Niels de Langen (born 30 November 1998) is a Dutch para-alpine skier. He won two medals in alpine skiing at the

2022 Winter Paralympics The 2022 Winter Paralympics (), commonly known as Beijing 2022 (), was an international winter multi-sport parasports event held in Beijing, China from 4 to 13 March 2022. This was the 13th Winter Paralympic Games, as administered by the Inte ...

Early life

De Langen was born in 1998 in

Arnhem Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both banks of ...

, Netherlands. In the first year of his life he lost his right leg due to

meningococcal disease Meningococcal disease describes infections caused by the bacterium ''Neisseria meningitidis'' (also termed meningococcus). It has a high mortality rate if untreated but is vaccine-preventable. While best known as a cause of meningitis, it can al ...

. At 16 years of age, in June 2015, he made the decision to

amputate Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

his left leg which was also damaged as a result of the infection.

Career

He won a bronze medal at the

2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships The 2017 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships was an international disability sport alpine skiing event held in Tarvisio Tarvisio (German and fur, Tarvis, sl, Trbiž) is a comune in the northeastern part of the autonomous Friuli Venezia Giu ...

at the slalom event. He represented the Netherlands at the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

and competed in all five disciplines: the Men's downhill, Men's Super-G, Men's super combined, Men's giant slalom and Men's slalom events. In 2019, he won a silver medal at the

World Para Alpine Skiing Championships The World Para Alpine Skiing Championships, known before the 2017 edition as the IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships, along with the Winter Paralympic Games, are the most prestigious level of international competition in Paralympic alpine skiing ...

in the giant slalom event. In 2022, he won the bronze medal in the men's sitting super combined event at the 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships. He also won the bronze medal in the men's sitting slalom event. He represented the Netherlands at the

. He won the silver medal in the men's slalom and the bronze medal in the men's super combined sitting events. De Langen was the flagbearer for the Netherlands during the

closing ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the 2022 Winter Paralympics. He won the bronze medal in the men's sitting giant slalom event at the 2023 World Para Alpine Skiing Championships held in Lleida, Spain.

Personal life

He studies

physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Langen, Niels de 1998 births Living people Dutch male alpine skiers Sportspeople from Arnhem Paralympic alpine skiers for the Netherlands Alpine skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Alpine skiers at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Paralympic medalists in alpine skiing Paralympic silver medalists for the Netherlands Paralympic bronze medalists for the Netherlands 21st-century Dutch people