Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius is a South African former professional sprinter and convicted murderer. Both of his feet were amputated when he was 11 months old owing to a congenital defect; he was born missing the outside of both feet and both fibulae. Pistorius ran in both nondisabled sprint events and in sprint events for below-knee amputees. He was the 10th athlete to compete at both the Paralympic Games and Olympic Games.
Jarryd Lee Hayne is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and convicted rapist who also briefly played American football and rugby union sevens.
The 2015 Pan American Games, officially the XVII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, as governed by Pan American Sports Organization (PASO). The games were held from July 10 to 26, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; preliminary rounds in certain events began on July 7, 2015. These were the third Pan American games hosted by Canada, and the first in the province of Ontario. The Games were held at venues in Toronto and seventeen other Golden Horseshoe communities. The Pan American Games and 2015 Parapan American Games were organized by the Toronto Organizing Committee for the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games (TO2015).
Jason Smyth is an Irish retired sprint runner. He competes in the T13 disability sport classification as he is legally blind, with his central vision being affected by Stargardt's disease; he also competes in elite non-Paralympic competition. As of July 2014, Smyth holds T13 World records in the 100m and 200m events.
Haider Ali is an all-around Pakistani para-athlete who created history at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China by winning Pakistan's first ever Paralympic games medal, a silver. He also shared a new world record with his jump of 6.44 meters at the Games. He has competed at the Paralympics on four occasions in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. He has the unique record of winning a country's first ever Paralympic gold, silver and bronze medals as he is the only Pakistani to have won a medal in Paralympic history. On 3 September 2021, he became the first gold medalist for Pakistan at the Paralympics.
Tatyana McFadden is an American Paralympic athlete of Russian descent competing in the category T54. McFadden has won twenty Paralympic medals in multiple Summer Paralympic Games.
The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Parapan American Games as governed by the Americas Paralympic Committee, held from August 7 to 15, 2015 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Marking the first Parapan American games hosted by Canada, and the second major Paralympic sports event hosted by Toronto since the 1976 Summer Paralympics, the Games were held at venues in Toronto and four other Golden Horseshoe communities. Both the Parapan American and Pan American Games were organized by the Toronto 2015 Organizing Committee (TO2015).
Oscar "Oz" Sanchez is an American Paralympic handcyclist and triathlete. A former Marine, he has a spinal cord injury following a motorcycle accident in 2001. He started handcycling competitively in 2006, and competes in the H5 classification. At the 2011 Parapan American Games, Sanchez won a gold in the road race and time trial for his classification. He won medals at the 2008, 2012 Paralympic Games and 2016 Paralympic Games. Sanchez was also a medallist at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in 2009, 2010 and 2011.
Omara Durand Elías is a visually impaired Cuban sprinter, who competes in T12 and T13 events. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she won gold medals in the 100 m – T13 and 400 m – T13 competitions. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics she won the 100 m – T12 event, setting a new world record at 11.40. At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, she won a gold medal in the Women's 400m T12.
David Prince is an American sprint runner who runs in the T44 class. He was raised by missionary parents and traveled frequently, living for a while in Oaxaca, Mexico. He lost his right leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident in 2002.
Shaquille Vance is an American T42 Paralympic sprint runner and shot putter. Vance lost his leg in an American football accident in 2009. Two weeks after surgery to repair the damaged leg, no blood was circulating to his foot so his leg was removed. Before losing his leg, he was a linebacker and wide receiver for the Houston Hilltoppers.
Heather Nicole Erickson is an American Paralympic sitting volleyball player.
Claudiney Batista dos Santos is a Paralympian athlete from Brazil competing in category F57/T57 throwing events. He won a silver medal in the javelin throw at the 2012 Paralympics and a gold medal in the discus throw at the 2016 Rio Games.
Aurélie Rivard is a Canadian swimmer. After winning three Paralympics gold medals, claiming a silver Paralympic medal and setting two World Records and a Paralympic Record at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the Paraswimmer was named Canada's flag-bearer for the closing ceremony.
Omar Monterola is a Paralympian athlete from Venezuela competing in category T37 sprinting events. Monterola qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 100m, 200m and 400m sprints. He qualified for the finals of all three, winning the bronze medal in the 200m event.
Chelsey Gotell is a Canadian Paralympic swimmer and 12-time medalist. She has oculocutaneous albinism which causes her to have poor vision.
Nicaragua sent a delegation to compete at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7–18 September 2016. This was the Central American country's third appearance at the Summer Paralympic Games, having made its debut twelve years earlier at the 2004 Summer Paralympics. They were represented by three athletes, sprinter Jennifer Osejo, middle-distance runner and sprinter Gabriel Cuadra Holmann and powerlifter Fernando Acevedo, who all qualified for the games by achieving the minimum qualifying standard in international competition. Neither Holmann or Osejo claimed a medal in their respective events and Acevado finished fifth in the men's −72kg powerlifting class.
David Brown is a visually impaired American sprint runner. He competed over 100–400 m distances at the 2012 and 2016 Paralympics and 2013 and 2015 world championships and won the 100 m event in 2015 and 2016. He currently holds the world record in the 100 m and 200 m run for the T11 class – being the first totally blind athlete to run 100 m within 11 seconds – as well as the paralympic record in the 100 run.
Yeltsin Francisco Ortega Jacques is a visually impaired Brazilian Paralympic runner named after the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin. He won the 1500 m and 5000 m events at the 2015 Parapan American Games, placing 5th–11th at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. He also medaled in the 800 m and 1500 m events at the 2013 World Championships.
Mateus Evangelista Cardoso is a Brazilian Paralympic athlete with cerebral palsy. He competes in several T37-classification athletics events. He represented Brazil at the 2016 Summer Paralympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and he won the silver medal in the men's long jump T37 event. In 2021, he won one the bronze medal in the same event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan.
