Karina Lauridsen (born 11 December 1976) is a former Paralympic athlete from Denmark. Lauridsen represented her country 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 winning a bronze and gold medal. She has won multiple medals over three World Championships at both long course and short course events. She has also won a bronze medal as a shot putter in the 2002 IPC World Athletics Championships.

Personal history

Lauridsen was born in Esbjerg, Denmark. After a parachute accident in 2001 she was left with paralysis in both legs.

Career history

In 2002 Lauridsen represented Denmark when she took part in the 2002 IPC Athletics World Championships in Lille entering the

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 ...

as a category F55 athlete. There she threw a distance of 7.19m to win the bronze medal. Four years later she was back on the international stage, but she had changed discipline to represent Denmark as a swimmer. In the

2006 IPC Swimming World Championships 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

held in Durban she entered five events winning medals in three, gold in the 150m individual medley SM$ and silver in 50m backstroke S5 and the 50m breaststroke SB3. The next year, at an open meet in Berlin which acted as a qualifier for the

, Lauridsen took gold in both the 100m backstroke S5 and the 150m individual medley SM4. Her time in the 100m backstroke of 1:32.91 set a new world record and ensured her a place in the Beijing Paralympic Games. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics Lauridsen entered four events. She came fifth in the 100m Backstroke S6, which was a strong performance given that she was up against athletes with less severe disabilities, as her S5 category was not run. She finished seventh in 50m freestyle S5, but won a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke S5 and set a world record when she won the 150m medley S5 in a time of 2:47.84. For her success in the 2008 Paralympics, Lauridsen was named Danish Disabled Sportsperson of the Year in 2009. In 2009, she travelled to Rio de Janeiro to take part in the IPC World short course championships. She returned to Denmark with a bronze, two silvers and a gold in the 50m Breaststroke SB3. At the

2010 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition, the biggest meet for athletes with a disability since the 2008 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Eindhoven, Netherlands and lasted from 14 to 21 August. Venue ...

held in Eindhoven, Lauridsen not only successfully defended her 150m individual medley event, but added a second gold by winning the 50m Breaststroke SB3 along with a bronze in the 50m breaststroke SB3.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lauridsen, Karina Paralympic athletes for Denmark Paralympic swimmers for Denmark Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Denmark Paralympic bronze medalists for Denmark Living people Danish female backstroke swimmers Danish female breaststroke swimmers Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Esbjerg Danish female shot putters 1976 births S5-classified para swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming