MANCHON Blanca

Spain
Sailing
6 Mar 1987
34
Female
1.66/5'5''
SEVILLE
 
Spain
SEVILLE
 
Spain

Events and Medals

Discipline Event Rank Medal
SAL Sailing Women's Windsurfer - RS:X 11

Schedule

Change
Start Time Location Event Status
Enoshima
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 01
#1
Finished
Followed by 		Enoshima
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 02
#2
Finished
Followed by 		Enoshima
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 03
#3
Finished
Kamakura
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 04
#4
Finished
Followed by 		Kamakura
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 05
#5
Finished
Followed by 		Kamakura
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 06
#6
Finished
Fujisawa
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 07
#7
Finished
Followed by 		Fujisawa
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 08
#8
Finished
Followed by 		Fujisawa
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 09
#9
Finished
Kamakura
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 10
#10
Finished
Followed by 		Kamakura
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 11
#11
Finished
Followed by 		Kamakura
Women's Windsurfer - RS:X - Race 12
#12
Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

:
Olympic Games
RankEventYearLocation
8Women's Mistral2004Athens, GRE

World Championships
RankEventYearLocation
11RS:X2014Santander, ESP
12RS:X2018Aarhus, DEN
12RS:X2011Fremantle, WA, AUS
17RS:X2007Cascais, POR
27Women's Mistral2003Cadiz, ESP

Class World Championships
RankEventYearLocation
1RS:X2010Kerteminde, DEN
2RS:X2009Weymouth, GBR
8RS:X2017Enoshima, JPN
9RS:X2020Sorrento, VIC, AUS
16RS:X2019Torbole, ITA
22RS:X2021Cadiz, ESP

Class European Championships
RankEventYearLocation
6RS:X2020Vilamoura, POR
7RS:X2021Vilamoura, POR
9RS:X2019Palma de Mallorca, ESP
16RS:X2017Marseille, FRA

World Cup
RankEventYearLocation
3RS:X2018Miami, FL, USA
7RS:X2021Medemblik, NED
8RS:X2019Miami, FL, USA
:
Athlete, Business Owner, Motivational Speaker
:
Husband Manuel Halcon, son Noah [2016]
:
English, Spanish
:
Club Nautico Puerto Sherry [El Puerto de Santa Maria, ESP]
:
Federico Exposito [personal], ITA
:
Her parents Antonia and Francisco have competed in sailing at international level in Europe in veteran categories. Her brother Curro [Francisco] is an elite sailing coach, who has trained the likes of 2012 Olympic silver medallist Tuuli Petaja. The family as a whole has received the Seville City Medal award in recognition of their achievements. (nauticosevilla.es, 21 Jun 2014, 01 Jun 2013)
:
She was forced to jump into the water to avoid colliding with a rival while competing at the 2014 World Cup event in Hyeres, France. She was struck on her head and her ribs, and was knocked unconscious. She returned to competition two months later. (sailing.org, 01 Feb 2015; globalstylus.com, 29 Apr 2014)

After experiencing pain in her left shoulder for six years, she had surgery in April 2012 that ruled her out of competition for eight months. (OriginUniteSpain, 15 Apr 2014; traumatologiadeportiva.com, 01 Feb 2013; blancamanchon.com, 20 Apr 2012)
:
She began sailing in the Optimist class at age seven. She got involved in windsurfing at age nine and started competing in the RS:X class in 2006. (World Sailing profile, 30 Sep 2019; bbc.co.uk, 26 Jul 2011; surfertoday.com, 11 Nov 2010)
:
She was involved in handball and artistic gymnastics before she was encouraged to start sailing by her family. "All my family practised windsurfing. That was what we all were doing at home every weekend." (efe.com, 26 Aug 2020; rioja13tv, 19 Apr 2012)
:
To win a medal at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. (lavanguardia.com, 25 Oct 2019)
:
She trains in El Puerto de Santa Maria, Spain. (elcorreo.com, 12 Nov 2019)
:
Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal. (blancamanchon.com, 14 Jul 2015)
:
"Impossible is nothing." (blancamanchon.com, 15 Apr 2015)
:
She was named the 2013 Best Athlete in Seville, Spain. (sevillaactualidad.com, 28 May 2014)

In 2011 she received the Silver Medal for Sporting Merit from the Spanish Sports Council. The award was in recognition of her distinguished service in sport. She had received the Bronze Medal for Sporting Merit in 2006. (csd.gob.es, 28 Sep 2011; csd.gob.es, 01 Nov 2006)

She was named the 2010 Female World Sailor of the Year by the International Sailing Federation [ISAF]. (bbc.co.uk, 26 Jul 2011)

General Interest

General
MATERNITY BREAK
She did not compete at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro after taking some time away from sailing to give birth to her son Noah. She had to look for new sponsors upon her return to the sport, and managed to win gold at the 2017 Raceboard World Championships in Salou, Spain, with a borrowed board. She did secure sponsorship following the victory, and received financial support ahead of the 2017 Class World Championships in Enoshima, Japan. "I was not expecting to find myself in that situation. I knew that until I was back in the spotlight, it would be hard to find sponsors." (elcorreo.com, 12 Nov 2019; elconfidencial.com, 17 Sep 2017)

OLYMPIC EXPERIENCE
She first competed at the Olympic Games in 2004 in Athens at age 17. She missed the following three editions of the Games, and now hopes to make her second Olympic appearance at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. "I went to Athens to enjoy the experience because just being there was already a gift. Now I'm going as a much more experienced person, knowing the real value of being at a Games, and with all the rage to win a medal. I'll be there with no pressure because I know what it took for me to be there and I'll value it and enjoy it the best I can." (efe.com, 26 Aug 2020)

OTHER ROLES
She and her husband run a personal training, physiotherapy and rehabilitation business in Seville, Spain. In 2020 she launched her own line of swim suits. (elcorreo.com, 02 May 2020; as.com, 14 Apr 2020)

Legend
:
Gold Medal Event
:
Silver Medal Event
:
Bronze Medal Event
Content 1 (removed through CDN)
Content 2 (removed through CDN).
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