| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 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
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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]
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.
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.
Olivia "Livvy" Breen is a Welsh Paralympian athlete, who competes for Wales and Great Britain mainly in T38 sprint and F38 long jump events. She qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics and was selected for the T38 100m and 200m sprint and was also part of the T35-38 women's relay team. She has also represented Wales at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games winning gold in the F38 Long Jump in 2018 and gold in the T37/38 100m in 2022.
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 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.
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.
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.
Sarah Walsh is an Australian Paralympic amputee athlete. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and 2020 Tokyo Paralympics in athletics.
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.
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.
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.
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 September 2023, her current world record in this event is 6.74 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.
