Sandra Graf (born 9 December 1969) is a

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

wheelchair athlete. Graf competes in wheelchair races of a variety of distances.

Life

Graf has twice put her career on hold to have children. In 2003 a lung

embolism An embolism is the lodging of an embolus, a blockage-causing piece of material, inside a blood vessel. The embolus may be a blood clot (thrombus), a fat globule ( fat embolism), a bubble of air or other gas (gas embolism), amniotic fluid (amniot ...

set back her training and kept her from competing in the marathon and 5,000-meter distances, although she still competed in the 800- and 1,500-meter races. In 2008, during her first

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

wheelchair race, she both won the race over American

Amanda McGrory Amanda McGrory (born June 9, 1986) is an American wheelchair athlete. Biography McGrory graduated from Unionville High School in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. She attended the University of Illinois, graduating in 2010 with a bachelor's degree ...

and Briton

Shelly Woods Rochelle "Shelly" Woods (born 4 June 1986) is an elite British Paralympic athlete from the suburb of Layton in Blackpool, Lancashire. Woods is a T54 athlete who competes as a wheelchair racer in medium and long-distance events. She has compete ...

and set a new course record of 1:48:04. She has competed in five consecutive Summer Paralympics from 2000 to 2016, and won bronze medals in the marathon in 2008 and 2012. In 2012, she also won the road time trial H3 cycling event, in which she participated using a

handcycle A handcycle is a type of human-powered land vehicle powered by the arms rather than the legs, as on a bicycle. Most handcycles are tricycle in form, with two coasting rear wheels and one steerable powered front wheel. Despite usually having th ...

References

External links

* 1969 births Living people People with paraplegia Swiss female wheelchair racers Paralympic wheelchair racers Paralympic athletes for Switzerland Paralympic gold medalists for Switzerland Paralympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics 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 Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century Swiss women 21st-century Swiss women {{Switzerland-Paralympic-medalist-stub