Former FARC guerrilla turned paralympian, Juan Jose Florian. trains at home in Granada, Colombia, in November 2020
GRANADA (COLOMBIA) – Maimed in a horrific bombing, Colombian athlete Juan Jose Florian emerged from South America’s longest conflict with three missing limbs and one clear goal — to win gold at next year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo.
Florian has fought on both sides of the Colombia’s 50-year conflict, first for the Marxist FARC rebels when still a child soldier, and then for the regular army.
Now he is on the cusp of realizing his biggest dream, competing in next year’s Paralympics in Japan despite losing both his arms and a leg, blown off when he picked up a booby trapped package.
“I never imagined myself as an athlete,” he told AFP. “My childhood dream was to be a soldier.”
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
