Paul Nitz is a

Paralympic 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

the United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

competing mainly in category T52 sprint events.

Biography

Paul has competed in five Paralympics, winning four gold medals and one bronze. His first games came in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, where he was part of the American TW1-2 4 × 100 m relay team that set a new world record on the way to winning the gold medal, winning the individual 100m in a new Paralympic record as well as competing in the 200m and 400m. In his home games in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, he again competed in the 100m, 200m and 400m, setting a new world record in the 100m to win his second gold medal at the distance. A third 100m gold came in

2000 Summer Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

, where he also finished sixth in the 200m. His fourth games in

2004 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 136 , athletes = 3,806 , events = 519 in 19 sports , opening = 17 September , closing = 28 September , opened_by = President Costis Stephanopoulos , cauldron = Georgios Toptsis , stadium = Olympic ...

were the first time Paul had been beaten in a Paralympic 100m final, only managing a sixth. He also failed to make the final in both the 200m and 400m. After missing out on making the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, Paul came back in 2012 with sights on more medals and records. At the Swiss Championships in May 2012, he broke the world record twice in two separate competitions. His best time was 16.73 seconds. He finished the 2012 season with a bronze medal.

References

External links

* * Paralympic track and field athletes for the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Living people World record holders in para-athletics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Year of birth missing (living people) Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games American male wheelchair racers {{US-Paralympic-medalist-stub