Leon Schaefer

Started: He took up Para athletics in 2011 in Bremen, Germany. (Athlete, 18 Jul 2017) Reason: "I've always done a lot of sport. I started with table tennis in primary school. I also played tennis with friends in holiday camps. When I moved to Bremen, when I was in third grade, football and handball were added." Following the amputation of his leg, he was given a pamphlet about Para sports. He met German Para athlete Markus Rehm when he was in hospital, and they spent a weekend together, after which he was inspired to get involved in Para athletics. (spox.com, 06 Jan 2020) Ambition: To win gold in the T63 long jump and T63 100m at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (butenunbinnen.de, 11 Jul 2023) Awards: He was named German Para Athlete of the Year for 2023 by the German National Paralympic Committee [DBS]. (Instagram profile, 26 Nov 2023; butenunbinnen.de, 25 Nov 2023) He was named the 2019 Para Athlete of the Year at the Felix Awards for athletes in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (1.wdr.de, 13 Dec 2019) In 2019 he was named the German Sports Aid Foundation [Deutsche Sporthilfe] Male Junior Para Sportperson of the Year. (dbs-npc.de, 24 Oct 2019) He was named the 2017 Junior Athlete of the Year by the National Paralympic Committee of Germany. (dbs-npc.de, 25 Nov 2017) He was named the 2015 Para Athlete of the Year in Bremen, Germany. (radiobremen.de, 03 Mar 2016) He was named the 2014 Newcomer of the Year at the Felix Awards in Dortmund, Germany. (ksta.de, 12 Dec 2014) Additional Info: FOOTBALL AND ATHLETICS He was an aspiring footballer as a child and dreamed of becoming a professional player. "I learned a lot about team spirit in football. The team is everything, you learn to deal with success, defeat and the importance of working together. I love to feel this support and motivation around me. In athletics I learned to trust myself even more and to believe that I can do anything. I have developed a strong will, positive ambition and even more passion. Both sports have shaped me a lot and make me what I am today - an athlete with specific goals and the desire to show all athletes out there that they can do it, regardless of their physical abilities." (focus.de, 30 Dec 2019) MAKING A WISH After the amputation of his leg he saw a pamphlet advertising Para sports. "I put it aside and quickly forgot it. But some time later, at the end of my chemotherapy, I was told that every child in the hospital in Bremen was given one wish. The pamphlet came back to my mind because I had been thinking about sport and my future. I told them my wish was to meet a Para athlete with a prosthesis. I went to Leverkusen with my mum for a weekend and watched [German Para long jumper] Markus Rehm training. That was enough to motivate me and made me incredibly keen to start with athletics." (focus.de, 30 Dec 2019)