Arnu Fourie (born 24 April 1985) is a South African

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 An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

who runs in the T44 class. His is a single-below-the-knee amputee.

Life and career

Fourie was born in

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...

, and lost his left leg below the knee in a boating propeller accident in 2003. He was a rugby player at the time, and was signed by the Golden Lions before his accident. He initially lost interest in sports, but he took up running after the death of a friend convinced him that he should be more active. Fourie graduated from

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

and is employed as an accountant in Stellenbosch. He trains at the Maties Helderberg Sports Club for Disabled Athletes under coach Suzanne Ferreira. Fourie participated in the

2008 Paralympic Games 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 wa ...

in Beijing, taking 4th place in the 100 m and 6th place in the 200 m final. He won a gold medal in the

IAAF World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation (from 1912 to 2001) and International Association of Athletics Federations (from 2001 to 2019, both abbreviated as the IAAF) is the international governing body for ...

Golden League Meet in Paris in 2011, and a gold medal as part of the 4x100 relay team at the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ove1000 athlet ...

in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fourie won a gold medal at the

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

in London on 5 September 2012, running the third leg as part of the South African 4 × 100 m relay team in a world record time of 41.78 seconds. He won a bronze medal in the 100 meter event with a time of 11.08 seconds. He set a T44 world record in his 200-meter heat, then broke it in the final; he placed fourth overall in the event behind T43 classified athletes. He is married to Carene Fourie née Zaayman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fourie, Arnu 1985 births Afrikaner people Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Living people Paralympic athletes of South Africa Paralympic bronze medalists for South Africa Paralympic gold medalists for South Africa Sportspeople from Bloemfontein South African amputees South African male sprinters Sprinters with limb difference World record holders in Paralympic athletics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic sprinters

Life and career

References

See also