Rosa Crean (born Triandafilia Toprkopul; 22 March 1942) is a British Paralympian. She competed in lawn bowling at the 1996 Summer Paralympics, winning a gold medal for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

Early life

Crean was born as Triandafilia Toprkopul in the Macedonian mountains of Greece on 22 March 1942. Growing up, her father was imprisoned in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

while her mother and brother were abducted by communist partisans and taken to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. She was separated from her brother in a separate orphanage and her mother until she was eight. Due to an ear infection, she became partially deaf and visually impaired.

Sporting career

At the

1996 Atlanta Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where Internatio ...

, Crean won gold in the lawn bowls women's singles LB7/8. She made her

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

debut at the age of 72 at Glasgow 2014, representing

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, although she failed to win a medal.

References

Living people 1942 births Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Lawn bowls players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Sportspeople from Cardiff {{UK-Paralympic-medalist-stub