Rodriguez’s achievements are admirable, but he is distinguished from other Paralympians by the fact that it was his disability and sports that helped him return to a reasonable life. In the madness of his youth, Sebastian Rodriguez Veloso was a member of the Spanish radical anti-fascist group GRAPO in the early 1980s.
In 1984, the now respected athlete was sentenced to 84 years for planning and carrying out the murder of businessman Rafael Padura and several explosions. After more than five years in prison, Rodriguez went on a hunger strike that lasted 432 days and proved fatal to him. Rodriguez suffered so badly from his health that he lost both legs.
In 1994, he was released prematurely because he had become terminally ill. In 2007, the Spanish government apologized to him because his legislation did not allow him to be imprisoned at all.
While in prison in Valencia and trying to improve his health, Rodriguez resumed doing what he had been doing since he was three years old – swimming and doing very well for him. He started swimming in 1995, but as early as 2000, Sebastian Rodriguez made his debut at the Sydney Paralympic Games and has not missed any since.
In his debut at the Paralympic Games, he won five gold medals in swimming, reaching unprecedented heights for his country. As for the way he lost his legs, Rodriguez initially lied about the accident, not the hunger strike in prison. During the Paralympic Games, the truth came to light and many were urged to give up the prizes they had won. However, local politicians advocated for the former terrorist, and his triumphant story continued four years later in Athens, when he won three more gold awards, becoming the first Spanish parasporter to do so.
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Five years ago, he was the first where the 59-year-old swimmer failed to reach medals, winning two-fourths. In Tokyo, too, the first attempts to increase the total number of Paralympic awards to 17 have so far been unsuccessful.
Rodriguez’s hobby is sailing, but in the Spanish league he has also participated in trolley basketball competitions.
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