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Franz Nietlispach (born 2 April 1958) is a Swiss wheelchair athlete, The New York Times, 2002
/ref> In 2006, Franz Nietlispach began a project in which he got together with Jaroslaw Baranowsky from Poland, to create a lighter, more aero-dynamic hand-cycle. He tested prototypes at races, and experimented with using carbon. They ended up selling around 60-80 carbon hand-cycles per year - however, he does not do that anymore, focussing on his racing and the Paralympics.
Franz Nietlispach (born 2 April 1958) is a Swiss wheelchair athlete, handcyclist
A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually havin ...
, and a politician.
He has competed in every Summer Paralympic Games
The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...
from 1976 to 2008, winning an incredible total of fourteen gold, six silver, and two bronze medals. All of these medals were for athletics, except for one bronze earned in hand-cycling at the 2004 Games. At the 2008 Beijing Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, Nietlispach competed only in cycling; this was the first time he appeared at the Paralympics without participating in an athletics event. He also competed in table tennis early in his career, taking part in that sport at the 1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
and 1980
Events January
* January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission.
* January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC.
* January 9 – ...
Paralympics.
He has, impressively, won the men's wheelchair division of the Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...
five times. He has also held political office in Aargau
Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...
./ref> In 2006, Franz Nietlispach began a project in which he got together with Jaroslaw Baranowsky from Poland, to create a lighter, more aero-dynamic hand-cycle. He tested prototypes at races, and experimented with using carbon. They ended up selling around 60-80 carbon hand-cycles per year - however, he does not do that anymore, focussing on his racing and the Paralympics.
See also
* Athletes with most gold medals in one sport at the Paralympic GamesReferences
External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nietlispach, Franz 1958 births Living people People from Muri District Swiss male wheelchair racers Swiss male table tennis players Paralympic athletes for Switzerland Free Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic table tennis players for Switzerland Table tennis players at the 1976 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1980 Summer Paralympics Paralympic cyclists for Switzerland Cyclists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Switzerland Paralympic silver medalists for Switzerland Paralympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Wheelchair racers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Wheelchair racers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Paralympic wheelchair racers Medalists at the 1984 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic medalists in cycling