Marge Kõrkjas (born 8 May 1974) is an Estonian Paralympic swimmer with a vision impairment, who has won seven medals at four Paralympics.

Competitive career

Born in

Rakvere Rakvere is the administrative center, or county seat, of Lääne-Viru County in northern Estonia, about 100 km southeast of Tallinn and 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea. Rakvere boasts a distinctive architectural feature: th ...

, Kõrkjas first participated at the Paralympics at the 1992 Barcelona Games, where she won a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle B2 event and a bronze medal in the Women's 100 m Freestyle B2 event.. To prepare for the 1996 Games, she trained with abled-bodied swimmers, saying of this "They went into a constant uproar. We got to train at the same time, slowly and quietly, no-one noticed us." Her coach going into Atlanta was

Rein Põldme Rein Põldme (born 12 January 1937) is an Estonian rower, swimming coach and sport pedagogue. He was born in Rakvere and graduated from Tartu University's Institute of Physical Education in 1958. He started his swimming training in 1951 and took ...

. The city of Tartu contributed 10,000 krooni a year to the Kullman swimming pool where Kõrkjas trained to rent it out for use by children and disabled swimmers, but shortly before the start of the Paralympics, they discontinued funding as the pool requested an increase to 50,000 krooni a year for continued use of the pool. At the Games, she won two gold medals in the Women's 50 m Freestyle B2 and Women's 100 m Freestyle B2 events and a silver medal in the Women's 100 m Backstroke B2 event. Her medal haul helped Estonia to finish 32nd out of the 124 countries that competed. She carried the Estonian flag during the closing ceremony. At the 2000 Sydney Paralympics, she won a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S12 event. At the 2004 Athens Paralympics, she won a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S12 event. Many colleagues at her workplace were unaware of her success in the pool until after she returned from the Games. In honour of her success, the Estonian government awarded her 100,000 krooni (about 6,400 euros). Following the Athens Games, she also had a reception at the

Tartu Town Hall Tartu Town Hall () is the seat of the city government of Tartu, Estonia. It is located on Town hall square, in the city centre. History and architecture The history of the town hall pre-dates the current town hall, as the present building is t ...

. Following the 2004 Games, she was not sure if she would try to represent the country at the 2008 Paralympics. She is Estonia's most decorated Paralympian in terms of total medals. When the government was talking about changing the laws, she was part of a discussion about extending benefits the country applies to Olympians to Paralympians. She is viewed as a role model for other competitors in the country.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Korkjas, Marge 1974 births Living people Paralympic swimmers for Estonia Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Estonia Paralympic silver medalists for Estonia Paralympic bronze medalists for Estonia Visually impaired-category Paralympic competitors Sportspeople from Rakvere Paralympic medalists in swimming Estonian female freestyle swimmers S12-classified para swimmers Estonian disabled sportspeople