He was awarded the prestigious prize in person by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.

García won K44 under-75 kilograms gold at the Parapan American Games in Lima last year, and is preparing for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Paralympics in 2021 where taekwondo is due to make its debut on the sports programme.

"The truth is I am very happy," said García after his award win.

"I never expected it and I was surprised by the news.

"I take this award as a motivation since we are one year away from the Paralympic Games, and it is a recognition based on the results and the effort we have made to put the country's name at the top."

García learnt in January that he had qualified for Tokyo 2020 through the World Taekwondo rankings, before COVID-19 forced the delay to the Games.

He is currently ranked as the world number two in the K44 under-75kg class, with silver medals at the European Open and Mexican Open among his other achievements.

"To reach this stage of my sports career, there have been many competitions that I have gone through, and not all have been won, but it has come from less to more and in all the competitions we came out winners," García added.

"The first times we came without any medal, and it was ugly, but that was what motivated me to keep going, in addition to seeing my colleagues who gave good results.

"Sometimes I had to leave empty-handed, but it drove us to want to win.

"I am very grateful to all the people who have been watching me, who have followed me from the beginning and who are there when I have a stumble."