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Jiří Ježek

photo: (mojefoto.cz)

(*1974)

Jiří Ježek
is one of the most successful handicapped cyclists in the world, specialising in road and track events. He competed in the Paralympic Games in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Peking 2008 and won a gold medal every time. This multiple Paralympic gold medal winner and world champion also competes successfully against healthy professionals.

Biography
At the age of 11 he lost one leg below the knee in a car accident. At 20 he decided to take up cycling, first as a hobby in addition to his work; subsequently it influenced his whole life. After 5 years of hard training he became top in his category among handicapped competitors, when he won 2 gold medals at the Paralympic Games in Sydney. He continued training and strove to become a professional. His sponsors enabled this in 2004, when he permanently left his job in orthosis and began cycling professionally. That same year, he won the prestigious road event at the Paralympics in Athens. Since then, he has won championship titles and beaten rivals every year. He brought back 2 gold medals from the Peking 2008 Paralympics - in the 4km pursuit event and in the individual timed event.
As well as Paralympic cycling he also competes successfully against "healthy" professionals from around the world. He represents not only himself and the Czech Republic, but all people with a similar handicap.
In 2008 he published an autobiography titled Hot Shot.

Successes
2000
Sydney Paralympics, Australia
1st place - 1 km fixed start (1:11.46)
1st place - 4 km pursuit event (4:58.525)
2nd place - road race

2004
Athens Paralympics, Greece
1st place - combination road race and timed event
2nd place - 4 km pursuit event

2008
Peking Paralympics, China
1st place - 4 km pursuit event (4:45.278)
2nd place - 1 km fixed start
3rd place - team sprint