A chat with Johana Martínez Vega -'Wheelchair tennis has showed me the world'
My name is Johana Martínez Vega, I’m from Colombia and I’m years I was born with Cerebral Palsy and I have a motor nerves problem, hemiplegics and fall foot. I graduated as a Sport Manager at the Distrital University in Bogotá-Colombia, I'm a wheelchair tennis player and in several times I have been working for the wheelchair tennis in Colombia, specially motivating more children and woman to join this sport.
I started playing wheelchair tennis in September 2003, after two months I played my first national tournament and I won in my category. In March 2004 the Silver Fund was launched in Colombia, and ITF Wheelchair Tennis Development Officer Mark Bullock visited the country. I wanted to practice in a high level and I asked Mark the possibility to practice in another country for some months.
In May 2005 the ITF invited me to the Netherlands to be part of the first wheelchair tennis development team, I was training with the coach Aad Zwaan and some of the best players in the world and I played some European tournaments and I won my first points for the international ranking. Then I won the Ossur Open 2005. In July 2005 I worked as a volunteer at the Colombian Tennis Federation with the wheelchair tennis program. In November 2005 I was invited as an embassador to El Salvador to help for the project there. Since I start in this sport I have tried to show to different people sports as a possibility of a personal satisfaction, a reason to dream, happiness and feel full of life with the thinks you do with your heart.
I have won some international tournaments and at the Parapanamerican Games 2007 I won the bronze medal. In November I played the Silver Fund Cup, I won the tournament and I received a Wild Card for the Paralympic Games Beijing 2008. I’m 28 in the world and No.1 in Colombia. In 2008 I won gold medal at the National Paralympic Games. In 2009 I won some international tournaments and in 2010 I participated for the first time at the Invacare World Team Cup for Colombia and we qualify to the event in 2011. We have a silver medal at the Parapanamerican Guadalajara 2011 and I qualify to the paralympic games London 2012, with my ranking we have the change to have a wild card to other Colombian player for doubles and we were at the top 8 couples there. In double we won silver at the Parapanamerican games Toronto 2015. I didn’t go to Rio 2016 as I had a surgery. After a long stop, I started with good results in 2019 winning different tournaments and getting better in the ranking again. At the parapan games Lima 2019 we won the silver medal in doubles.
What are you doing in lockdown to keep active & prepare for a return to tennis?
Before the lockdown I was in physiotherapy without playing tennis as I had a hard injury. In the lockdown, I’ve been trying to train with the plan my coach send me every week, but the truth is that at this moment my family and me has a lot of responsibilities that don’t allow me to really train the way I should, in our situation every day sadly is something more important than my career, as health is first. The issue is that I don’t rest the time I should, I’m sleeping few ours everyday and my body feel it, few weeks ago I got sick, but I’m starting to feel better, and I hope to be back with my training even if is at home, being very careful with my shoulder, focus a lot with the right therapy to recover. I have seen how all the other athletes have the opportunity to train during this time, I’m conscious that after the lockdown is going to be a huge challenge for me to go back to tennis but I love the sport and I will try again as I have done before, even if I know with the past of the years is more difficult but never impossible.
What else are you doing during lockdown to keep occupied?
Life changed for everybody with this situation, but when is combine with other changes and specially with health situations is really complicated. All my focus at this moment is my family health. I wish I had the option to choose in what to be occupied during the lockdown, if I can really call it like that for my family. A disabled aunt lives with us and during the pandemic she was in the UCI for a month, we had to go everyday to the hospital to help her taking a lot of risk, the good news is that she’s now at home but with a lot of attendances. At the same time, my dad had a surgery, at this moment now at least one or 2 times a week we have to go to hospitals, we understand is a big risk but is the only option, however we have all the care protocols. I have a lot of commitments with different wheelchair tennis projects in Colombia, I’m working in that but at this moment is hard for me to focus most of them.
Also, because my sister and her 2 years old child visited us because of my father health, but she couldn’t go back to Berlin where she lives with her husband. Their flight was postponed because of the situation, the child demands a lot of attentions, specially when he has to be all day at home and my sister has to work from home. We have the responsibility for 3 high risk members of the family and the child, specially as my sister and her baby health insurance term in Colombia ends.
During my live I have faces a lot of challenges and with all I have learned a lot and at the end I’m always pushing forward and this is not going to be the exception.
What are the positives of lockdown for you?
At the end, I know live is perfect and is the way you see it and how to face the situations you are dealing with. The true is that at this moment for my sport I feel not so positive, but everything happen for a reason and like everybody now, I will learn from this and in all situation there are always positive things. Is a little crazy at this moment at home, normally 1 or 2 people live with me when I’m not traveling for my sport, now we are 4 adults, the 2 years old child and my disabled aunt, even if sometimes is not so easy as our space is not so big, I’m so happy sharing with my family, specially my sister and my nephew who I can see only one time a year and not for so long. I try to play the Berlin Open to visit her. Also, my sister as a Colombian doctor has been an amazing help for our father and our aunt situation, without her the situation would be harder for them as the health system here is not the same as in Europe.
How did you get started in wheelchair tennis?
I was studying sport management at the district university and I was doing a learning work at the canoe federation, closer to a tennis where I saw some wheelchair tennis. I went to talk with Fabio Padilla, a wheelchair tennis player thinking about to make a project for disabled people at the canoe sport. By my surprise I told me I could play wheelchair tennis but I thought that was not possible as I can walk and all the players were in a wheelchair. I tried just for his invitation and I couldn’t believe how they do it, was impossible to move with the racket. Those days I just continue with my Project and after 10 days of trying the wheelchair, he invited me to a national tournament in Cali, I went there just for fun and my Project, borrowed his big wheelchair, with the surprise that I won in my category even against men and we won in doubles. That tournament change my mind and I started to dream again, maybe the wheelchair is the implement that can help me to make my dream as a child come true. I came back to Bogotá to buy my own tennis wheelchair.
Who has had the most influence on your career?
My mom, she’s a warrior and my biggest fan. Without too much knowledge about my disability, she never gave up on me and always believed that I could do more than the doctors told her. In some point my mom played recreational tennis, she loved it and because of her I start to feel this passion. My family always support me and without my parents and my two sister’s support would be very difficult to keep playing wheelchair tennis.
What is the highlight of your career?
As athletes we always think that our highlight is to be at a Paralympic Games, but the reality I think is what you have done to be there or even if you never get there, what you did with the opportunities this life has given to you. That’s why, I believe that I have had a successful happy career and I have a really nice memories as a wheelchair tennis player around the world. It’s difficult to name a special highlight of my career, there are matches and tournaments that looked impossible to win and done it somehow it is a really nice feeling as can be a big surprise for yourself. Those moments can give you a lot of confidence and also motivation to keep improve and go for more. To be at my first Parapan games Rio 2007 with a short career and win bronze medal was amazing. But I had the big dream to be the first Colombian to have a direct entry to a Paralympic games with ranking and give the chance in my country to receive a wild card for other player with the argument to complete the double draw. I did crazy things to make it happen, I didn’t have the budget to travel around the world for my qualification goal, but I did it and I will never forget everything that happen during those months, it was a big challenge, I live all emotions, feelings humans have. My heart was stronger than my body and won against all the expectancy. I ended at the top 21 of the world and Colombia received the wild card for doubles. I though ok, nothing will be more challenge that this great qualification, but again something unexpected happen, that year and the one before I was facing an illness, and before our double match with Angelica Bernal against Chile I had a really hard pain that day we arrive to the courts, and I was all day lay down in a sofa and it was impossible to postpone the match, I couldn’t warm up for the match but with the first call I just went to the restroom to watch my face and get ready to play and again my heart won against my body and after a very long match, with Angelica we did a great job and we won the match in 3 long sets. After a long career, now, winning for me is just to win against the situations, specially against my thoughts, give everything out or on court and enjoy the moment I am in.
What has wheelchair tennis given you over the years?
Wheelchair tennis has giving me a big hope in life, show me that nothing is impossible if you work for it as I made my impossible child dream come true, I’m very grateful with everything that has happened in my life and how things bring me to the way I should transit. When I look back in my career is nice to recognize for myself what people tell me about my story and my achievements, that sometimes I didn’t value but after a while I realize that I have done a lot in my career with the few opportunities I had since my start, my tennis has giving me a lot of motivations and has showed me how strong and resilience I can be, teach me how to face the different challenges in life.
It is nice to see how things have changed for wheelchair tennis in Colombia since my time, even if I know there are a lot of things to work in my country. I love to give back people something with my experience over those years and help them somehow with my possibilities using my experience during those years. I have had the chance to be an ITF player ambassador in El Salvador and Ecuador, and of course in my country. The last time, I was invited to Uruguay but the schedule didn’t work for me, I hope I have more chances like that.
Wheelchair tennis has showed me the world, knowing new cultures and learn from every experience, you can learn a lot of things in live, but I think one of the most important is to be grateful and positive with all situations and live your life with a lot of empathy. I have had a successful happy career. People used to tell me I’m crazy how I have done things for wheelchair tennis, and my truth is that I’m so grateful then to be crazy, otherwise I would never get what I was looking for. I’m very grateful with life and happy that even if there are bad moments, I didn’t give up as my mother teach me everyday with her example. Just learn from your mistakes and keep going.
What are your goals for the future?
I hope to play my last Paralympic games Tokyo 2020 but now I don’t know what is going to happen with this situation. During my career I had a lot of goals that I achieved and also, some frustration, now I want to keep improving and enjoying playing tennis, there is always something to learn. When I retire as a player, I still have the idea to live in Europe but always with the goal to keep helping the growth of wheelchair tennis in Colombia as I have done since the beginning and look for the opportunities I always wanted for me for other athletes. I hope to inspire and support a lot of people.