Léon Schäfer Explained

Léon Schäfer
Full Name:Léon Gabrial Schäfer
Birth Date:13 June 1997
Birth Place:Hanover, Germany
Hometown:Bremen, Germany
Height:1.84 m
Weight:78 kg
Sport:Paralympic athletics
Disability:Leg amputation due to bone cancer
Disability Class:T42, T63

Léon Gabrial Schäfer (born 13 June 1997) is a German Paralympic athlete who competes in mainly sprinting and long jump events at international level events and is a current world record holder in the men's long jump T63.

Career

He has represented Germany at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. He finished in fourth place at the men's long jump T42. He represented Germany at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan.[1] [2] [3] In the long jump he won a silver medal. In the 100 metres he shared a bronze medal with Jonnie Peacock.

Personal life

When Schäfer was twelve years old, he went ice skating and fell and skidded along the ice. He noticed that a bump was visible on his right leg that he injured after his fall on ice, he went to see a doctor and got a biopsy of his shin bone and two months later, it was revealed that he had malignant bone cancer. After the diagnosis, he started chemotherapy and they operated on the affected bone part of his shin and inserted an iron rod but his foot didn't accept the rod and it developed gangrene and he ended up having part of his right leg to be amputated.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Leon Schaefer - IPC Athlete Bio . ipc.infostradasports.com . 7 August 2020 . 29 August 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220829030231/http://ipc.infostradasports.com/asp/lib/theasp.asp?pageid=8937&sportid=513&personid=1103072&wintergames=-1&refreshauto=1 . live .
  2. Web site: Athletics Top Team - Leon Schaefer . TSV Bayer 04 Leverkusen.
  3. Web site: Leon Schafer . de . Team Deutschland . 7 August 2020 . 11 November 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191111170839/https://www.teamdeutschland-paralympics.de/de/athleten/detail/a_action/show/a_athletes/leon-schaefer-161.html . dead .
  4. Web site: 6 January 2020 . Leon Schaefer interview . de . Spox . 7 August 2020 . 24 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210124162442/https://www.spox.com/de/sport/mehrsport/leichtathletik/2001/Artikel/leon-schaefer-interview-wm-gold-amputation.html . live .