"Disabled sportsmen"

Jiří Ježek

Jiří Ježek is one of the most successful disabled cyclists in the world. He has specialized in route events and track events. He participated in the Paralympics in Sydney in 2000, in Athens in 2004 and in Beijing in 2008, where he always got the gold medal. This Paralympic champion could even be a hard opponent for non-disabled cyclists.

Jiří Ježek was born in Prague (Czech Republic) on the 16th of October of 1974. After a car accident in 1985 (when he was 11 years old), he had to have his right leg amputated below the knee. However, the missing leg didn't stop him from becaming a cyclist. When he was twenty, he began his career as a cyclist, at first in his free time, and later this sport influenced all his life. After five years of hard training, he reached the summit in his category among the disabled sportsmen, when in 2000, he got two gold medals at the Paralympics in Sydney.

Next, he tried to become a professional, which the sponsors finally allowed. In this same year, he has won the route competition in the Paralympics in Athens. Since them, he has won every championship, and he has defeated all his opponents. At the Paralympics in Beijing in 2008, he won two gold medals (4 km pursuit and individual time trial).

The strangest thing, is that besides the Paralympic cycling, he competes successfully with non-disabled professionals all around the world. So, he doesn't represent only himself and the Czech Republic, but all disabled people.

Every year, he rides between 27 and 30 thousand km and he participates between 55 and 57 competitions all around the world.
These are his achievements:

• 2000: champion of 1 km to the fixed point of departure, champion of 4 km pursuit (Paralympics in Sydney).

• 2004: champion of the combination route competition and the individual time trial, and runner-up in 4 km pursuit (Paralympics in Athens).

• 2008: champion of 4 km pursuit, runner-up in 1 km to the fixed point of departure and third in team sprint (Paralympics in Beijing).