Quick Facts
Biography
Mireia Belmonte García (born 10 November 1990) is a Spanish competitive swimmer who specializes in medley, freestyle and butterfly events. She became the first Spanish woman to win an Olympic swimming gold medal when she won gold in the 200-meter butterfly at the 2016 Summer Olympics. She currently holds five world records in short course events.
Swimming career
2006 Youth World Championships
At the 2006 FINA Youth World Championships, she was the Junior World Champion in 400 m freestyle and 400 m individual medley, and the Junior European Champion in 200 m freestyle and 400 m individual medley.
2007 European SC Championship
She achieved the 2nd place in 400 m individual medley in the 2007 European SC Championship with 4:31.06, just behind the Italian Alessia Filippi.This year she started to train with Carles Subirana.
2008 European Championship
On 21 March 2008, at the 2008 European LC Championships held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, Belmonte won the women's 200 m individual medley breaking the European Championships record with the time of 2:11.16. She also reached the 8th place in the 400 m individual medley. In December 2008 at the European Short Course Swimming Championships 2008, Belmonte set the short-course world record for 400 m individual medley (4:25.06), bettering the 4:25.87 set by Julia Smit earlier in the year.
2010 FINA World Swimming Championships
In December 2010 she won three gold medals and a silver medal in the FINA Short Course World Championship.
2012 Summer Olympics
In August 2012 Belmonte won two silver medals at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London: one in 200m butterfly and another one in 800m freestyle. She became the first Spanish swimmer to win two Olympic medals.
| 2012 Summer Olympics Events | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Time | Place | |
| 400m IM | 4:35.62 | 8 | |
| 400m Freestyle | 4:08.23 | 13 | |
| 200m IM | 2:11.54 | 10 | |
| 200m Butterfly | 2:05.25 | Silver | |
| 4 × 200 m Freestyle Relay | 7:54.59 | 10 | |
| 800m Freestyle | 8:18.76 | Silver | |
2013 FINA World Cup series
Belmonte posted a 7:59.34 in the 800 SCM Freestyle to become the first woman to ever break 8:00. This was her first freestyle world record.
2014 FINA World Championships
Belmonte won four individual gold medals and broke two world records:
2016 Summer Olympics
Belmonte won gold in the women's 200m butterfly in Rio. She clocked in at 2:04.85, just 3 hundredths of a second ahead of the silver medalist, Australia swimmer Madeline Grove, who finished with the quickest time in the semifinal. She was the first Spanish female swimmer to become an Olympic champion. Previously she had won a bronze medal in the 400m individual medley, behind Katinka Hosszu and Maya DiRado.
World Records
| Event | Time | Date | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 200m butterfly (SC) | 1:59.61 | December 3, 2014 | Doha, Qatar |
| 400m freestyle (SC) | 3:54.52 | August 11, 2013 | Berlin, Germany |
| 800m freestyle (SC) | 7:59.34 | August 10, 2013 | Berlin, Germany |
| 1500m freestyle (SC) | 15:19.71 | December 12, 2014 | Sabadell, Spain |