Ilse Hayes (born 30 August 1985), also known as Ilse Carstens, 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 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 ...

from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

competing mainly in category T13 sprint events. Hayes has competed for her country at four

Summer Paralympics 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 ...

beginning with the

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 ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. She has won medals at each of the four games including two gold medals, both in the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

, at

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 ...

(2008) and

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

(2012). As well as her Paralympic success Hayes is a multiple medal winner at

World Championship A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

level.

Personal history

Hayes was born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

, South Africa in 1985. At the age of eleven she was diagnosed with

Stargardt disease Stargardt disease is the most common inherited single-gene retinal disease. In terms of the first description of the disease, it follows an autosomal recessive inheritance pattern, which has been later linked to bi-allelic ABCA4 gene variants (S ...

, an inherited form of juvenile macular degeneration, which causes progressive loss of vision. She was educated at the

University of Stellenbosch 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 ...

, where she studied sports science and pediatrics. She is married to Cassie Carstens and they reside in Stellenbosch.

Athletics career

Hayes broke onto the international sporting stage when she entered the 2002 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lille, France. She entered three events in the T13 category, winning gold in the 400 metres sprint and a bronze in the 100 metres. She also entered the long jump, but her best distance of 4.93 saw her fall just outside the medal positions in fourth. This led her to the

in Athens where she took her first Paralympic medal, a bronze in the women's 400 metres T13 event. She also finished fifth in the women's 100 metres T13 event. In 2006 Hayes entered her second World Championships, this time is Assen in the Netherlands. She took two more bronze medals, this time in the 200 and 400 metre sprints. She improved her long jump result from four years prior by posting a distance of 5.19, but she still failed to make the podium. Her biggest success to date would come two year later 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 ...

in Beijing, when she won her first gold medal. There she won first place in the

, recording a winning jump of 5.68 at her fourth attempt to beat Greece's

Anthi Karagianni Anthi Karagianni is a Paralympian athlete from Greece competing mainly in category F13 long jump and in sprint events. She competed in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece where she won silver medals in the T13 100m, T13 400m an ...

into second place by 5 centimetres. Hayes also took home a silver medal from Beijing from the

100 metre sprint The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

. 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, Hayes added the world long jump title to her Paralympic success. A jump of 5.80 metres gave her gold, and a second top spot on the podium followed with a win in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

. She then went on to further success at 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 ...

in London, successfully defending her

title. Hayes dominated the field, beating her nearest rival, Algeria's Lynda Hamri into a distance second place. She also added the T13 100 metres silver medal at London. In 2013 Hayes was awarded the Order of Ikhamanga (silver) by president

Jacob Zuma Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma (; born 12 April 1942) is a South African politician who served as the fourth president of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. He is also referred to by his initials JZ and clan name Msholozi, and was a former anti-aparth ...

; for ''Her courageous and relentless pursuit of excellence and incredible physical endurance''. In the run up to 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 ...

, Hayes took part in two more IPC World Championships. She won a total of four medals, gold in the

and silver in the

in Lyon in 2013 and double gold in the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

200 metre The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightly ...

sprints in the 2015 in Doha. Hayes was unable to attempt a second defence of her long jump title, after the T13 event was removed from the schedule for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. Despite this set back she won two silver medals, in the 100 and 200 metre T13 sprints.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Ilse South African female sprinters South African female long jumpers Paralympic athletes for South Africa Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for South Africa Paralympic silver medalists for South Africa Paralympic bronze medalists for South Africa 1985 births Living people Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Recipients of the Order of Ikhamanga Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century South African women 21st-century South African women