Cristina Gonçalves was born on 15 September 1977 in Lisbon, Portugal.[1] When she was 11 months old, she contracted meningitis resulting in cerebral palsy.[2] She began competing nationally in boccia in 1998,[1] having taken up the sport at the age of 14. She is classified as BC2.[2] Gonçalves' first overall victory came in 2003 in the boccia World Cup in New Zealand.[3]
She attended her first Summer Paralympics in 2004 in Athens, Greece, where she won a gold medal as part of the team BC1-2 competition with a victory over New Zealand.[4] She continued to compete at successive Paralympic Games,[5] where she won a silver medal in the team event at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China, but failed to win a medal at the 2012 Games in London, England.[6]
At the 2016 Summer Paralympics, she was the only female player on the mixed boccia team. They qualified out of the group stage following a loss to Argentina followed by victories over Slovakia and Brazil. They were beaten 8-5 by Japan in the semi-final,[7] resulting in a rematch against Argentina in the bronze medal match. Despite the earlier 1–7 loss, they defeated Argentina 6–2 to win the bronze medal.[8]
