Wojtek Czyz
Don´t think about what you were, but about what you are and what you long to be!
About Wojtek Czyz
"Don´t think about what you were, but about what you are and what you long to be!"
That's a very appropriate motto for Wojtek Czyz, a young man whose dreams of becoming a professional footballer were shattered in his teens.
Fast facts
| Nationality | German |
|---|---|
| Amputation | Knee disarticulation |
| Competitive Class | T/F42 |
| Main Events | 100m, 200m, Long Jump |
Competitive highlights
| Year | Highlight |
|---|---|
| 2012 |
Paralympic Games, London, UK |
| 2011 |
IPC Athletics World Championships, New Zealand |
| 2009 | IWAS GAMES 2009 Bangalore India - World record and Gold medal - Long Jump (6.72m) - European record and Gold medal in 100 sprint (12,26s) |
| 2008 | Paralympics, Beijing - Gold medal and new world record- Long Jump (6.50m) |
Biography
Now a rising star of disabled sports in Germany, the young Wojtek Czyz burst on to the athletics scene in 2002 only 11 months after his amputation.
It was then that he broke the national record in the Long Jump at the German Championships in Berlin and picked up Gold for the 100m sprint.
Since that time he has gone on to break world records in 200m and the Long Jump for transfemoral amputees. Representing Germany at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Wojtek brought home three Gold medals with a further two new World records in Long Jump and 200m under his belt. He also set a new Paralympic record at the event in the 100m Sprint and was awarded: "best Athlete with a Handicap in 2004" in Germany. Wojtek's early dreams were of becoming a professional football player. When he was on the brink of securing a contract with Fortuna Cologne Football Club, Wojtek was brought down in brutal tackle. With his blood no longer reaching his leg (in what is known as compartment syndrome) Wojtek should have been operated on immediately, but a disastrous sequence of delays sadly culminated in the amputation of his leg.