Vanessa Low (born 17 July 1990) is a German-born Australian

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

competing in T42

sprint Sprint may refer to: Aerospace * Spring WS202 Sprint, a Canadian aircraft design *Sprint (missile), an anti-ballistic missile Automobiles *Alfa Romeo Sprint, automobile produced by Alfa Romeo between 1976 and 1989 *Chevrolet Sprint, a rebadged v ...

and

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 ...

events. Born in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

, she gained Australian nationality in June 2017. In 2016, Low was the only actively competing female track athlete with two above-knee amputations of her legs. Despite the location of these amputations and despite her having to compete with athletes having one fully functional leg, she successfully made it to the finals of all of her sprint and long jump competitions at both the

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

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Fl ...

. In Rio she won the gold medal with a 4.93m world record distance in the T42 long jump and a silver medal in the T42 100m competition. This was repeated in the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

with the T63 long jump gold medal and world record even though she was classified T61.

Personal history

Low was born on 17 July 1990 in

Schwerin Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...

, and grew up in

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by Ratzeburger See, four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the distri ...

. In June 2006, at the age of 15, she was struck by a train at a railway platform after losing her balance. The accident severed her left leg and left her in a coma for two weeks. During life-saving surgery her doctors were forced to amputate her other leg. It took Low two years to relearn to walk using her prostheses. Low is married to Australian Paralympic gold medallist

Scott Reardon Scott Peter Reardon, (born 15 May 1990) is an Australian Paralympic leg amputee sprinter and water skier. He won water skiing world championships in 2007 and 2009. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in athletics, winning ...

. Low and Reardon have a son Matteo who was born in 2022.

Sporting career

Low enjoyed sports before her accident, and wished to continue playing after. She also stated that she was inspired by American disabled long jumper

Cameron Clapp Cameron Clapp (born February 18, 1986) is an American athlete. As a triple amputee, he has become a motivational speaker, mentor to young amputees, and amputee activist. He is also an actor. He has been characterized as the "quintessential Cali ...

. She took up athletics in 2008 and made her senior sports debut the same year, but broke her elbow in 2009, putting her out of competition for three months. Two years later she was selected for the German national team, travelling to Christchurch in New Zealand to compete at 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 disabilities competed, and the Championships were a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Over 1,000 ath ...

. There she finished fourth in the long jump and won bronze in the T42 100m sprint. Vanessa Low at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

In 2012 Low qualified for both the

100m sprint The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

and

events for the

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

in London. The long jump was open across three classifications, F42 to F44, and was decided on a points system. Her best result of 3.93m saw her finish in sixth place. In the sprint she recorded a time of 16.78, which left her just outside the medal positions, finishing fourth behind team-mate

Jana Schmidt Jana Schmidt (born 13 December 1972) is a Paralympian athlete from Germany competing mainly in category T42 track and field events. Athletics career Schmidt first represented Germany at a Summer Paralympics in 2008 at Beijing, where she compe ...

. Low was disappointed with her performance at the Games and her training in general leading up to the Paralympics. She consulted her trainer,

Steffi Nerius Steffi Nerius (; born 1 July 1972) is a retired German track and field athlete who competed in the javelin throw. During her career, she was a European and World Champion. She also won silver at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Her personal best thro ...

, and decided to retire from competitive sport. In 2013, Low visited her friend and fellow German athlete

Katrin Green Katrin Green (née Katrin Laborenz, born 16 February 1985 in Ruthweiler, Germany) is a Paralympian athlete from Germany competing mainly in category T44 sprint events. She competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. There s ...

, who was living in the United States and was married to American athlete

Roderick Green Roderick Green (born April 26, 1982) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Central Missouri Mules and was selected by the Baltimore R ...

. While training with the Greens, Low found her passion for athletics rekindled and decided to move to the States, and took Roderick on as her new trainer. By the end of the year she was back representing Germany, this time at the 2013 World Championships in Lyon. There she won two bronze medals, in the 100m sprint and the long jump. The following year saw a major breakthrough in her long jump, when she competed at the

2014 IPC Athletics European Championships The 2014 IPC Athletics European Championships was a track and field competition for athletes with a disability open to International Paralympic Committee (IPC) affiliated countries within Europe, plus Azerbaijan and Israel. It was held in Swans ...

in Swansea. Her distance of 4.24m was a big improvement on her previous major competitions, where she had not jumped over four metres. The result saw her win gold, and more importantly, beat her two major world rivals: Schmidt and Italy's

Martina Caironi Martina Caironi (born 13 September 1989) is an Italian Paralympic athletics, Paralympic athlete. She competed at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2016 Summer Paralympics. She won a gold medal in the 100 m sprint in 2012 and a silver in the long j ...

. In the build up to the

in Rio, Low competed at the 2015 World Championships in Doha. In the

she posted a personal best of 15.41s to win the silver medal, but it was her world record distance of 4.79m in the long jump that not only gave her the gold but also set her out as the athlete to beat at Rio. At the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Low won the gold medal with a 4.93m world record distance in the T42 long jump and a silver medal in the T42 100m competition with a personal best of 15.17s. At the

2019 World Para Athletics Championships The 2019 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic athletics, Paralympic track and field event organised by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from ...

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

, she won the gold medal in the Women's Long Jump T61-63 with jump of 4.68m. It was her first major international medal representing Australia. Low competed for Australia at the

. She won the women's T63 long jump gold medal, surpassing the previous world record three times in wet conditions, her final jump being 5.28m. She won the bronze medal in the Women's Long Jump T63 at the

2023 World Para Athletics Championships The 2023 World Para Athletics Championships was a Paralympic track and field meet organized by the World Para Athletics subcommittee of the International Paralympic Committee. It was the 10th edition of the event and was held in the Charlety St ...

in Paris. Competing as T61 athlete, she jumped 4.90m (+1.8) in the sixth round to miss out on silver by one centimetre. It was her first major competition after the birth of her son Matteo. At the

2024 World Para Athletics Championships The 2024 World Para Athletics Championships was a para-athletics meet organized by the World Para Athletics, the respective sport branch of the International Paralympic Committee. This was the 11th edition of the event and was held at Kobe Univ ...

Kobe, Japan Kobe ( ; , ), officially , is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. With a population of around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's List of Japanese cities by population, seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Port of Toky ...

, Low won the gold medal in the Women's Long Jump T63. Her jump of 5.29m (-0.1) setting a new championship record and narrowly missed her own world record of 5.33m. Low is coached by

Recognition

* 2020 –

Athletics Australia Australian Athletics is the national sporting organisation (NSO) recognised by Australian Sports Commission for the sport of athletics in Australia. Founded in 1897, the organisation is responsible for administering a sport with over 16,000 reg ...

2019 Female Para-athlete of the Year. * 2020 - Canberra Sport Awards - Para athlete of the Year * 2022 – Medal of the Order of Australia for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Tokyo Paralympic Games 2020 * 2022 - Athletics Australia Amy Winters Award for Female Para Athlete of the Year * 2024 - Athletics Australia Amy Winters Award for Female Para Athlete of the Year

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Low, Vanessa 1990 births Living people German female sprinters German female long jumpers Australian female long jumpers Paralympic athletes for Germany Paralympic athletes for Australia Paralympic gold medalists for Germany Paralympic silver medalists for Germany Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Athletics Championships World Para Athletics Championships winners World record holders in para-athletics German emigrants to Australia Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Athletes from Schleswig-Holstein People from Ratzeburg German expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriates in East Germany 21st-century Australian sportswomen 21st-century German sportswomen