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Born | Pretoria, South Africa | 24 January 1991||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Country | Germany | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | T44 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Club | TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Karl-Heinz Due | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Irmgard Bensusan (born 24 January 1991) is a South African born Paralympic sprinter who now competes for Germany, mainly in T44 classification events. [1] Bensusan competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics where she won three silver medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metre sprints.
Bensusan was born on 24 January 1991 in Pretoria, South Africa. She studied accounting at the University of Johannesburg. [2]
Bensusan first took up athletics as an able-bodied competitor whilst living in South Africa. [2] In 2009 whilst competing in a hurdle event, she tore the nerves in her right knee. The injury resulted in paralysis in her right leg below her knee. [2] Bensusan looked at becoming classified as a para-sport athlete but was unable to gain a classification from the South African Paralympic Committee. [2] As her mother was German she was eligible to represent Germany, and so she travelled to Europe to take up residency in Leverkusen and was subsequently classified as a T44 track and field athlete. [2]
In 2014, she represented Germany at her first major international event, travelling to Swansea in Wales to compete in the 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships. There she won three silver medals, in the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints. In the two shorter events she was beaten by the Dutch 'Blade Babe' Marlou van Rhijn, and in the 400 metres she was beaten by a new world record time by France's Marie-Amélie Le Fur. A year later Bensusan took part in the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha.
In the buildup to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, Bensusan took part in her second European Championships, this time in Grosseto, Italy. Bensusan was able to win gold in both the 100m and 200m events. Her times running up to Rio saw Bensusan qualify for all three sprint events at the Summer Paralympics: the 100m, 200m and 400m races. She took silver in all three events, losing the gold medals to van Rhijn (100m and 200m) and Le Fur (400m). [2]
Bensusan won the gold medal in the women's 200 metres T64 event at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships held in Paris, France. [3]
Jerome Singleton is a Paralympic athlete from the United States competing mainly in category T44 sprint events. Because he had no fibula in his right calf, his leg was amputated below the knee when he was 18 months old.
April Holmes is a Paralympic athlete from the USA competing mainly in category T44 sprint events.
Marie-Amélie Le Fur she is a French Paralympic athlete from Vendôme, Centre Region, competing in T44 sprint and F44 long jump events. Her left leg was amputated below the knee following a motor scooter accident in 2004. Before she lost her leg, she was a French junior running champion. As of 2023, Le Fur is the President of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee.
Tatyana McFadden is an American Paralympic athlete competing in the category T54. McFadden has won twenty Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games and the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability in 2015.
Bethany "Bethy" Woodward is a former British Paralympic athlete who competed in sprint events in T37 events. She competed at the highest level of her sport, representing England at the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Great Britain in the IPC Athletic World Championships and the 2012 Summer Paralympics.
Sophie Kamlish is a British Paralympic athlete who competes in sprint events in T44 events. She represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics.
The 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships was the biggest track and field competition for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Lyon, France, and lasted from 20 to 28 July. Around 1,100 athletes competed, from 94 different countries. The event was held in the Stade du Rhône located at the Parc de Parilly in Vénissieux, in Lyon Metropolis.
Sophie Megan Hahn, is a parasport athlete from England competing mainly in T38 sprint events. In 2013, she qualified for the 2013 IPC Athletics World Championships, selected for the T38 100m and 200m. She took the gold in the 100m sprint, setting a new world record.
Nikol Rodomakina is a Paralympic athlete from Russia competing mainly in category T46 sprint and F46 long jump events. Between 2011 and 2013 Rodomakina was World, Paralympic and European champion in the F46 long jump.
Kadeena Cox is a parasport athlete competing in T38 para-athletics sprint events and C4 para-cycling and British television presenter. She was part of the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships and the 2016 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships, in which she won world titles in the T37 100m and C4 500m time trial respectively.
Georgina Hermitage, is a British former parasport athlete competing in T37 sprint events. In 2015, she qualified for the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, selected for the T37 100m and 200m. She took the gold in the 400m sprint, setting a new world record.
Laura Sugar is a British Paralympic athlete who competes in sprint events under the T44 classification. Before taking up athletics Sugar represented Wales at field hockey captaining the under-20s team. She has now switched to canoeing.
Ahmad Almutairi is a Kuwaiti para-sport athlete who competes as a T33 classification track and field athlete and as a wheelchair basketball player, both at national level. Despite the fact that Almutairi held the Paralympic world record for his classification in the 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m events, major world titles eluded him due to the fact that his classification was under-represented and he was forced to compete against less severely disabled athletes in the T44 class. He eventually won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
Hamide Kurt Doğangün is a Turkish Paralympian athlete competing in the T53 disability class sprint events of 100m and 400m, T52/T53 class middle-distance event of 800m as well as T53/T54 class 4 × 400 m relay event.
Zübeyde Süpürgeci is a Turkish Paralympian athlete competing in the T54 disability class events of 100m, 400m and 800m as well as T53/T54 class 4 × 400 m relay event.
Zeynep Acet is a Turkish Paralympian athlete competing in the T53 disability class sprint events of 100m and 400m. She is a member of the Bağcılar Belediyesi Disabled SK in Istanbul.
Nyoshia Cain is a Trinidad and Tobago athlete who won bronze medals at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships, 2016 Summer Paralympics and the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships.
Marlene van Gansewinkel is a Dutch Paralympic athlete. In 2021, she won the gold medal in both the women's 100 metres T64 and 200 metres T64 events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. She also won the bronze medal in the women's long jump T64 event.
Marissa Papaconstantinou is a Greek-Canadian Paralympic athlete who competes in the 100m T64 in international level events. She qualified for the 2020 Summer Paralympics, in 100m T64 and 200m T64.
Lahja Ishitile is a Namibian Paralympic T11 track and field athlete.