| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Goldfish |
| Born | 20 August 1968 Leipzig, Germany |
| Died | 15 September 2002 (aged 34) |
| Sport | |
| Country |  Germany |
| Sport | Paralympic swimming |
| Disability | Paraplegia |
| Disability class | S4 |
Medal record | |
Kay Espenhayn (20 August 1968 - 15 September 2002) was a former German Paralympic swimmer. She was born in a Christian family and was the first German to become a UNICEF ambassador in disabled sports. [1]
Espenhayn studied at the Leipzig Medical School in 1986 to 1989 where she got a job at Diakonissenhaus Leipzig as a medical technical laboratory assistant after graduation. During her studies, she attended a regular swimming group and became a lifeguard at the Kulkwitzer See near her hometown on the border of the Baltic Sea.
In 1989, Espenhayn had a swollen lymph node removed from her neck but the operation went wrong and it inadvertently cut through a nerve which affected her cervical spine, right shoulder joint and right arm which restricted most movement in her right arm. After the operation, she quit her job and focussed on swimming and joined the Leipzig Disabled Sports Club. In 1993, she suffered from spinal disc damage from her nursing job, she had surgery on her spine and six-month hospital stay, she was diagnosed with complete paraplegia from the fifth thoracic vertebrae and spent the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
In 1994, she began competitive swimming at the Saxony Championships in April, the German championships in July of that year. Her first international appearance was at the Dutch championships in 1995 where she swam four world records at the European Championships in Perpignan. Tragedy struck in December 1995 when Espenhayn was involved in a car accident in Kreischa and was then told by doctors that she wouldn't walk again. Once she was discharged from hospital in March 1996, she was able to participate in the German Open championships and qualified for the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta where she won six medals: three gold, two silver and one bronze and qualified again for the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney where she won five silver medals. [2]
Espenhayn died of complications to lung, kidney and heart disease in a hospital in Leipzig on 15 September 2002. [3]
Chantal Petitclerc is a Canadian wheelchair racer and a Senator from Quebec.
Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach.
Natalie du Toit OIG MBE is a South African swimmer. She is best known for the gold medals she won at the 2004 Paralympic Games as well as the Commonwealth Games. She was one of two Paralympians to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; the other being table tennis player Natalia Partyka. Du Toit became the third amputee ever to qualify for the Olympics, where she placed 16th in the 10km swim.
Marayke Caroline Jonkers is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer and paratriathlete. She won two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Paralympics and a silver medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, along with a bronze medal at the 2010 Budapest ITU Triathlon World Championships.
Elizabeth "Libby" Dudley Kosmala, OAM is an Australian shooter with paraplegia. She represented Australia at twelve Paralympics from 1972 to 2016, and won thirteen medals, nine of them gold.
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Australia competed at the 1988 Summer Paralympics in Seoul, South Korea in 16 sports, winning medals in 6 sports. Gold medals were won in three sports – athletics, lawn bowls and swimming. Australia won 95 medals – 23 gold, 34 silver and 38 bronze medals. Australia finished 10th on the gold medal table and 7th on the combined medal table. Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled reported another medal ranking after Games with Australia being 2nd ranked in amputee sports, 8th in wheelchair sports, 11th in blind sports and 12th in cerebral palsy sports.
Catherine Lucette Dargie, OAM was an Australian Paralympic swimmer who won two medals at two Paralympics.
Kerri-Anne Weston is an Australian swimmer with paraplegia who won five medals at the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics.
Jessica-Jane Applegate MBE is a British Paralympic swimmer. Applegate competes in the S14 classification for swimmers with intellectual disabilities, mainly freestyle and backstroke preferring shorter distances. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics and on 2 September, Applegate won the gold setting a Paralympic record in the S14 200m freestyle.
Edina Müller is a German 2.5 point wheelchair basketball player and KL1 canoeist. She played for ASV Bonn in the German wheelchair basketball league, and for the national team. As part of the German women's national wheelchair basketball team, she won bronze at the 2006 World Cup in Amsterdam, won three time European champions, a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, and a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The team was voted 2008 Team of the Year in disabled sports, and Horst Köhler presented it with Germany's highest sports award, the Silbernes Lorbeerblatt. President Joachim Gauck awarded the team a second Silver Leaf after it won the gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Müller was also a two-time U.S. champion (2006-2008) with her college team Illinois Fighting Illini at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and helped ASV Bonn win the European Cup in Valladolid, Spain in 2009. From 2011 to 2014 she played for Hamburger SV.
Nikita Stevie Howarth is a New Zealand para-cyclist and para-swimmer. She became New Zealand's youngest ever Paralympian after being selected for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, aged 13 years 8 months. She again represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, where she won the gold medal in the women's 200 metre individual medley SM7 and the bronze medal in the women's 50 metre butterfly S7.
Verena Schott is a German paraswimmer and Paralympic medal winner.
Emily Beecroft is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics. She won a silver and bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics.
Alice Tai, is a British paralympic swimmer. Tai competes in the SB8, SM8 and S8. She has represented Great Britain at European and World Championships and at the Commonwealth and Paralympic Games, gold medals at all levels.
Paige Leonhardt is an Australian swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won a silver medal.
Katja Dedekind is an Australian Paralympic vision-impaired swimmer and goalball player. She won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games and two bronze medals at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games.
Zara Mullooly is a British Paralympic swimmer who competes in International level freestyle events. She is British Record holder in 50m, 100m, 200m, and 400m freestyle for the S10 classification. Zara has congenital right side hemiplegia, a form of cerebral palsy.
Natalie Simanowski is a German retired Paralympic cyclist who competed at international elite competitions. She is a triple world champion in cycling and a double Paralympic silver medalist. Simanowski was a former middle-distance runner.
Anastasiia Vladislavovna Gontar is a Russian para swimmer. She won gold in the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
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