His willpower and spirit of self-improvement allows him to stay active as a high-level sportsman, giving us a gratifying lesson in perseverance. He was trained as an elite sportsman who, at age 17, still is the youngest athlete to have participated in the Winter Olympics, exactly in the XVI Winter Olympics celebrated in Sarajevo. A year later, in 1985, while participating at Europe’s Ski Cup, he suffered a serious accident in one of the slopes that left him prostrated in a wheelchair, suffering from paraplegia localized at the dorsal level.
His life suffered a traumatic breakage, presenting him with an uncertain future. The wheelchair became a must to help him move. But far from giving up and after a hard adaption period, his sportive spirit helped him to regain new light after the accident that seemed to have blackened his life.
Car racing, his other great passion, made Albert break the limits imposed to every human being in his condition. With unusual courage he started a new sports life in car racing that would also take him to the highest levels in the difficult and complex world of rallies, gaining the respect from both other rival pilots and the public. Today, he is the only disabled pilot who participated in the World Rally Championship competing against rivals with no disability.
Albert participated in the Dakar Rally departing from Lisbon on January 6, 2007. The itinerary was around 9,000 kms., of which 5,000 were high speed.
His life, apart from sports, may be considered equally exceptional, as, despite his paraplegia, he became the father of Cristina, a daughter born in a totally natural way. All of this has made him a very valuable person to all those struggling to overcome difficulties, as they feel his example grant them the necessary optimism to confront an uncertain future with dignity and hope.
As culmination to all this, a documentary about his life and experiences has been filmed showing Albert’s life in a graphic manner with the aim of proving that despite what destiny sometimes might decide, things may not be as unchangeable as they appear.