| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | October 13, 1999 Toronto, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Ryerson University | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Canada | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T64 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Bob Westman | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Marissa Papaconstantinou (born October 13, 1999) is a 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.
Papaconstantinou was born on October 13, 1999, in Toronto, Ontario [1] to parents Kathy and Bill. [2] Due to her Greek ancestry, she spent most of her summers with her family in Greece. [3] Having been born without her right foot, Papaconstantinou originally played football and basketball before committing to track athletics after being fitted with her first running blade at the age of 12. [4] Following the fitting, she set the Canadian T64 classification record for the 100 metres. [5] Papaconstantinou was later selected by Athletics Canada and was invited to Ottawa for a Paralympic Camp. [6] In 2014, Her running blade inspired an exhibit on 21st century bionics and prosthetics at the Ontario Science Centre. [7]
While training with the Phoenix Track Club, Papaconstantinou represented Canada for the first time at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships. [8] The following year, she was named to Canada's 2016 Summer Paralympics team when she was 16 years old. Although she qualified for the 200m final, Papaconstantinou was disqualified due to a lane violation. [9] Following this, she competed at the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships where she finished the race with a torn hamstring. Due to this, she finished 58.06, 32 seconds behind Marlou van Rhijn. [10] Upon making her international debut, students at Bill Crothers Secondary School painted a mural of her on one of their walls inside the school. [11] Upon returning to North America, Papaconstantinou began her first year at Ryerson University and trained with the Toronto Varsity Blues. [6]
In 2019, Papaconstantinou ranked third in the world in the 100 and 200 metres for the T64 classification. She also signed with Nike, Inc. to become the first female Canadian athlete to be sponsored by them. [5] During the 100 metres T64 at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, Papaconstantinou set a personal best time of 13.07 seconds during the race to finish third behind Marlene van Gansewinkel and Irmgard Bensusan. [12]
Papaconstantinou won the bronze medal in the 200 metres T64 event at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships held in Paris, France. [13]
Carmelita Jeter is a retired American sprinter, who competed in the 60 metres, 100 m and 200 m. For over a decade, between 2009 and 2021, Jeter held the title as "Fastest woman alive" after running a 100 m personal best of 10.64 seconds at the 2009 Shanghai Golden Grand Prix. In the 100 m, she was the 2011 world champion and the 2012 silver medalist. She is also a three-time Olympic medallist.
Elizabeth Clegg, is a Scottish Paralympic sprinter and tandem track cyclist who has represented both Scotland and Great Britain at international events. She represented Great Britain in the T12 100m and 200m at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, winning a silver medal in the T12 100m race. She won Gold in Rio at the 2016 Paralympic Games in 100m T11 where she broke the world record and T11 200m, beating the previous Paralympic record in the process, thus making her a double Paralympic champion.
Evan George O'Hanlon, is an Australian Paralympic athlete, who competes mainly in category T38 sprint events. He has won five gold medals at two Paralympic Games – 2008 Beijing and 2012 London. He also represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, winning a silver medal and a bronze medal respectively. In winning the bronze medal in the Men's 100m T38 at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, O'Hanlon became Australia's most successful male athlete with a disability. His bronze medal took him to 12 medals in five world championships – one more than four-time Paralympian Neil Fuller.
Marie-Amélie Le Fur 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.
Angela Ballard is an Australian Paralympic athlete who competes in T53 wheelchair sprint events. She became a paraplegic at age 7 due to a car accident.
Rosemary Little is an Australian Paralympic athlete. She won a bronze medal in wheelchair racing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and has also competed in handcycling. She competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, her third Games, where switched from wheelchair racing to shot put.
Hannah Lucy Cockroft is a British wheelchair racer specialising in sprint distances in the T34 classification. She holds the world records for the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 800 metres and 1500 metres in her classification and the Paralympic records at 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres and 800 metres. Competing for Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, she won two gold medals. She won three further gold medals at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Ella Azura Pardy is an Australian Paralympic athlete who competes in the T38 100m, 200m and long jump. She represented Australia at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in long jump and the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in athletics where she won a bronze medal and the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
Maria Lyle is a para-athlete from Scotland competing mainly in T35 sprint events. At the age of 14 she set a world record in the 200m sprint, a record she has broken on several occasions. In 2014, she qualified for the IPC Athletics European Championships in Swansea and won gold in both the 100m and 200m T35.
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.
Isis Holt is an Australian Paralympic athlete competing in T35 sprint events. She is affected by the condition cerebral palsy. Holt won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m at the 2015 and 2017 World Para Athletics Championships. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won two silver medals and a bronze medal and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, two silver medals.
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.
Irmgard Bensusan is a South African born Paralympic sprinter who now competes for Germany, mainly in T44 classification events. Bensusan competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics where she won three silver medals in the 100, 200 and 400 metre sprints.
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.
Danielle Aitchison is a New Zealand para-athlete who is representing her country at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She competes in the 100 metres and 200 metres in international events.
Kimberly Alkemade is a Dutch Paralympic athlete.
Nataliia Kobzar is a Ukrainian Paralympic athlete. She competes in 100, 200 and 400 metres sprinting events for T37-classified athletes. She won the silver medal in the women's 400 metres T37 event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan.
Fleur Jong is a Dutch Paralympic athlete. She won the gold medal in the women's long jump T64 event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics held in Tokyo, Japan. She also set a new world record of 6.16 metres. As of June 2023, her current world record in this event is 6.48 metres.
Anna Steven is a para-athlete from New Zealand. She is representing New Zealand at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan.
Sydney Barta is an American track and field athlete. An amputee, she competed in the 100 metres and 200 metres in the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. In 2019, she was awarded US Paralympics Track and Field Female High School Athlete of the Year.
