Tomasz Rebisz (born 2 February 1974) is a

Paralympian 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 Poland competing mainly in F46 classification throwing events. The decision by the International Paralympic Committee to remove his classification form the Paralympic programme between 1998 and 2010 meant Rebisz had a gap of 16 years between winning medals at the

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

in Atlanta and the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

in London.

Athletics history

Rebisz was always interested in sport but took up athletics seriously in 1992. He was selected for the Poland national team at the

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 ...

, entering the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...

and discus throw events in the F46 classification. He won medals in all three, silver in the discus and shot put and bronze in the javelin. He followed this with three more medals at the

1998 IPC Athletics World Championships 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

in Birmingham, including gold in the shot put. The

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

then decided to remove all F46 throwing event from their Paralympic schedule, leaving Rebisz unable to compete at the highest level of his sport. In the run-up to the

in London the IPC chose to reinstate the F46 classification to their programme. Rebisz felt cheated by the original decision to remove the T46 category and when discussing the reintroduction he stated that "I felt like someone had done it to annoy me,". He entered the

2011 IPC Athletics World Championships The 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships was held in Christchurch, New Zealand from January 21 to 30, 2011. Athletes with a disability competed, and the Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Ove1000 athlet ...

in Christchurch, competing in the shot and discus. He came sixth in the shot put, but won gold in the discus. At London, he entered the only event available to him, the

, as his favoured discus event was not contested in the F46. He recorded a season's best of 15.01 metres, which was enough to win Rebisz a bronze, his first Paralympic medal in 16 years.

Personal history

Rebisz was born in Koszalin, Poland in 1974. He has a daughter.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rebisz, Tomasz Paralympic athletes for Poland Athletes (track and field) at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic bronze medalists for Poland Paralympic silver medalists for Poland Living people Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Polish male discus throwers Polish male javelin throwers Polish male shot putters Sportspeople from Koszalin 1974 births Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) 20th-century Polish sportspeople 21st-century Polish sportspeople Paralympic discus throwers Paralympic javelin throwers Paralympic shot putters Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships Medalists at the World Para Athletics European Championships