Yannis Fischer

Started: He took up Para athletics at age 15 in 2017 in Singen, Germany. (swr.de, 12 Jul 2023) Reason: He was introduced to discus and shot put by a Para athletics coach after he competed at the 2017 World Dwarf Games in Guelph, ON, Canada. "I did a lot of sports as a child. But I played football for many years, and at some point my stride length was no longer right. Immediately after the World Dwarf Games we were at a sports ceremony and I was approached by a coach and asked if I would like to try out the discus and shot put. I tried it out and it was fun. I didn't want to do it with any performance goal in mind, I just wanted to do a sport again." (sport-s.de, 18 Sep 2023; swr.de, 27 Jul 2023, 12 Jul 2023) Ambition: To win a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (Instagram profile, 01 Oct 2023; wochenblatt.net, 25 Jul 2023; swr.de, 12 Jul 2023) Awards: He received the 2023 Young Para Athlete of the Year award from the German National Paralympic Committee [DBS]. (Team Deutschland Paralympics Facebook page, 25 Nov 2023; wbrs-online.net, 27 Nov 2023) He was named Sportsman of the Year for 2023 in Stuttgart, Germany. (Instagram profile, 20 Mar 2024; stuttgarter-zeitung.de, 18 Mar 2024) He was flag bearer for Germany at the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Championships in Paris, France. (sport-s.de, 18 Sep 2023)