Nassima Saifi (; born 29 October 1988) is a

Paralympian 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 ...

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

from

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

competing mainly in category F58 throwing events. Specialising in both the

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field event in which an athlete throws a heavy disk (mathematics), disc—called a discus—in an attempt to mark a farther distance than their competitors. It is an classical antiqui ...

and

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 ...

, Saifi is a double Paralympic gold medal winner and three time

World Champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Personal history

Saifi was born in Mila, Algeria in 1988. Born able-bodied, she had her left leg amputated following after being hit by a car in 1998. Her father, realizing she needed something to work on in her spare time, encouraged her to take up an athletics career. She joined the Mila handisport club where she was able to train.

Athletic career

Thanks to her father's assistance and encouragement, Saifi made her international debut for Algeria at the

2006 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Assen, Netherlands from 2–9 September 2006. It was the fourth edition of the international athletics competition for athletes with a disability organised by the International Paralympic Co ...

Assen Assen () is a municipality and a city in the northeastern Netherlands, and is the capital (politics), capital of the province of Drenthe. It received City rights in the Netherlands, city rights in 1809. Assen is known for TT Circuit Assen, the ...

. She entered both the shot put and discus throw, finishing fifth in both. Saifi made her first appearance at a

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

in the 2008 Games in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. She entered both the

and

, finishing tenth and fourth respectively. Saifi's first major international success came at the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ove1000 athlet ...

in Christchurch, where she entered both the

and the

. Although finishing ninth in the shot, she threw a distance of 40.99 metres to win the gold medal, an improvement of over six metres on her Beijing best. The following year she appeared at the

2012 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 Game ...

in London, winning gold in the discus and making her the joint World and Paralympic champion. At the 2013 IPC World Championships in Lyon Saifi not only retained her discus title, but also won a bronze in the shot put, her first medal in the event at world level. The discus event was a close affair with Saifi requiring a world record throw of 42.05 metres to record a higher points tally over Ireland's Orla Barry. Two years later in Doha, Saifi claimed her third consecutive World discus title in her class. In preparation for the Paralympics, she was trained by Hocine Saadoun for three hours a day, every day, except for weekends. Saifi cemented her position as one of the greatest Paralympic competitors at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio. Despite throwing well below her best (her winning throw being 33.33 metres) she was still able to take the gold medal, making her unbeaten at world and Paralympic level since 2011. She also took silver in her less favoured shot put, her first at a Paralympics.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saifi, Nassima 1988 births Paralympic athletes for Algeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Algeria Paralympic silver medalists for Algeria Algerian female discus throwers Algerian female shot putters Living people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics People from Mila Province African Games gold medalists for Algeria African Games medalists in athletics (track and field) African Games silver medalists for Algeria Athletes (track and field) at the 2015 African Games World Para Athletics Championships winners Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 21st-century Algerian women 21st-century Algerian people Wheelchair discus throwers Wheelchair shot putters Paralympic discus throwers Paralympic shot putters Arab Games gold medalists Arab Games bronze medalists