Home > Events > Olympics > Paralympics > Athletes

Athletes competing at the summer games are more well known than the Paralympic athletes, though the results of some are no less significant and memorable. See our list of athletes who have competed in both the Paralympics and Olympic Games.

Some Notable Athletes and Performances

• Trischa Zorn — a blind American Paralympic swimmer. She is the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals (41 gold, 9 silver and 5 bronze). See all top medal winners.
• Heinz Frei — the Swiss multisports athlete has an all-time medal haul of 35 medals across summer and winter Paralympics in athletics, cycling and cross-country skiing. He first competed in the 1984 Paralympics. In Tokyo 2020, he won silver in the cycling's H3 road race at the age of 63.
• Natalia Partyka — a Polish table tennis player born without a right hand. Her stellar Paralympic career spans 2000 to 2016. Her first appearance in 2000 was at age 11, becoming the world's youngest ever Paralympian. From 2004 to 2016, she won gold in the women's singles C10 event. In 2004, she became the youngest ever table tennis player to win a Paralympics gold medal. She has had success at the Olympic Games too, reaching the last 32 of the London 2012 Olympic women's table tennis.
• Oscar Pistorius — also known as the 'Blade Runner', the South African Pistorius became the first double amputee to take part in both the Olympics and Paralympics. As well as a Paralympic career spanning 2004 to 2012, he competed in the 400m and 4 x 400 m relay races at the 2012 Olympics, running on his carbon fiber prosthetic legs.

---

---

Related Pages

• Athletes with the most total Paralympic medals
• Athletes who have competed in both the Paralympics and Olympic Games
• Disabled athletes at the Olympic Games
• Comparison of Summer Olympics and Paralympics Sports
• Paralympic Games Trivia
• Olympic Games Athletes
• Classification Categories