Rafael Botello


Rafael Botello Jiménez is a Spanish wheelchair athlete specializing in long distance events. He has represented Spain at the 2008 and the 2012 Summer Paralympics.

Personal life

Rafa born in Vic, Barcelona on 23 February 1979 and since then still living in Manlleu.
His father was born in Melilla, a Spanish enclave in northern Africa., the mother was born in Arquillos, Jaen.
Marisa, is your only sister.
In 2002, he was in a bicycle accident that left him a paraplegic because of damage to the Thoracic spinal nerve 11 and 12. Prior to his accident he played a number of sports on the amateur level including football, kickboxing and athletics.

Athletics

Rafa is a T54 competitor. In 2017, he was the Spanish national record holder in the 1500 meters, on the track, and 2011 in 5 km, 10 km and 2017 in marathon on the road. He was the first Spanish wheelchair competitor to go sub 1:25 on in the marathon and sub 10:15 in the 5,000 meters.
In an average year of training and competition, he will cover a distance. At the same time, he will spend six days a week training. Inside Spain, there is little funding for wheelchair marathon races and few money races and no professional category. Thus, he spends a lot of the time competing outside the country.
In order to get sponsorship, he had to personally approach and sell himself to potential sponsors.
At the 2006 World Championships in Sweden, Botello won a gold medal in the 3,000 meter event. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in the marathon where he finished seventh. In 2010, he competed in the New York City Marathon, finishing in a time of 1:47.39, making him the first Spanish wheelchair competitor to finish the race. The 2010 race was his fifth time competing in the race in which he placed in the top ten three times. In 2011, he did the running part of the CAN Triathlon Mallorca, with Vicente Javier Torres Ramis doing the swimming leg and Joan Llaneras doing the cycling component.
Botello competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. He failed to make the finals in the 5,000 meters event. He finished ninth in the marathon with a time of 1:33.05. Melilla hosted a half marathon in November 2012 that he participated in. It was the first half marathon he competed in, and took place in his father's hometown. In March 2013, he competed at the Los Angeles Marathon. In March 2013, he participated in an international training camp for wheelchair athletes held in Costa Rica.
WORLD MARATHON MAJORS:
Best results:
Chicago Marathon 2010:
Berlin Marathon 2012:
London Marathon 2017:
Boston Marathon 2011:
New York Marathon 2017:
Tokyo Marathon 2018:
New York Marathon
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011. 2013. 2014 y. 2015. 2016, 2017 2018 and
London Marathon:
2008, 2009, 2010 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 no grip, 2016, 2017 2018 and 2019
Chicago Marathon:
2009, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015., 2016 2017 2018 and 2019
Boston Marathon:
2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2009
Berlin:
2003, 2005, 2006, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018
Tokyo Marathon:
2018
DIAMOND/GOLDEN LEAGUE IAAF:
7º Golden League París 2009
7º Golden League Londres 2010
7º Diamond League Laussane 2016
8º Diamond League París 2010
8º Diamond League Laussane 2010 and 2018.
OTHERS COMPETITION:
4 times first Half Marathon of Portugal 2005, 2014, 2015 Y 2016.
3 times first Maratona de Treviso 2012, 2014 y 2015.
3 times first Maraton de Lanzarote 2008, 2009 y 2010.
3 times first Carrera Liberty, Madrid 2009, 2015 y 2017.
2 times first del Medio Maratón de Cali 2008 y 2009.
2 times first del Maraton de Valencia 2007 y 2010.
2 times first Gran Canaria Maratón 2014 y 2015.
First in the Dubai Marathon, Arabian Emirates Unites – 2017.
First Grandmas Marathon en Duluth, Minnesota 2007.
First Carlsbad 5000, San Diego 2013.
First Corsa Internazionale Su Estrada 2014.
First GP Rezept-Sport Wheelchair Racing en Sochi, 2015.
First Paris Marathon 2016.
First Los Angeles Marathon 2020.
First Maraton de Málaga 2017.
First Maratona di Roma 2018.
First Carrera Ser Inspiración, Buga 2018.
First 10 km Salinas, 2018.
2º Maratona de San Antonio di Padova 2007.
2º Beirut Marathon 2005.
2º JoongAng Seoul Marathon 2014.
3º Bolder Boulder 10 km, Colorado en 2010.
3º Outeniqua Wheelchair Challenge en George 2008.
3º Durban Marathon 2008.
3º BUPA Great North Run de Newcastle 2008, 2010, 2013 y 2014.
3º Half Marathon, Lisbon 2015.
3º Westminster mile, Londres 2016
3º Vitality 10.000, Londres 2016.
3º Manchester 10 km 2019.
3º Half Marathon Guadalajara, México 2020.
4º New York Half Marathon 2018.
4º Peachtree Road Race 10k Atlanta 2014.
4º Tyne Tunnel 2 km Internacional Wheelchair 2015.
5º Rolling Rampage, Ottawa 2008 y 2016.
5º London Half Marathon, England 2019.
Track:
100 mts: 17.29 s – Hospitalet 2007.
200 mts: 29.40 s – Fuenlabrada 2007.
400 mts: 52.89 s – Logroño 2009.
800 mts: 1 min 39,92 s – Atlanta 2007.
1500 mts: 3:00:26 – Sharjah 2017.
5000 mts: 10 min 07,04 s – Sharjah 2016 2016.
10.000 mts: 21 min 23 s – Arbon 2005.
4X400 mts 4 min 00,90 s – Espoo 2005 – NATIONAL RECORD.
3.000 mts: 6 min 53,05 s – Bollnas – NATIONAL RECORD.
Route:
1 mile : 3 min 25,08 – Westminster Mile, Londres – National Record.
5 km: 10 min 25,13 s – Cedartown 2013 – National Record.
10 km: 20 min 10,8 s – Al-ain 2009 – National Record.
Half Marathon: 44 min 33 s – Lisboa 2014.
Marathon: 1 h 22 min 09 s – Boston 2017 – National Record.
BEST MARATHON TIME:
1h 22′ 09″ – Boston 2017
1h 22´ 18″ – San Antonio de Padova 2007.
1h 23′ 00″ – Grandmas Marathon, Duluth 2012.
1h 23′ 53″ – Paralympic Games, Beijing 2008.
1h 25′ 14″ – Boston 2011.
1h 26′ 12″ – Treviso 2010.
1h 26′ 33″ – Treviso 2012.
1h 26′ 57″ – Boston 2014.
1h 27′ 05″ – Grandmas Marathon, Duluth 2013.
1h 27´ 43″ – Grandmas Marathon, Duluth 2016.
1h 27′ 45″ – Oita Wheelchair Marathon 2007.
1h 28′ 24″ – Wheelchair Marathon, Oensingen 2007.
1h 28′ 45″ – Grandmas Marathon, Duluth 2007.
1h 28′ 46″ – Chicago 2010.
1h 29′ 23″ – San Antonio de Padova 2008.
1h 29′ 33″ – Seoul Wheelchair Marathon 2016.
1h 29´ 49″ – Grandmas Marathon, Duluth 2017.
1h 29′ 56″ – Oita Wheelchair Marathon 2006.
MY MARATHON
National team.
Paralympic Games, London 2012 – 9º.
Paralympic Beijing 2008 – 11º.
World Championship: CRISTHCHURCH 2011 13º.
European Championship: ESPOO 2005 –12º.
Individual
13 times – New York – 2006: 10º. 2007: 9º. 2008: 12º. 2009: 8º. 2010: 9º. 2011: 10º. 2013: 11ª. 2014: 15ª. 2015: 11º. 2016: 12º. 2017: 7º. 2018: 15º. 2019: 16º
12 – Grandmas Marathon – 2006: 4º. 2007: 1º. 2010: 2º. 2011: 3º. 2012: 3º. 2013: 4º. 2014: 2º. 2015: 2º. 2016: 2º. 2017: 4º. 2018: 6º. 2019: 4º.
11 times – London – 2008: 9º. 2009: 8º. 2010: 12º. 2012: 15º. 2013: 21º. 2014: 13º. 2015: 27º 2016: 11º. 2017: 5º. 2018: 17º. 2019: 21..
10 times – Boston – 2009: 6º. 2010: 6º. 2011 5º. 2012 18º. 2013: 13º. 2014: 12º. 2015: 13º. 2017: 8º. 2018: 13º. 2019: 21º.
9 times – Paris – 2005: 8º. 2006: 7º. 2007: 6º. 2008: 5º. 2010: 8º. 2011: 5º. 2014: 11º. 2016: 1º. 2017: 8º.
8 times – Chicago – 2009: 4º. 2010: 3º. 2013: 6º. 2014: 19º. 2015: 11º. 2016: 11º. 2017: 5º. 2018: 22º. 2019: 15º.
8 – Berlín – 2003: 61º. 2006: 8º. 2007: 7º. 2012: 3º. 2016: 8º. 2017: 19º. 2018: 19º. 2019: 15º.
7 times – Los Angeles – 2011: 11º. 2013: 2º. 2014: 2º. 2015: 8º. 2016: 2º. 2019: 5º. 2020: 1º.
7 – Treviso – 2009: 4º. 2010: 2º. 2011: 6º. 2012: 1º. 2014: 1º. 2015: 1º. 2016: 3º.
6 times – Seoul Wheelchair Marathon – 2006: 7º. 2007: 8º. 2011: 10º. 2012: 9º. 2016: 9º. 2018: 15º.
5 times – Lanzarote – 2008: 1º. 2009: 1º. 2010: 1º. 2011: 4º. 2012: 9º.
3 times – Oita – 2005: 14º. 2006: 18º. 2007: 12º.
2 times – Padova – 2007: 2º. 2008: 8º.
2 – Oensingen – 2005: 9º. 2007: 8º.
2 – Valencia – 2007: 1º. 2010: 1º.
2 – Shenckon – 2004: 35º. 2006: 6º.
2 – Gran Canaria 2012 : 1º. 2014: 1º.
2 – Sevilla – 2004: 4º. 2006: 3º.
2 – Dubai – 2017: 1º – 2018: 8º
2 – Málaga – 2017: 1º, 2018: 2º
1 time – Roma – 2018: 1º
1 – Tokyo – 2018: 14º
1 – Outeniqua Wheelchair, George – 2008: 3º.
1 – JoongAng Seoul Marathon – 2014: 2º.
1 – Durban – 2008: 3º.
1 – Beirut – 2005: 2º.
1 – Robledo de Chavela, Madrid – 2010: 1º. Relieve marathon.
1 – Ironman Lanzarote 1º.
1 – Barcelona – 2004: 2º.
1 – San José – 2016: 3º.
1 – Dalian Marathon – 2017: 11º.

Other sports

TRIATHLON
In 2014 I did a little stop in my sports carree to fulfill a dream, i.e. to be a Finisher of the Toughest IRONMAN race in the world. Lanzarote and the Canary Islands was the race of my choice and it took place on the 17th of May 2014. I did finish it and was the first Spanish wheelchair athlete to finish the toughest IRONMAN on the planet.
Two weeks later, feeling strong and ready, I managed to win the Duathlon World Championship in the Spanish town of Pontevedra.
Even if triathlon is not my sport, I did obtain two gold medals in Spanish Duathlon Championships on the sprint distance and two more on the long distance, on top of a victory on my very first triathlon, the IRONMAN 70.3 Lanzarote.
Triathlon
Winner of the Lanzarote Ironman in 2014.
Winner of the 70.3 Lanzarote.
Duathlon
World Champion in Pontevedra 2014.
Silver medal in the World Champion in Gijon 2011.
National Champion in Pontevedra 2013 and Soria 2015.
National Champion in long distance in Orihuela 2014 and 2015.
HANDBIKE
National Champion in trime trial and route 2013.

Historical

Spanish with more National Record of Spain in the category T-54.
Only Spanish to win in three different sports in the same year.
First Spanish to under 1h25 in Maraton.
Spanish first on the way down from 20:30 in 10 kilometers.
Only Spanish invited more than 10 times in the best marathon in the world, New York.
First Spanish to under 1:40 in the 800 meters.
First Spanish to under 10:15 in the 5,000 meters.
Spanish that more times has lowered in marathon of 1h30.
First Spaniard to compete in the 6 World Marathon Majors as elite athlete.
Spanish with more World Majors Marathon
Spanish first in finishing the
Ironman of Lanzarote.
Victories in the United States, Uruguay, Ecuador, Russia, Sweden, Colombia, Italy, France, Portugal, United Arab Emirates and Spain.
Podiums in Korea, England, Germany, Costa Rica, Lebanon and South Africa.
First Spanish in finishing the big six Marathon in the same year.