Sarah Reinertsen

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Sarah Reinertsen
Personal information
Born (1975-05-22) May 22, 1975 (age 49)
New York, USA
Residence California, USA
Height 5 ft 0 in (1.52 m)
Medal record
Representing  United States
Women's Paratriathlon
ITU Triathlon World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2003 New Zealand AWAD
Gold medal – first place 2007 Hamburg Tri 2
Gold medal – first place 2009 Gold Coast Tri 2
Silver medal – second place 2011 Beijing Tri 2

Sarah Reinertsen (born 22 May 1975) is an American paratriathlete and former Paralympic track athlete. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder; her affected leg was amputated above the knee at age seven.[1]

Early athletics career

Inspired by amputee marathon runner Paddy Rossbach,[2] Reinertsen began to run at age 11. At her first international track meet, when she was 13, she broke the 100 m world record for female above-knee amputees.[2] Her T42 400 m world record time, set in 1999, still stands today.[3]

Reinertsen was a member of the US Disabled Track Team for 7 years.[4] She represented the USA at the 1992 Summer Paralympics[5] but found herself racing arm amputees due to low numbers of female competitors.[6] Although she was then world record holder in her own classification,[6] she came last in her heat.[7]

Ironman Triathlon and other endurance events

Reinertsen was the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.[8] She first attempted the race in 2004, but was disqualified when she reached the end of the bike course 15 minutes after cut-off time. She returned to Kona in 2005, with a motto of 'Unfinished Business', and crossed the finish line in just over 15 hours.

Reinertsen has run marathons around the world, including NYC, LA, Millennium New Zealand, London and Boston.[2][9] In 2011, she was the first female leg amputee to run in The Great Wall Marathon in China, completing the 10k event in 1:49.[10]

Reinertsen has broken the women's above-knee amputee marathon record several times[11] but does not currently hold it.[12]

ITU Paratriathlon

In 2003,[13] 2007[14] and 2009,[15] Reinertsen was ITU Paratriathlon World Champion in her classification. She placed second (behind Melissa Stockwell) in 2011.[15] Reinertsen was a member of the USA Triathlon Paratriathlon National Team in 2008,[14] 2009,[16] 2010[17] and 2011.[18]

While better-known for her success in Ironman Triathlon, Reinhertsen states that her "focus for 2013 and beyond is to train to qualify for the (newly introduced, sprint distance) triathlon event at the Paralympics in 2016".[6][10][19]

The Amazing Race

In 2006, Reinertsen competed with her then-boyfriend, Ironman and prosthetist Peter Harsch,[20] on The Amazing Race 10. They were eliminated from the race in 7th place.

Honors and Awards

Miscellaneous

Reinertsen is a spokesperson for Ossur[23] and the Challenged Athletes Foundation.[1]

In 2004, she was featured on the cover of Runner's World[24] and named one of the first eight "Heroes of Running" in the magazine.[13] She has also appeared on the cover of Triathlete magazine,[25] Max Sports & Fitness[26] and Competitor,[27] and was controversially photographed naked for The Body Issue of ESPN.[28] Reinertsen was featured in the 2008 Lincoln MKZ 'Reach Higher' campaign [29] and the 2011 'Nike Throwdown' TV commercial.[30] Alongside elite athletes including Mirinda Carfrae, Chris Lieto, Nathan Adrian and Dara Torres, she is one of the faces of the 2012 Team Refuel/Got Chocolate Milk? campaign.[31]

In 2009, Reinertsen released a memoir, In a Single Bound: Losing My Leg, Finding Myself and Training for Life.[2]

She graduated from The George Washington University with a BA in Communication and International Affairs, and received her MA in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California.[32] Formerly a sports journalist, once working for NBC,[11] she is now a motivational speaker.[33]

A native of New York, Reinertsen now lives and trains in California.

References

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  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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