POSTHUMOUS
RIERA Cristina – ESP (PVE)
Cristina Riera was a specialist doctor of rehabilitation from Barcelona, Spain. She became involved in ParaVolley following her involvement with the Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games.
Along with Dr. Aaron Danziger and Pierre Pinelli (1997), Cristina was instrumental in transitioning the ParaVolley classification system from points based to classes of MD/D (sitting) and A,B,C (Standing).
WOVD appointed her as Medical Director and Head of Classification in 1998. Together with Jenni Cole and Saro Keresteciyan, Cristina developed the first ever classification manual and classifier education program in 2001.
She was an international Classifier at the Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004) Paralympic Games, and finished her time as Medical Director after the 2006 Triple World Championships in Roermond, The Netherlands.
Cristina was a classifier and Federation Board member of the highest integrity and displayed compassion and professionalism in her work and personal relationships. Cristina passed away in 2018 after a long battle with cancer and left behind husband Dr. Ramon Mirales and son Alexander Mirales Riera.