Kamel Ayari (born 1967/1968) is a

wheelchair racer Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

who won the

2000 New York City Marathon The 2000 New York City Marathon was the 31st running of the annual marathon race in New York City, United States, which took place on Sunday, November 5. The men's elite race was won by Morocco's Abdelkader El Mouaziz in a time of 2:10:09 hours wh ...

, and came third at the 2001 event. Born in Tunisia, Ayari now lives in the United States.

Personal life

Ayari was born in Tunisia. As a child, he contracted

polio Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe s ...

. In 1999, he moved from

Tunis ''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois , population_note = , population_urban = , population_metro = 2658816 , population_density_km2 = , timezone1 = CET , utc_offset1 ...

Huntington, New York The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...

, US, in order to train full-time. He later lived in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

Career

In 2000, Ayari won the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

and Marine Corps Marathons; he won the Marine Corps Marathon by over half an hour from five-time winner Ken Carnes who finished second. Later in the year, Ayari won the

, the first time that the event had held an elite wheelchair race. He overtook handcycle competitor

Joe Dowling Joe Dowling (born 27 September 1948) is an artistic director. He was artistic director for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. He is known for his work as artistic director of the Abbey Theatre in Ireland and his productio ...

around from the finish line, near to the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

. Dowling had led for the first of the race, and at this event, push-rim wheelchair competitors and handcyclists competed in the same race. Ayari overtook push-rim wheelchair competitor Tony Nogueira, who was the favorite in their class, on the

Queensboro Bridge The Queensboro Bridge, officially named the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge, is a cantilever bridge over the East River in New York City. Completed in 1909, it connects the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens with the Upper East ...

, and Ayari finished in a time of 1:53:50. Ayari came third at the 2001 New York City Marathon, having raced with Roberto Brigo throughout. Brigo finished second at the event. That year, he won the Falmouth Road Race. In 2002, he won the Broad Street Run in a course record time of 35:11. He also won the 2002

Boilermaker Road Race The Boilermaker Road Race is a USATF-certified foot race and wheelchair race held annually in Utica, New York, United States. Although local recreational runners are the majority of entrants, the race is highly competitive, with international ...

and came third in that year's

Twin Cities Marathon The Twin Cities Marathon (TCM) is an annual Marathon (sport), marathon in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area which normally takes place the first weekend in October. The race is often called "The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America" due to ...

. In 2004, he won the Middletown Road Race, and came second at the Twin Cities Marathon. In 2005, he came second in a 10km race in Fort Williams Park.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ayari, Kamel Living people 1960s births Male wheelchair racers Sportspeople from Tunis Year of birth missing (living people) New York City Marathon male winners Tunisian expatriate sportspeople in the United States