Raman Sergeevich Salei ( az, Raman Sergeyeviç Salei; born February 27, 1994) is an

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

i paralympic-swimmer of

Belarusian Belarusian may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belarus * Belarusians, people from Belarus, or of Belarusian descent * A citizen of Belarus, see Demographics of Belarus * Belarusian language * Belarusian culture * Belarusian cuisine * Byelor ...

origin. He represented Azerbaijan at the

2016 Summer Paralympic Games ) , 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 de Janeiro and the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

, winning three gold medals and one silver.

Biography

Roman Salei was born on February 27, 1994. In 2013, Salei's elder brother,

Dzmitry Salei Dzmitry Salei (born 3 November 1989) is a visually impaired Belarusian Paralympic swimmer who in 2014 switched national teams to Azerbaijan. He competed for Belarus at the 2008 and 2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, bran ...

, decided to compete for Azerbaijan and Salei agreed to join him. At the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 countries competed at ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, Salei won the silver medal in the men's 50 m freestyle S12. The following year, at the

2016 Paralympic Games ) , 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 de Janeiro, Salei took silver in the 100 m backstroke S12. In recognition of his performance at the games, and for his contribution to the development of Azerbaijani sport, Salei was awarded the Order "For Service to the Fatherland" III degree by the President of Azerbaijan,

Ilham Aliyev Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev ( az, İlham Heydər oğlu Əliyev, ; born 24 December 1961) is the fourth president of Azerbaijan, serving in the post since 31 October 2003. The son and second child of the former Azerbaijani leader Heydar Aliyev, ...

. At the

2019 World Para Swimming Championships The 2019 World Para Swimming Championships is the 2019 edition of the World Para Swimming Championships run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The championships were held from February to June in seven countries across five continent ...

, Salei won silver in the 100 m backstroke S12 and bronze in the 50 m freestyle S12 and 100 m freestyle S12. He improved on this performance at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

, winning gold in both the 100 metre freestyle S12 and 100 metre backstroke S12 events.

References

1994 births Living people Azerbaijani people of Belarusian descent 21st-century Azerbaijani sportsmen Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Paralympic gold medalists for Azerbaijan Paralympic silver medalists for Azerbaijan Paralympic swimmers for Azerbaijan Azerbaijani male freestyle swimmers S12-classified para swimmers 21st-century Azerbaijani people {{Azerbaijan-Paralympic-medalist-stub