Alexander Triput of Belarus won his first Paralympic medals as a visually impaired athlete, but has now battled back from an accident that severed his spinal column to compete at Rio in a wheelchair.
Born with sight problems, Triput won his first medal at the age of 22 in the javelin among visually impaired athletes at the 2004 Paralympics in Athens.
But he really captured the public imagination in the final event, the pentathlon, when he completed the 1500-metre distance and fell on his back unconscious after taking silver.
X-rays showed that Triput had covered the distance with a fractured heel bone.
Triput had complained of a pain in his foot ahead of the start, but insisted: “I’ve prepared for these Games for a long time and I will compete even if I have to run on one leg.”
After finishing fourth in javelin at the 2008 Games in Beijing, Triput passionately wanted to win at London, but a leg injury dashed his hopes.
Then on April 23, 2013, Triput was forced to start his life again from scratch after he fractured his spinal column in an accident.
He suffered the injury after falling four storeys to the ground while attempting to fix a TV antenna.
The physically gifted athlete found himself bedridden and was forced to undergo five operations in order to gain the ability to use a wheelchair.
But Triput was undaunted and decided to return to sport right after the incident.
“It was a strange feeling — to be aware of your inability to carry out actions that you previously executed without a moment’s hesitation,” he told AFP. He recalled being “unable to go up and down the stairs without somebody’s assistance” and fearing that he might drown when he made his first visit to a swimming pool after the accident.Luckily Triput’s determination to recover received powerful backing from the country’s top athletes.World swimming champion and London Olympics silver medallist Aliaksandra Hierasimienia and European athletics champion Alina Talay organised a charity tournament to raise funds for Triput that attracted more than 2,000 participants.
The former skipper of the national football team Sergei Shtanyuk and the footballers from flagship club BATE Borisov also supported the disabled athlete.
The funds that they raised allowed Triput to purchase an up-to-date wheelchair and a pair of training devices. He started practicing with an enthusiasm that verged on fanaticism. “Don’t worry, I need to do plenty of work just to reach my former level,” Triput said at the time.
“I was deeply touched when I found out that plenty of people whom I didn’t even known had raised money to help me.
“Now I have no choice but to give my all in training.”
Belarus Paralympic committee chief Oleg Shepel said he was deeply impressed by Triput’s moral fortitude“I’ve seen everything in my life, including plenty of athletes who deserve profound respect for their achievements,” he told AFP.
“But Sasha Triput is a unique person. His astonishing constancy serves as an example for every athlete in Belarus,” he said, using a diminutive of Alexander.
The months of hard training paid off as Triput got through the Paralympic qualification at the Grand Prix stage in Dubai in March to gain the right to compete at Rio de Janeiro in javelin among wheelchair-bound athletes.
“I simply must win this medal,” he told AFP.
“I have lived through too many ordeals to retreat now. At Rio I will compete in the name of my friends, who have helped me to get through all these severe trials.”

‘It was a strange feeling — to
be aware of your inability to carry out actions that you previously executed without a moment’s hesitation’