4. Nicola Peter du Preez, South Africa
Slide 4 of 6
Nicolas-Peter du Preez, the gold medal winner at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, will defend his title in this year's handcycling competition. He won the gold medal in the men's time trial H1 race at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games despite suffering a serious shoulder injury the previous year.
“So about a week after I broke my shoulder, I said to my wife, 'This is probably God telling me that the gold medal in Tokyo is mine,'” he recalled.
In a 2022 interview, du Preez said playing sport was time to spend with God.
“When I train, especially during the long, easy training sessions, I'm able to escape reality and connect with myself and with God,” he said in a 2022 interview.
In 2003, du Preez was hit by a car while cycling, breaking his neck and losing all use of his hands and fingers. Ten years later, he became the first person to complete an Ironman triathlon while living as a quadriplegic (paralysis and loss of movement due to a spinal cord injury).
Photo credit: ©Facebook/Paralympics
