy, he finished eighth in the Super G event.[35] Near the end of the 2011/2012 ski season, he participated in a World Cup event in Italy where he failed to finish in the giant slalom event while skiing with guide Ferrer.[36] At a January 2013 World Cup event in Switzerland, skiing with Ferrer, he finished sixth in the slalom event.[37]

Gorce was a competitor in the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, where he won a bronze medal in the men's combined – visually impaired.[1][2]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c "Gabriel Juan GORCE YEPES". Sochi2014.com. Organizing Committee of the XXII Olympic Winter Games and XI Paralympic Winter Games of 2014 in Sochi. Archived from the original on 20 March 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  2. ^ a b c "GABRIEL GORCE YEPES". Paralimpicos.es (in Spanish). Comité Paralímpico Español – Juegos Paralímpicos Sochi 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. ^ a b "Santacana se queda a dos pasos de lograr la cuarta medalla para España – Paralímpicos | VANCOUVER 2010" (in Spanish). Spain: AS.com. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  4. ^ a b c "Solidaridad Digital – Anna Cohí, campeona de Slalom y Gigante en la Copa de Europa de Esquí" (in Spanish). Spain: Solidaridaddigital.es. 30 March 2009. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Solidaridad Digital – La ONCE en Cataluña homenajea a sus mejores deportistas ciegos y deficientes visuales" (in Spanish). Spain: Solidaridaddigital.es. Archived from the original on 22 March 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Final del campeonato de Europa en La Molina – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. 27 March 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  7. ^ a b c "Jon Santacana va a por el triplete". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  8. ^ a b "El Equipo de Competición de Esquí alpino adaptado de la Fundación También finaliza su actuación en territorio nacional con el Campeonato de España – Esquí – Esto es DxT" (in Spanish). Spain: Estoesdxt.es. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  9. ^ "Cuatro españoles compiten en la segunda prueba de la Copa de Europa de Esquí Alpino – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  10. ^ "Exito español en la 1ª copa paralímpica del mundo de invierno – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Jon Santacana Subcampeón de Europa – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Tres esquiadores ciegos en el Campeonato de Italia – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. 11 March 2008. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  13. ^ "Deportes. jon santacana y anna cohí lideran la copa del mundo de esquí alpino para discapacitados – EcoDiario.es". El Economista (in Spanish). Spain. 15 January 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  14. ^ "Santacana gana su primer oro en la supercombinada | Solidaridad". El Mundo (in Spanish). Spain. 23 February 2009. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  15. ^ "Once espanoles en el mundial de esquí alpino para discapacitados – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  16. ^ a b "Solidaridad Digital – Los esquiadores paralímpicos se concentran en Madrid con la mirada puesta en Vancouver 2010" (in Spanish). Spain: Solidaridaddigital.es. 10 November 2009. Archived from the original on 16 December 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  17. ^ "La Molina acoge el campeonato de Europa de esquí para discapacitados – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  18. ^ "Anna Cohí logra su tercera medalla en la Copa del Mundo". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. 13 January 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  19. ^ "España acaba con siete medallas la Copa del Mundo Paralímpica – Más deporte | Esquí alpino" (in Spanish). Spain: AS.com. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  20. ^ "Santacana se cuelga el oro en descenso en la final de la Copa del Mundo". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  21. ^ "La española Anna Cohí, campeona de la súper combinada". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. 5 March 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  22. ^ Noticias EFE. "Santacana, Cohí, Boira y Gorce representantes españoles en Aspen" (in Spanish). Spain: Hoy.es. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  23. ^ Diario de Mallorca. "Ursula Pueyo aspira al 'top ten' en gigante o eslalon – Diario de Mallorca" (in Spanish). Spain: Diariodemallorca.es. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  24. ^ "Solidaridad Digital – El Comité Paralímpico Español cree que el balance de los Juegos es "muy satisfactorio"" (in Spanish). Spain: Solidaridaddigital.es. 22 March 2010. Archived from the original on 21 March 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  25. ^ "El equipo paralímpico español ya se encuentra en Whistler". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  26. ^ a b c "Así es la Villa Paralímpica de Whistler". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  27. ^ "Comite de Competicion modifica calendario de esqui alpino por el mal tiempo" (in Spanish). Spain: terra. 14 March 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  28. ^ Global Mirrorcomm – Desojo Luciano. "Libertad Balear. El diario digital de Baleares " Blog Archive " Jon Santacana se proclama campeĂłn paralĂmpico en descenso" (in Spanish). Spain: Libertadbalear.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2013.
  29. ^ "Santacana se queda sin medalla en supergigante". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  30. ^ "La infanta Elena al Equipo Paralímpico Español: "Gracias por vuestro afán de superación"". Marca (in Spanish). Spain. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  31. ^ "Santacana y Cohí triunfan en Cerler" (in Spanish). Spain: Heraldo.es. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  32. ^ "Santacana, Cohí y Pueyo, campeones de España – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  33. ^ "Gran comienzo español en Landgraaf – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  34. ^ "Santacana segundo en la copa del mundo de esquí adaptado – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. 8 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  35. ^ "Espectacular actuación española en el mundial de esquí adaptado de Sestriere – Esquí Adaptado" (in Spanish). Spain: Nevasport.com. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2013.
  36. ^ Global Mirrorcomm – Desojo Luciano (3 May 2012). "Libertad Balear. El diario digital de Baleares " Jon Santacana se adjudica el oro en el eslalon gigante del Mundial para discapacitados" (in Spanish). Spain: Libertad Balear. Retrieved 27 January 2013.[permanent dead link]
  37. ^ "Jon Santacana se hace con dos nuevos triunfos en la Copa del Mundo de Esquí Alpino Paralímpico – Esquí – Esto es DxT" (in Spanish). Spain: Estoesdxt.es. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2013.