Paul Martin (amputee athlete)
Paul Martin (born June 21, 1967) is an American
Biography
Paul Martin's left leg was amputated in 1992, when he was twenty-five years old, following a car accident. He began serious sports training almost immediately afterwards, and ran his first sprint-distance triathlon (.45 mile swim, 12.4 mile bike, 3.1 mile run) in 1995. He soon turned to the far more grueling Olympic-distance (0.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) and eventually, the Ironman-distance triathlon (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26 mile run).[1]
In 1997, Paul was named the
In 1998, Paul's comeback from his devastating injury continued as he participated in the ITU World Championships again, this time taking the gold medal. He also won bronze in the road race at the IPC Disabled Cycling World Championships and finished fourth in the time trials. In addition, Paul was named to the US Disabled Alpine Ski Team.[2]
Paul set a standard in 1999 when he became the first amputee to ever complete "The Double"—the famous
In 2000, Paul participated in the Paralympic Games for the first time as part of the US Cycling Team, finishing 4th in the kilo, 6th in the pursuit, and 7th in the road race.
2001 saw Paul set another milestone as he became the first lower-extremity amputee to participate in an
In 2002, Paul was named Disabled Cycling Time Trial World Champion and won a silver medal at the ITU World Championships.
Paul continued his athletic excellence in 2004 by running the Boston Marathon in a personal best 3:24:49 and the Silver Strand Half-Marathon/Leg Amputee National Championships in 1:28:04, netting a silver medal in the process. He was named to the Paralympic Cycling Team for the second time, winning silver in the team sprint and bronze in the individual pursuit. For these achievements, Paul was named Competitor Magazine's Endurance Awards “Challenged Athlete of the Year."[3]
2005 was a career year for Paul. He took the gold medal for the third time at the ITU World Championships and ran the
Paul has since remained active, participating in numerous triathlon, running, and cycling events. He has finished a total of ten Ironman triathlons over his career and has written two books, "One Man's Leg" and "Drinking out of My Leg," both of which detail his life and athletic accomplishments as an amputee. He is supplied with custom prosthetic legs for running and cycling by A Step Ahead Prosthetics in Hicksville, NY and is a member of Team A Step Ahead, a group of elite amputee athletes sponsored by A Step Ahead Prosthetics.[4]
References
- ^ "Paul Martin". www.ossur.com. Archived from the original on 2010-11-27.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "About Paul Martin, Athlete Author and Keynote Speaker". Archived from the original on 2010-11-30. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
- ^ "A Step Ahead: Prosthetic Limbs, Artificial Legs, Feet, Arms, Hands". Archived from the original on 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-09-27.
External links
- Paul Martin's Official Website and Blog (dead link as of 17 June 2016)
- A Step Ahead Prosthetics - Home of Team A Step Ahead, Designer/Builder of Paul Martin's Custom Prosthetics (dead link as of 17 June 2016)