A lot has changed since Colombia's Angelica Bernal made her Paralympic Games debut at London 2012. Preparing for her fourth Games, the multiple Parapan American Games medallist is aiming for the Paris 2024 podium.

The Paris 2024 Paralympics will take place between 28 August and 8 September, featuring six medal events in wheelchair tennis.

The passion, freedom, crowd, pressure, and nerves, three-time Paralympian Angelica Bernal 🇨🇴 enjoys every moment on the court.#Paralympics #GameChangers #WheelchairTennis @ITFTennis @COLParalimpico pic.twitter.com/siqReKUnKz

— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) July 24, 2024

Love at first try

The 29-year-old athlete from Colombia's capital of Bogota was introduced to the world of sports at a young age.

"My dad was an athlete and I loved playing various sports," said Bernal, who started walking using a prosthetic leg when she was two years old.

"When I was six or seven, I started practising various sports with my dad, using the prosthesis. I played basketball, volleyball, football and also tennis, which I liked the most because it was an individual sport."

When Bernal was 11 years old, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) came to Colombia to hold a wheelchair tennis workshop. That was when she learned about the world of Para sports that she was soon going to become a part of.

“I fell in love with wheelchair tennis," Bernal said. "I enjoy every moment on the court, both in training and in matches. Being on the court playing, with the pressure, the nerves, that is what I enjoy the most. And when there is an audience, I enjoy it a lot more."

Two months after first trying it out, she travelled to Argentina for a wheelchair tennis junior camp. This made her even more sure of having found her sport.

"I loved it because I got to see another country and made new friends," Bernal said.

"I was very excited when I returned home because I had also represented Colombia and won, so I said, 'I want to be a wheelchair tennis player'."

Journey to the Paralympics

The transition from playing tennis with a prosthesis to wheelchair tennis was however not problem-free. "I did everything else in my daily life with the prosthesis so it didn't fit into my head that I would sit in a wheelchair," she said.

"At first I saw the wheelchair as a problem, but the moment I sat in the chair it was completely different. I felt free and loved being able to move freely with the chair all over the court with the wheelchair."

Bernal and her father started travelling to tournaments. First around Colombia, then in South America. "That was where I started to improve my ranking and my level," said Bernal, who won a bronze medal at the Parapan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 2011.

The travels extended to Europe, where Bernal won back-to-back single titles at the Cruyff Foundation Junior Masters in Tarbes, France in 2011 and 2012. Apart from the glory from the tournaments themselves, Bernal competed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. 

"It was a dream to be able to represent Colombia at the first Paralympic Games, and I only went with the mentality of enjoying them to the fullest," said Bernal, who had yet to turn 18 when she made her Games debut.

"It was very exciting. We were a large delegation with several sports, with a lot of support from Colombia. The Paralympic Movement was growing and it was very nice to feel that support from the rest of the Colombian population."

The Colombian flag was also very present as she made her Paralympic debut in the British capital. "It was one of the first times I played with so many people watching, so I remember it with great affection," Bernal said.

Chasing a Paralympic dream

Her idol is Esther Vergeer, 42, from the Netherlands – arguably the greatest wheelchair tennis player of all time. Vergeer was the world No.1 between 1999 and her retirement in 2013, claiming five consecutive Paralympic gold medals. At London 2012, their paths crossed as Bernal made her first Games and Vergeer won in her last. 

"I love how she played," Bernal said. The Colombian rising star was knocked out in the round of 32 but would continue to win at a continental level, clinching a doubles silver medal at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto, Canada, before reaching a career-best gold medal four years later, at Lima 2019. 

At the Paralympic Games, however, Bernal has yet to make it to the later stages, having been knocked out in the first round at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

"At the Paralympic Games in Rio and Tokyo I came with another goal of getting a very good result," Bernal said. "Unfortunately, it didn't happen then, but I continue working hard for that Paralympic dream."

As this year's Paralympic Games wheelchair tennis tournament starts at the iconic Roland-Garros Stadium on 30 August, Bernal comes with more confidence than at previous editions of the Games. 

Last year she won a singles silver and a doubles bronze at the Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile. In 2024, she has reached No. 7 on the ITF women’s singles world ranking, her highest position so far, and she feels closer than ever to the players above her.

"I have been working hard with my team and raising my level, I have had good results in the Grand Slams, so I hope to be able to give a medal to Colombia at Paris 2024. I just need to trust my game more," she said.

"In Paris it is very important to have the support of people in the audience. I know that there are many Colombians in France and in Europe who will be supporting us, so I hope they are there. Roland Garros is a temple for tennis so I will enjoy it a lot."

Outside of the court, Bernal has studied a degree in international relations and politics at university and, together with her parents, founded a wheelchair tennis school for children and teenagers with disabilities in Bogota.

"Para sports changed my life completely. Starting to play sports at a very young age, it gave me many values of my life, such as discipline, effort, hard work, trusting the team and that spirit that each athlete has," she said.

"Playing sports and getting to know other athletes from Colombia and other regions, has allowed me to show that we are strong and that we fight every day for our dreams."

She hopes to encourage more people with disabilities to get into Para sports.

"Sport has a very positive impact on those who practise it. It allows people to believe in any possibility, in the capabilities we have as athletes, and in the Paralympic values."
 

Discover more about wheelchair tennis and the 22 sports in the Paris 2024 Paralympic sports programme 

Book your tickets for the Paralympic Games by visiting the Paris 2024 ticketing website