Ursula Schwaller (born 26 June 1976) 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 ...

para-

cyclist Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, who won two bronze medals at 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 ...

Career

Ursula Schwaller was born on 26 June 1976. In 2002, she had an accident while mountain trekking. Her resulting spinal injury caused her to become

paraplegic Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neural ...

. She was already active in sports, but following the injury she decided to take up para-sports instead. For example, she took up cycling 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 ...

. Schwaller set herself the objective of competing at the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China, as part of the

team. She was chosen, and finished fourth in the women's road time trial H1–2. Schwaller was less successful in the road race, where she finished in ninth place. At the

, she won the bronze medal in the women's road time trial H1–2 despite riding with a thumb injury restricting her in the second half of the race. Along with fellow para-cyclists Jean-Marc Berset and

Heinz Frei Heinz Frei (born 28 January 1958) is a Swiss wheelchair athlete. Frei has had a long career of racing, winning the London Marathon wheelchair race three times, and earning five medals at the 2003 European games at the age of 45. He has earned 1 ...

, they also took the bronze medal in the team mixed relay, marking the 11th medal of the Games for Switzerland. In 2015, she sought to break the handbike record in the long Vätternrundan road race. She was also the first woman to compete using a handbike, which required special permission for her to take part.

Personal life

Outside of sports, Schwaller works as an

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schwaller, Ursula Living people 1976 births Paralympic athletes for Switzerland Paralympic bronze medalists for Switzerland Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swiss female cyclists Swiss architects Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in cycling