Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Pori, Finland | 26 August 1992||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country | Finland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Paratriathlon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability | Bone cancer survivor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Disability class | PTS2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coached by | Tommi Martikainen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
|
Liisa Lilja (born 26 August 1992) is a Finnish paratriathlete who competes in international elite events. She is a World silver medalist, European champion and competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics finishing in fourth place. [1] [2]
Lilja was diagnosed with bone cancer in her right leg when she was eight years old and her right leg got amputated above the knee when she was ten years old. She began rehabilitation by doing swimming lessons and started competing in paratriathlon internationally in 2014.
In November 2018, Lilja was involved in a car accident in Torrevieja, Spain while on a cycling training session. She was riding downhill at 40 mph and collided with a car that was on the wrong side of the road, the driver of the vehicle was convicted of drink driving when he was given a blood test. Lilja spent a few days in hospital after breaking two bones in her left leg. She was unable to train fully for three months. [3]
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and again in 1999; his best result was a sixth-place finish in the 1993 Brazilian Grand Prix. He returned to CART in 2001, but a major crash in the 2001 American Memorial resulted in the amputation of his legs. He returned to racing less than two years after the accident, competing in the European Touring Car Championship in 2003–2004 and then in the World Touring Car Championship between 2005 and 2009; he scored four wins.
Eija-Liisa Ahtila is a contemporary visual artist and filmmaker who lives and works in Helsinki.
Michèle Hélène Raymonde Mouton is a French former rally driver. Competing in the World Rally Championship for the Audi factory team, she took four victories and finished runner-up in the drivers' world championship in 1982.
Sarah Reinertsen is an American Paralympic triathlete and former track athlete. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder; her affected leg was amputated above the knee at age seven.
Aimee Mullins is an American athlete, actress, and public speaker. She was born with a medical condition that resulted in the amputation of both of her legs beneath the knee. She is the first amputee to compete against nondisabled athletes in National Collegiate Athletic Association events, and competed in the Paralympics in 1996 in Atlanta. In 1999, she began modeling, and, in 2002, she began an acting career. She has periodically spoken at conferences, including TED Talks.
Sarah Stewart is a 3.0 point wheelchair basketball player from Australia. She participated in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, where she won a silver medal; in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where she won a bronze medal; and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, where she won a second silver medal.
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.
Johanna Katariina Matintalo is a Finnish cross-country skier and former track and field athlete. She set Finnish age group records as a middle-distance runner and was national champion in the women's 800 metres in 2013, but injuries and stagnating results led her to concentrate on skiing. As a skier, she won silver in the women's skiathlon at the 2017 World U23 Championships and has represented Finland in the 2017, 2019 and 2021 World Championships as well as the 2018 Winter Olympics in cross-country skiing, winning her first and to date, only medal in the 4 × 5 kilometre relay in the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf.
Emma Elina Kimiläinen is a Finnish racing driver. She currently competes in the E1 Series and formerly competed in the W Series.
Julia Kay Gaffney is an American Paralympic swimmer who competes in international level events. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency and had her right leg with amputated above the knee and her left leg amputated below the knee due to fibular hemimelia when she was born.
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.
Jiang Yuyan is a Chinese Paralympic swimmer who competes in the S6 disability class. She is the most decorated athlete in 2024 Summer Paralympics, winning 7 golds in total.
Simone Barlaam is an Italian Paralympic swimmer who competes in international level events. He is a thirteen time World champion and eight time European champion. He competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, winning a gold medal.
Finland competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan, from 24 August to 5 September 2021. They won five medals; one gold, three silver and one bronze, all in athletics.
Anna Steven is a para-athlete from New Zealand.
Cher Korver is a Dutch wheelchair basketball player and a member of the Netherlands women's national wheelchair basketball team. With the national team she competed at 6 consecutive Summer Paralympics between 2000 and 2020. She won with the team the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, and the bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics. She became world champion in 2018 and European champion in 2017 and 2019.
Ritva Nikkilä is a Finnish retired Paralympic swimmer who competed at international swimming competitions. She was a Paralympic champion and competed at the 1988 and 1992 Summer Paralympics.
Femita Ayanbeku is an American Paralympic athlete of Haitian and Nigerian descent, she competes in sprinting events at international track and field competitions. She is a World bronze medalist and has competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Wang Rui is a Chinese former para table tennis player who competed at international table tennis competitions. She is a Paralympic champion, World champion, three-time Asian Para Games champion and four-time Asian champion in both singles and teams events.
Alexis Ann Shifflett-Patterson is an American sitting volleyball player.