Franc Pinter (24 December 1953 – December 2023) was a Slovenian sport shooter from

Slovenska Bistrica Slovenska Bistrica (; german: Windisch-Feistritz) is a town south of Maribor in eastern Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Slovenska Bistrica, one of the largest municipalities in Slovenia. The area is part of the traditional regio ...

who has won several medals at the

Paralympic Games 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 ...

. Pinter sustained a

spinal cord injury A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

in a car accident in 1977. Following the accident, he practiced several sports, including wheelchair basketball, Para athletics, Para swimming, and Para table tennis, where he competed at the elite level. Finally, he decided to focus on sport shooting. Making his Paralympic debut at the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Pinter has represented Slovenia at every Paralympics since, with the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

being his eighth appearance. As a

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

, Pinter competed in the SH1 category. At the Paralympics, he competed in R1 – Men's 10m air rifle standing, R3 – Mixed 10m air rifle prone, R6 – Mixed 50m rifle prone SH1, and R7 – Men's 50m rifle 3 positions disciplines. In his seven Paralympic appearances, he won four medals, three silver and one bronze, all in the R1 discipline. He won silver medals at the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, and

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

, and a bronze medal at 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 ...

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 ...

. At the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, he finished 11th in this discipline. At the age of 67, Pinter was one of the oldest athletes at the

. Preparing for the Games, Pinter stated that he was in a good shape in 2020, but the event was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, he also regretted the absence of international competitions during the pandemic. He was coached by Polonca Sladič, who was also the coach of Živa Dvoršak at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

. In Tokyo, he finished 10th in the R1 discipline. For his achievements in Para-sports, Pinter has received several awards and recognitions. He was named Athlete of the Year by the Paralympic Sports Federation of Slovenia and the Paralympic Committee of Slovenia in 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006. He was also awarded the Bloudek certificate of recognition in 2007 for his achievements in Para-shooting.

References