Jim Knaub (b. ca 1956) is a former professional

wheelchair marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

athlete.

Sport

He was a pole vault competitor at

Long Beach State California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) is a public research university in Long Beach, California. The 322-acre campus is the second largest of the 23-school California State University system (CSU) and one of the largest universities i ...

and a semifinalist for the 1976 Olympics before a 1978 traffic accident left him paralyzed. He went through rehabilitation at

Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center is a rehabilitation hospital located in Downey, California, United States. Its name in Spanish means 'Friends' Ranch'. History Overview Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, or Ran ...

, but did not regain the use of his legs. After setting a wheelchair marathon world record at the 1982

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 ...

, he went on to win four more times for a total of four world records, and, along with female champion Candace Cable, "gave the 'wheelies' a personality in the 1980s and early 1990s". In the 1990s he held "the world record in every race distance from 5,000 meters to the marathon."

Business

Knaub joined

Cannondale Bicycle Corporation The Cannondale Bicycle Corporation is an American division of Dutch conglomerate Pon Holdings that supplies bicycles. Its headquarters are in Wilton, Connecticut with engineering offices in Freiburg, Germany. Frames are manufactured in Taiwan. ...

in 1998 as production manager for the company's competition wheelchairs.

Biographical movie

A movie about Knaub's life, titled ''Hell on Wheels'' is reported to be in development by

Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Pictures is an American film production company and subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, which is owned by The Walt Disney Company. The studio is the flagship producer of live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Studios uni ...

Actor

Jim Knaub has appeared as an actor in television ( ''The A Team'', ''

The Fall Guy ''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonli ...

'', ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pac ...

'' S6 E7 as Arthur (1982), and others) and movies.

Accolades

Lakewood, California Lakewood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 80,048 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is bordered by Long Beach on the west and south, Bellflower, California, Bellflower on the north, C ...

Youth Hall of Fame, 1981 *Long Beach State Hall of Fame, 1990

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Knaub, Jim Boston Marathon winners Long Beach State Beach men's track and field athletes 1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Lakewood, California People with paraplegia