Irena Perminienė (born 17 April 1958) is a

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

former Paralympic athlete who competed in

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

at international track and field competitions. She is a World and

European European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe ...

silver medalist and has competed at the

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

and

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 ...

Accident

At the age of twelve, Perminienė boarded onto her school bus one morning in early November in her hometown of Užkalnis. The bus was full of schoolchildren heading to school, the school bus was on an icy road, lost control and turned over onto its side. Perminienė suffered a spinal cord injury from this accident. Once Perminienė started using a wheelchair following the accident, she tried out various wheelchair sports such as Paralympic powerlifting,

sitting volleyball Sitting volleyball is a form of volleyball for athletes with a disability. As opposed to standing volleyball, sitting volleyball players must have at least one buttock in contact with the floor during the game. History Sitting volleyball was inve ...

and wheelchair racing. In 1987, she competed in her first sporting competition. She took part in a 10 km wheelchair race in

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

, Czech Republic at a Paralympic Athletics Grand Prix, where she was up against twenty other participants, she described the race wasn't an easy race, the wheelchair that she was given didn't meet sporting standards at the time: she explained that an elite racing wheelchair weighed around four kilograms, the wheelchair that she was given at the time was much heavier and was estimated to have weighed 30 kg, she had difficulty going uphill with the wheelchair however she won the race. Following her success, she began competing at various marathons and claimed that goat's milk was her supplement for her marathon success. Perminienė wanted to participate at the

1980 Summer Paralympics The 1980 Summer Paralympics ( nl, Paralympische Zomerspelen 1980), branded as the Olympics for the Disabled, were the sixth Summer Paralympic Games. They were held in Arnhem, Netherlands, from 21 to 30 June 1980. Background The Soviet Union, h ...

, at the time the-then Soviet authorities refused to host a Paralympic Games and so the Games were held in Arnhem, Netherlands instead following the authourities denying the existence of people with disabilities in their country which came as a big shock to Perminienė and her other teammates who couldn't participate at the Games following the dispute. She eventually participated at her first Games 28 years 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 competing for Lithuania, however before the Games, she had a ruptured shoulder and undertook surgery in January then went to the Paralympics in September. Perminienė finished in sixth place in the shot put F54 final despite having pain in her shoulder. She competed at the

in London, she finished in eighth place in the shot put F54 final.

Personal life

Perminienė studied social pedagogy and psychology at the

Šiauliai University Šiauliai (; bat-smg, Šiaulē; german: Schaulen, ) is the fourth largest city in Lithuania, with a population of 107,086. From 1994 to 2010 it was the capital of Šiauliai County. Names Šiauliai is referred to by various names in different l ...

and she currently works as a wellness coordinator at an employment centre for disabled people. She was also awarded the Order of Merit for Lithuania in 2010 and was recognised as one of Lithuania's top ten athletes in 2011 and 2012, she has received congratulations from the-then President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė on three occasions following her success at continental and international competitions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perminiene, Irena 1958 births Living people Sportspeople from Klaipėda People from Raseiniai Paralympic athletes for Lithuania Lithuanian female shot putters Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships