Keren Or Leibovitch ( he, קרן לייבוביץ) (also Keren Or Leybovitch; born July 25, 1973) is an Israeli Paralympic swimmer. Leibovitch is a three-time world champion, a five-time European champion, a holder of three world records (for the 100-meter and 200-meter

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

and the 100-meter

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

), and a seven-time Paralympic medal winner.

Early life and injury

Leibovitch, who is Jewish, was born in

Hod HaSharon Hod HaSharon ( he, הוֹד הַשָּׁרוֹן, lit. "Splendor of the Sharon, Israel, Sharon plain") is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel. The city is located approximately east of the Mediterranean coastline, s ...

in Israel. She first swam at the age of two. She studied philosophy at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

. Her back was badly injured and she was disabled at the age of 18, in 1992, from an accident during her service in the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli ...

, while training to be an officer. Leibovitch is paralyzed from the waist down. After two major operations, she still had permanent back and leg injuries. She began swimming as part of her rehabilitation.

Swimming career

She won three

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s at the European Championships in Germany in 1999. Leibovitch has competed in the

Paralympic Games 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 ...

, a major international multi-sport event in which athletes who have a physical disability compete, which were created by

Ludwig Guttmann Sir Ludwig Guttmann (3 July 1899 – 18 March 1980) was a German-British neurologist who established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for people with disabilities (PWD) that evolved in England into the Paralympic Games. A Jewish ...

, a German Jewish doctor who escaped from the Nazis. Leibovitch won three

s in swimming at the 2000 Paralympic Games in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia, winning the 100-meter backstroke, 100-meter freestyle, and 50-meter freestyle events. She broke three world records along the way. Asked whom she views as her hero, she responded:

I look up to people who achieve what they set their minds to. I admire people who live at peace with themselves ... who are not afraid of what society might say ... who think to make themselves really happy. If people can relate to a disabled person as a winner, then the whole attitude towards disabled persons might change. And if I achieve that, that's my fourth medal.

She was given the honor of lighting the torch at the 2001 Maccabiah Games at

Teddy Stadium Teddy Stadium ( he, אצטדיון טדי) is a sports stadium in the Malha neighborhood of Jerusalem. Three football teams currently use the stadium: Beitar Jerusalem, Hapoel Jerusalem, and the Israel national football team for select home match ...

in Jerusalem. She set a world record in 2002 in the 100-meter women’s freestyle, with a time of 1:08.90. She won three gold medals in the Israeli Swimming Championships for the Handicapped in 2003, and, set a world record for the 50-meter backstroke (37.78 seconds), also earning gold medals in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events. She set a world record for handicapped swimmers in the 200-meter backstroke of 258.55 in June 2004 at the

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute ( he, מכון וינגייט), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports ( he, המכון לחינוך גופני ולספורט ע"ש אורד וינגייט), is a sports training institute located so ...

. By 2004, she was also the world record holder in the 100-meter freestyle. In September 2004 she won a gold medal in the women's 100-meter backstroke (1:19.55) at the 2004 Paralympic Games in

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 ...

. She also won two silver medals (swimming a 1.09.86 in the 100-meter freestyle, 19 seconds behind Paralympic-record-setting American

Jessica Long Jessica Tatiana Long (born February 29, 1992) is a Russian-American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at five Paralympic Games, winnin ...

, who broke her own Paralympic record, and the 50-meter freestyle) and a bronze medal (in the 200-meter individual medley). The world record holder in the event, she finished in 1:19.55, nearly five seconds faster than second place Dóra Pásztory of Hungary. The Games hosted competing athletes from 136 countries. In 2005, she was voted the 46th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website ''

Ynet Ynet (stylized as ynet) is one of the major Israeli news and general-content websites, and is the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronot'' newspaper. However, most of Ynet's content is original work, published exclusively on the website and wri ...

'' to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis. At the

2008 Paralympic Games 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 wa ...

in Beijing, a year after giving birth to her first child, she narrowly missed winning her eighth Paralympic medal, coming in fourth in the 100-meter backstroke.

References

External links

* *
Keren Leibovitch
on BestSports.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Leibovitch, Keren Paralympic swimmers for Israel Living people Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics World record holders in paralympic swimming 1973 births Israeli female swimmers Paralympic gold medalists for Israel Paralympic silver medalists for Israel Paralympic bronze medalists for Israel People from Hod HaSharon Israeli Jews Jewish swimmers People from Ra'anana Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming S8-classified para swimmers

Early life and injury

Swimming career

See also

References

External links