Jozef Metelka

Started: He had skied and ridden mountain bikes from age three, and also played tennis. He wanted to get back into sports immediately after his 2009 accident. "The accident turned my world upside down but as soon as I could get out of hospital I was back in the gym and trying to exercise as I was doing before." (dailymail.co.uk, 13 Dec 2013) Reason: He was active in sports prior to his accident, and was determined to get back into sport after he recovered. (pacerehab.com, 22 May 2014) Ambition: To win a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (jozefmetelka.com, 01 Jan 2022) Milestones: At the 2020 Games in Tokyo he and two other Slovakian athletes [table tennis player Jan Riapos and shooter Veronika Vadovicova] all took their career Paralympic medal tally to six, a record for the NPC. Metelka was the first to achieve the feat in Tokyo, followed by Riapos and then Vadovicova. (SportsDeskOnline, 02 Jul 2024) Awards: He received the Golden Pedal of 2022 from the Slovak Cycling Federation [SZC]. (paralympic.sk, 21 Feb 2023) He was named Para Athlete of the Year for 2015, 2020 and 2021 by the Club of Sports Editors of the Slovak Syndicate of Journalists [KSR SSN]. (paralympic.sk, 20 Dec 2021; vozickar.sk, 22 Dec 2015) He was named the 2016 Male Para Athlete of the Year in Trnava, Slovakia. (spv.sk, 14 Dec 2016) Additional Info: PROSTHETIC LEGS He has spent time living in the United Kingdom since losing his leg, where the PACE Rehabilitation organisation in Cheshire, England, has helped design a dozen different custom prosthetic legs for him. Each one has been tailored to specific sports and activities such as running, skiing, mountain biking and rollerblading. In 2013 he received a 55,000 GBP bionic prosthetic ankle, which allowed him to walk faster and use less power. "I try to focus as much of my energy on these high level [sporting] activities, so it's important that I rest when I can. Using my bionic foot for everyday use allows me to use less energy, but I still walk faster. It's unlike any other design I have tried, it's as if my amputated leg has come alive and I have my foot back." (jozefmetelka.com, 11 Mar 2016; dailymail.co.uk, 02 Nov 2013)