Abderrahim Zhiou ( ar, عبد الرحيم زهيو, born September 26, 1985) is a

Paralympian The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

athlete from

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

competing mainly in category T12 middle distance events. He is a six-time Paralympiclympic medalist, is an African record holder, and trains with the Tunisian Federation of Sports for the Disabled team based at Gabes.

Biography

Abderrahim born on 26 September 1985 in Gabes. He started the sport in 1996 aged 11, but his

visual impairment Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

was an obstacle in front of his goal to be a professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Two years later, he joined the Tunisian Federation of Sports for the Disabled team based at Gabes. The international debut of Abderrahim was in an international tournament in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, in 2002.

Achievements

He competed in the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, UK. There he won 2 gold medals in the men's 800 metres and 1500 metres – T12 event, a silver medal in the men's 5000 metres — T12 event, and a bronze medal in the men's Marathon — T12 event. In 2011, Zhiou won the World Champion title in 800, 1500, 5000 and 10000 meters T12 events. He competed in the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China. There he won a gold medal in the men's 800 metres — T12 event and a silver medal in the men's 10000 metres — T12, finished fourth in the men's Marathon — T12 event and finished sixth in the men's Pentathlon — P12 event.

IPC world records and memorable moment

Spain's

Abel Avila Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd w ...

seemed to have everything in control, taking the lead from the start and holding it until halfway into the second lap when Lazaro Raschid Aguilar of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

overtook and sped off. It looked like Aguilar had sealed the deal when suddenly 10 meters from the finish line,

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

's Abderrahim Zhiou stole up from behind and won in a world record-breaking 1:52.13. Aguilar settled for silver with 1:52.40, and

Odair Santos Odair Santos (born 17 May 1981) is a visually impaired Paralympian Track and field, athlete from Brazil competing mainly in T11 (classification), T11 classification middle and long-distance events. A veteran of four Paralympics, Santos has won ni ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

took the bronze by finishing 1:53.73. Avila finished fourth with 1:55.17. In the

, Abderrahim became the owner of the IPC world records in 1500 m T13 event with a timing of 3:48.31.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zhiou, Abderrahim Paralympic athletes of Tunisia Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Tunisia Paralympic silver medalists for Tunisia Living people 1985 births Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Tunisia Tunisian male long-distance runners Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century Tunisian people

Biography

Achievements

IPC world records and memorable moment

See also

References

External links