Paralympians: Sport's Unsung Heroes Quiz

Answer: Swimming

Trischa Zorn (born 1964) has been blind since birth. She earned medals (either gold, silver, or bronze) in the following events: backstroke (50 m, 100 m, and 200 m), butterfly (100 m), freestyle (50 m, 100 m, and 400 m), breast stroke (100 m and 200 m), individual medley (200 m and 400 m), freestyle relay (4 X 100 m), and medley relay (4 X 100 m). With 54 of those medals won during the Games she participated in during the 20th century (1980-2000), she earned more than twice as many medals as any other Paralympian during that time.

In 2012 she was inducted into the International Paralympian Hall of Fame.

Answer: Ice Sledge Hockey

Ragnhild Myklebust (born 1943) did not let polio stop her from winning 27 medals in five Paralympics (1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2002). She holds the distinction of having won a medal (gold, silver, or bronze) in every Olympic event that she ever entered--27 medals in 27 events! Within the cross-country category she has won short, middle, and long distance events. During the time she competed, ice sledge hockey was a male only event in the Paralympics.

Answer: Italy

Roberto Marson (1944-2011) lost the use of his legs when a tree fell across his back while he was chopping it. He competed in four Paralympic Games (1964, 1968, 1972, 1976). He won a total of 26 medals (16 gold, 7 silver, 3 bronze). He also competed in wheelchair basketball, but his team did not medal.

He was posthumously elected into the International Paralympian Hall of Fame in 2012.

Answer: Reinhild Möller

Reinhild Möller (born 1956) lost half of her left leg in a farm accident. Representing first West Germany, then Germany, she won medals in nine Paralympics (Winter--1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2006; Summer--1984, 1988). In athletics she won three gold medals and a silver medal. In alpine skiing, she won 16 gold medals, two silver medals, and a bronze medal.

The other athletes only competed in the Summer Paralympics.

Answer: Shooting

Diagnosed with paralysis shortly after birth and using a wheelchair, Jonas Jacobsson (born 1965) has won 28 medals (17 gold, two silver, and nine bronze) all in shooting. He was only 14 years old at the time of his first Paralympic Games. In 2008 he won the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal, Sweden's highest honor in sports.

Answer: Archery

Zipora Rubin-Rosenbaum (born 1946) won her medals (15 gold, eight silver, and nine bronze) at seven Summer Paralympics (1964, 1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988). Within the athletics category, she competed in several events including shot put, discus, javelin, and the women's pentathlon.

She also competed in the 1992 Paralympic Games but did not earn any medals there. In 1964 she also won a bronze medal for women's doubles table tennis.

Answer: Kenya

As a teenager, Margaret Harriman suffered a fractured spine in a farm accident. She won eight medals (five gold, one silver, and two bronze) for Rhodesia in archery, dartchery (a sport that combined archery and darts), and swimming in the 1960 and 1964 Paralympic Games.

She won nine medals (six gold, one silver, and two bronze) for South Africa in the 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1996 Paralympic Games in archery, dartchery, and lawn bowls. Her absence from the 1980 through 1992 Paralympic Games was due to an international ban on South Africa in sports competitions.

Answer: Cycling

From 1992 to 2016, Sarah Storey (born 1977) earned 25 medals (14 gold, eight silver, and three bronze). She was born with a non-functioning left hand because of a prenatal condition. She switched from swimming to cycling in 2005 because of a persisting ear infection. In 2012, she was nominated for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year.

Answer: Canada

Chantal Petitclerc (born 1969) represented Canada as she won 14 gold medals, five silver medals, and two bronze medals. Her focus was running events (100 m, 200 m, 400 m, 800 m, and 1500 m). She lost the use of her legs after an accident at the age of thirteen crushed her spine.

She was appointed to represent Quebec in the Canadian Senate and made the rights of persons with disabilities a priority.

Answer: Basketball

Marijke Ruiter (born 1954) competed in the 1972 and 1976 Paralympic Games where she won ten gold medals in swimming. She earned an eleventh medal--a bronze--as part of the 1988 women's wheelchair basketball team. Wheelchair basketball has been a men's event since the 1960 Paralympics and a women's event since the 1968 Paralympics.