MADRID, 24 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Former swimmer Luis Leardy, winner of four medals at the Paralympic Games and current director of Communications for the Spanish Paralympic Committee (CPE), has been recognized with one of the Queen Letizia National Disability Awards, granted by the Ministry of Social Rights and the 2030 Agenda, through the Royal Board on Disability.
The journalist has been recognized in the category of Inclusive Sport for his role as promoter and coordinator of the White Paper on Sports for People with Disabilities in Spain, a work “that has laid the essential foundations for the new sports law to transversally incorporate to people with disabilities in its articles”, according to the text of the ruling.
In addition, according to the CPE, the decision also valued his career “as a communicator and activist for inclusive sports, as well as being a medalist at the Paralympic Games in Seoul in 1988 in swimming.” In the South Korean capital, the swimmer hung three golds and one bronze.
Luis Leardy, 52, has been linked to the world of disability and the Paralympic movement for four decades. Graduated in Journalism, he developed his career at the Servimedia Agency and at the ONCE Social Group before landing 17 years ago at the CPE. In addition, from Seoul’88, he also competed in the Barcelona Games in 1992, and treasures another 13 Paralympic experiences between the Summer and Winter Games as head of Communication for the Spanish Team.
This recognition joins the National Sports Award, in the category of ‘Arts and Sciences Applied to Sports’, as co-author of the aforementioned White Paper, the Cermi.es Communication Award or the Silver Medal of the Royal Order of Merit Sports, among others.
The Queen Letizia National Disability Awards, for the first time this year with the category of ‘National Award’, are intended to stimulate and recognize the trajectory, dedication and contribution of people and public and private entities in terms of inclusion, full citizenship and effective enjoyment of the human rights of persons with disabilities, with special attention to women and girls with disabilities, mothers and caregivers of persons with disabilities, and rural areas.