It's Hard to Type with a Cat on Your Lap... Quiz

Answer: Zorn, Trischa

Trischa Zorn was born in California in 1964. Despite being blind from birth, she completed university studies and started a teaching career. Her Paralympic swimming career started in 1980, and that year she won five individual gold medals as well as two team gold medals. Her best result was in 1988, with ten individual gold medals and two team gold medals. In 2004 she competed for the last time at the Paralympics, adding one bronze medal to her vast collection. In total Trischa Zorn won 30 individual gold medals, 8 individual silver medals and 4 individual bronze medals, as well as seven gold, two silver and one bronze in the team competitions.

The red herrings never competed in the Paralympics, but claimed gold in the Olympics. Nadia Comaneci was an Olympic gymnast, the first to reach a perfect score. Françoise Mbango Etone was an Olympic athlete who won two gold medals in the triple jump competition. Gao Min was a female Olympic diver with two gold medals.

Answer: Jonas Jacobsson

All these people have won at least one medal in Paralympic shooting, but Jonas Jacobsson was the one we were looking for.

Jonas Jacobsson was born in 1965 in Sweden, with an impairment in both legs. When he was seven years old, he took up wheelchair shooting, encouraged by his family (most of whom were amateur shooters). Jacobsson first entered the Paralympics in 1980, winning gold in the discipline Mixed Air Rifle Standing and one bronze medal as well. In 1984 he added one gold, three silver and one bronze medal. In 1988 he claimed one gold and two bronze medals. 1992 and 1996 both brought two gold and two bronze medals, and 2000 was crowned with two gold and two bronze medals. Jacobsson's best year was 2004 with four gold medals. In 2008 he won another three gold medals, and he retired in 2012 with another gold and another silver medal. In total Jacobsson thus won 17 gold, 4 silver and 9 bronze medals.

Oscar de Pellegrin was an Italian Paralympic athlete, who competed in archery (2 gold and 2 bronze medals) and shooting (2 bronze medals). Roger Withrow was the only American shooter to win a gold medal at the 1984 Paralympics. Libby Kosmala (née Elizabeth Richards) was an Australian athlete, who won one bronze medal in swimming and nine gold medals (as well as three silver medals) in shooting.

Answer: Oscar Pistorius

Pistorius was born in Johannesburg in 1986, with a congenital defect in his legs causing an amputation of both feet before he was one-year old. He took up various sports: rugby union, water polo and wrestling, and finally decided on running. He competed at the Paralympics in 2004, 2008 and 2012, winning a total of six gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

One night in 2013, Oscar Pistorius shot and killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He claimed he heard a strange noise in the bathroom and thought he had killed a burglar, but the judges convicted him of manslaughter (later on appeal increased to murder). Pistorius was in the end sentenced to thirteen years imprisonment.

Jannie Brooks owned the gym where Pistorius trained for wrestling. Brian Frasure designed Pistorius' prosthetic legs. Ampie Louw was Pistorius' running coach.

Answer: Pam Relph

Pam Relph was the British Paralympic rower we were looking for. In 2010 she started rowing, and she qualified for the Paralympics in 2012 and 2016. At each of these Games, she won a gold medal in the category LTA coxed fours (LTA is the abbreviation for impairments on legs, trunk and/or arms). In the history of the Paralympics, Pam Relph was the first rower to win two consecutive gold medals.
Popescu (born 1961), Lukyanov (born 1949) and Galtarossa (born 1972) all competed in the regular Olympics. Each of these rowers won one single gold medal and three other medals.

Answer: Brazil

The official name for this Paralympic sport is football 5-a-side, but I could not use the official name in the question - otherwise it would spoil the Easter egg hidden in each question.

Football 5-a-side is played by teams of five players. The four field players have severe visual impairments (even up to complete blindness), while only the goalkeeper may be keen in his vision. The playing area is completely surrounded by bouncing walls, so the ball can't go outside. The ball is equipped with something that makes noise, so the field players can determine the location of the ball by fine hearing.

In 2004, the Paralympics organized Football 5-a-side for the first time. Brazil won the finals against Argentina with a penalty shoot-out. Spain took the bronze, and France, Greece and South Korea also competed. In 2008 Brazil won the finals against China. Argentina claimed the bronze, and the other competitors were Great Britain, South Korea and Spain. In 2012 Brazil won against France, and Spain claimed bronze. Other competitors were Argentina, China, Great Britain, Iran and Turkey. 2016 saw the fourth Brazilian victory, this time over Iran. Argentina took the bronze, and China, Mexico, Morocco, Spain and Turkey also played.

Answer: Fantato, Paola

Paola Fantato was born in 1959. Since 1967 she was confined to a wheelchair because of poliomyelitis. In 1988 she entered the Paralympics, winning a bronze medal. Her first gold was in 1992, and in the Paralympics of 1996, 2000 and 2004 she won each time two medals (one in the individual competition, one in the team event). In 1996 she also entered the regular Olympic Games.

Margaret Harriman (born 1928) represented Rhodesia in the Paralympics of 1960 and 1964 and South-Africa in 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1996. She won medals in archery, swimming and lawn bowling - all together 11 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals.

The Japanese archer Hifumi Suzuki competed in four Paralympic games, totalling three medals (one of each colour).

Malgorzata Olejnik was a Polish archer and member of parliament. She competed in four consecutive Paralympics, and won one gold, one silver and one bronze medal.

Answer: Mentel, Bibian

Bibian Mentel was born in the Netherlands in 1972 and practiced snowboarding since 1993. In 1999 she was diagnosed with cancer in the lower leg, and she chose an amputation to prevent it spreading. Snowboarding became a Paralympic sport only in 2014, and Bibian won one gold medal in 2014 and two in 2018.

Bibian Mentel also founded the Mentelity Foundation, an organization promoting sports for the physically impaired. Mentel also wrote two autobiographies.
The Canadian Sonja Gaudet and the Swede Jalle Jungnell were multiple medallists in wheelchair curling. The Frenchwoman Anne Floriet won four medals in biathlon at the Paralympics between 1998 and 2006.

Answer: Boccia

Boccia was developed in the first place for victims of cerebral palsy who have lost their motor skills. But now it has been opened up for all athletes with severe motor impairments. Simply said, boccia consists of targeting a ball as close as possible to a jack, and the player or team with the most points wins. Boccia was introduced at the 1984 Paralympics.

Henrik Jorgensen competed at the Paralympics from 1984 until 1996, winning one gold, three silver and two bronze medals. Antonio Cid played from 1992 until 2004, and won 3 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal.

Answer: Vergeer, Esther

Esther Vergeer was born in 1981. Because of a vascular disease of the spinal cord, she had been in hospital for many months between the ages of six and nine years, and finally ended up confined to a wheelchair. She took up wheelchair basketball, wheelchair volleyball and wheelchair tennis, and specialized in tennis. She turned professional in 2006 and dominated her sport, occupying the number one spot in the Wheelchair Tennis ranking for a whopping 668 weeks - more than thirteen years. In the singles, she competed in the Australian Open nine times, the French Open 6 times and the US Open 6 times - and won each and every one of these 21 Grand Slams. She also won the Masters 14 consecutive times in singles and 9 out of 11 times in the doubles.

The Dutch Korie Homan (six times), the Australian Daniela di Toro (five times) and the French Florence Gravellier (three times) all played several Grand Slam finals against Esther Vergeer - and in these 14 Grand Slam finals Esther lost only three sets.

Answer: Belgium

Marieke Vervoort, nicknamed Wielemie ("Wheel Mary" could be a fine translation) was indeed Belgian. She was confined to a wheelchair because of a degenerative muscle disease that could not be cured.

Belgium is one of the about a dozen countries who competed in each and every of the first fifteen editions of the Summer Paralympics. In doing so, Belgium amassed many more Paralympic medals than some countries of a similar population (for instance Cuba or Tunisia) who entered only a few of the Summer Paralympics.