From Olympics hopeful to motivational speaker, diverse star power at World Para Athletics C'ships

New Delhi, Sep 26 (PTI) The 12th edition of World Para Athletics Championships which begins here on Saturday will see host of stars in various events. Following are the brief profiles of some of them.

Markus Rehm of Germany ================ Event: men's long jump T44, meant for athletes with lower limb impairments.

The 37-year-old is a class of his own in men's long jump T44 event. A single-leg amputee nicknamed 'Blade Jumper', Rehm has won four Paralympic and six world championships gold. He has also one Paralymopics and two world championships gold in 4x100m relay.

Rehm lost his lower right leg in a boating accident when he was 14. He uses a carbon-fibre prosthetic leg when he competes in long jump. He holds the long jump world record in his category at 8.72m which surpasses every able-bodied Olympic gold medal jump this century.

He fought a long but unsuccessful battle to become the second athlete with a carbon fibre prosthesis to compete at the Olympics after South Africa's Oscar Pistorius in 2012.

In 2014, he made global headlines with a winning leap of 8.24m at the German able-bodied National Championships. But his second title in 2015 with a jump of 8.11m was disallowed. The German athletics federation had ruled that his carbon-fibre prosthesis gives him an unfair advantage. He was not considered for the 2015 (able-bodied) World Athletics Championships in Beijing.

Next year, he again won gold at the Glasgow Grand Prix indoor event with a jump of 8.10m but later failed in his bid to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Petrucio Ferreira dos Santos of Brazil ======================= Event: 100m and 200m T47, meant for competitors with a below elbow or wrist amputation or impairment.

The 28-year-old had his left arm amputated below the elbow aged two after an accident with a grinding machine.

He is a three-time Paralympic champion and holds six World Championship gold.

He is considered The "fastest para athlete" with a time 10.29 seconds.

James Turner of Australia ================ 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m of T36 classification, is meant for athletes who have coordination impairments such as hypertonia, ataxia and athetosis.

The 29-year-old has won seven gold medals and a silver between 2017 and 2023 in different events -- 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m -- of the T36 classification.

In Paralympics, he won four gold and a silver between 2016 and 2024.

He was born with cerebral palsy. He has represented Australia Paralympic football team, the ParaRoos, and was its player of the year in 2013.

Ezra Frech of USA =========== Events: High jump, long jump, 100m in T63 meant for athletes with a single, above-the-knee limb deficiency who compete with a prosthesis.

The 20-year-old Frech was born to Bahar Soomekh, an actress born in Iran, and Clayton Frech, an American of German heritage.

Since four years old, Frech has been an advocate for persons with disabilities. Born with congenital limb differences, he is missing his left knee and left fibula, and fingers on his left hand. He later had surgery to remove the lower, non-functioning part of his left leg and to transplant a toe from the amputated foot to his left hand.

At 11 months, he received his first prosthetic leg and has been involved in sports ever since. Growing up, he played basketball, baseball, football, skateboarding, karate, surfing and track and field.

His passion for sports ultimately led him to create Angel City Sports and the Angel City Games, an annual, multi-sport competition for children, adults, wounded warriors, and elite athletes with disabilities.

In addition to his athletic endeavours, he serves as a motivational speaker and ambassador for adaptive sports.

His mother has had roles in 'Mission: Impossible III' and the Academy Award-winning movie for Best Picture, Crash.

Catherine Debrunner of Switzerland ====================== Event: Women's 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, and 5000m in T53/54, meant for wheelchair athletes with full use of their arms and hands, but with no or limited trunk (abdominal and lower back) and leg function.

The most successful athlete at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Debrunner claimed five gold medals -- including one in wheelchair marathon -- and one silver.

The Swiss wheelchair racer has eight World Championships medals, including five gold -- four of which came in Paris in 2023. Her achievements earned her the Laureus World Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability Award in 2023.

Due to a birth defect in her spine, she uses a wheelchair. She has also won 10 times in World Marathon Majors.

Raoua Tlili of Tunisia ============= Event: Shot put and discus throw in F41 classification, meant for athletes with short stature.

Tunisia's 'throwing queen' will celebrate her 36th birthday on October 5, the final day of the Championships, and she would be hoping to mark the occasion with more gold.

The 35-year-old Tlili has 11 World Championships titles (six in shot put, five in discus) and eight Paralympic gold.

Xiaoyan Wen of China ============== Event: 100m, 200m, long jump in T37 classification meant for athletes with cerebral palsy affecting coordination.

The 27-year-old Wen, who has a congenital disability affecting her left side, has won five Paralympic gold from Rio and Tokyo, and eight World Championships titles, including four from Kobe, Japan in 2024. PTI PDS PDS SSC SSC