Tahl Leibovitz (born June 1, 1975) is an American

para table tennis Para table tennis is a parasports which follows the rules set by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The usual table tennis rules are in effect with slight modifications for wheelchair athletes. Athletes from disability groups can ...

player who has played in five

Paralympic Games 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 ...

. His highest ranking is world no.2 in class 9 in July 2008 and is now currently ranked world no.3 in that class and world no.17 in men's standing classes.

Biography

Leibovitz was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

to parents who struggled with substance abuse and mental illness. He was kicked out of his home and lived on the streets. He graduated in

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

and now works in New York City as a social worker.

Sporting career

He first competed in his first Paralympic Games in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

in 1996 where he won his first gold medal. He hopes to qualify for his sixth 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 ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leibovitz, Tahl 1975 births Sportspeople from Queens, New York Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Table tennis players at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Living people Paralympic medalists in table tennis Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic table tennis players for the United States Table tennis players at the 2023 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2011 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2019 Parapan American Games Medalists at the 2023 Parapan American Games Table tennis players at the 2020 Summer Paralympics New York University alumni American male table tennis players