Wojtek Czyz (born 30 July 1980) is a German Paralympic

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

athlete from

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

part of

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. In 2001, he was an aspiring professional soccer player, and had just signed terms with

SC Fortuna Köln SC Fortuna Köln is a German association football club based in the city of Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. History The club was formed as on 21 February 1948 through the merger of three local sides: Victoria Köln 1911 (one of two clubs to ...

. He ran for a loose ball, when the opposing goalkeeper rammed his knee, causing multiple fractures and

compartment syndrome Compartment syndrome is a condition in which increased pressure within one of the body's anatomical compartments results in insufficient blood supply to tissue within that space. There are two main types: acute and chronic. Compartments of the ...

According to Czyz
the injury was gravely underestimated due to professional failure. Due to delays in treatment, his leg had to be

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

. However, Czyz rebounded and established himself as one of the most successful German athletes in the T/F42 class for above-knee amputees.

Athletics success

Eleven months after his amputation, at the German Championships in 2002, Czyz broke the National record for F42 long jump and won the T42 100m event. He won triple Gold Medals at the 2004 Paralympics. He won the 100 m and the 200 m dash the

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

for leg amputees, setting World Records in the latter two. In the European Championship of 2005, he repeated his triple crown, winning each discipline again. At the 2006

IPC Athletics World Championships The World Para Athletics Championships, known as the IPC Athletics World Championships prior to 2017, are a biennial Paralympic athletics event organized by World Para Athletics, a subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). It ...

he again won triple gold medals. , Czyz is world record holder in the Men's F42 Long Jump event. He has broken his own world mark several times. He beat his

2008 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 wa ...

record twice at the 2009

IWAS World Games The International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports (IWAS) World Games (or IWAS World Games) are a multi-sport competition for athletes with a disability, which were the forerunner of the Paralympic Games. The competition has been formerly known as t ...

, but

wind assistance In track and field, wind assistance is the benefit that an athlete receives during a race or event as registered by a wind gauge. Wind is one of many forms of weather that can affect sport. Due to a tailwind helping to enhance the speed of the at ...

invalidated both jumps.IWAS World Games 2009 - Athletics Results
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Personal life

, Czyz was a sport student in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. His personal motto is "don't think of what you were, but of what you are and of what you aspire to be" ("denk nicht an das was du warst, sondern an das, was du bist und zu sein dich sehnst"). After his Sports career Wojtek Czyz sailed around the world together with his Wife Elena Brambilla to help amputees to get prosthetics for free and teach them how to walk. These two former professional Athletes funde
sailing4handicaps
After the project Wojtek Czyz and Elena Brambilla set up a Manuka Honey company calle

in New Zealand where they dedicate their passion for the nature.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Czyz, Wojtek 1980 births Living people German male sprinters German male long jumpers German amputees German people of Polish descent Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Paralympic athletes of Germany Paralympic gold medalists for Germany Paralympic silver medalists for Germany Paralympic bronze medalists for Germany 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 Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics World record holders in Paralympic athletics People from Wodzisław Śląski

Athletics success

Personal life

See also

References

External links