Lisa Llorens

Lisa Llorens

Portrait of Llorens at the 2000 Summer Paralympics
Medal record Athletics Paralympic Games 1996 Atlanta Women's Long Jump MH 2000 Sydney Women's 200m T20 2000 Sydney Women's High Jump F20 2000 Sydney Women's Long Jump F20 2000 Sydney Women's 100m T20 1996 Atlanta Women's 200m MH IPC Athletics World Championships 1998 Women's 100m 1998 Women's Long Jump 1998 Women's High Jump 1994 Women's 200m 1994 Women's Long Jump

Llorens on the podium with her gold medal won in the 200 m T20 at the 2000 Summer Paralympics

Llorens on the starting blocks during race competition at the 2000 Summer Paralympics

Australian athletics coaches Brett Jones (left) and Chris Nunn congratulate athletes Lisa Llorens (left, bronze medallist) and Sharon Rackham (gold medallist) after the T20 200m at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games

Lisa Christina Llorens, OAM^[1](born 17 January 1978)^[2] is an Australian Paralympic athlete. She was born in Canberra^[2] She specialises in Paralympic high jumping, long jumping and sprinting, in competitions for athletes with autism.^[3]

Llorens is known as "The Cheetah" because she had a great affinity with cheetahs. She commented "I feel like I have a connection with the cheetahs, because I'm quite shy, like a cat, and I run so fast." An educational documentary was made about her called Lisa Llorens : a cheetah on the track.^[4] From 1998 to 2002, she held an Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability athletics scholarship.^[5]

Llorens competed at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, winning a gold and a bronze in track and field events.^[6][7] She received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her 1996 gold medal.^[1] She also represented Australia at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and won three gold medals in the 200 metre sprint, the high jump, and the long jump, and a silver medal in the 100 metre sprint.^[8] She broke the world record three times during her four long jumps.^[9]

Llorens also competed at the IPC Athletics World Championships in 1994, winning silver in both the long jump and the 200m and in 1998, winning gold in the 100m, high jump and long jump .^[10] She took part in the Paralympic World Cup in 1998, where she won gold in the 100 metre sprint, the high jump and the long jump.^[11] In 2004 due to the International Paralympic Committee's decision to remove events for intellectually disabled athletes from its official activities, Llorens retired as she felt that there was nothing left for her to achieve in sport.^[12]

The Australian Paralympic Committee describes her as "Australia’s most outstanding female athlete with an intellectual disability", along with Crystal-Lea Adams.^[13] In 1997, she was awarded the Australian Capital Territory Female Sportstar of the Year.^[14] and Young Canberra Citizen of the Year.^[15] In November 2015, she was inducted into the ACT Sport Hall of Fame.^[16]

References

1. "Llorens, Lisa Christina". It's an Honour. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
2. Australian Media Guide : 2000 Paralympic Games Sydney. Sydney: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2000. p. 30.
3. Flanagan, Martin (2013-05-11). "Making a difference". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, Australia. Retrieved 2016-09-18.
4. Barrett, Neil (2001). Lisa Llorens : cheetah on the track (Video). Video Education Australasia.
5. Excellence : the Australian Institute of Sport. Canberra: Australian Sports Commission. 2002. p. 122. ISBN 1-74013-060-X.
6. Legislative Assembly for the ACT, Hansard, 25 June 1996 Archived 21 December 2010 at WebCite
7. Legislative Assembly for the ACT, Hansard, 4 September 1996 Archived 21 December 2010 at WebCite
8. "Athletics - Achievements", Australian Institute of Sport Archived 21 December 2010 at WebCite
9. "Athlete of the hour", CNN, 27 October 2000 Archived 21 December 2010 at WebCite
10. "Sport", Disability Services Australia Ltd Archived 21 December 2010 at WebCite
11. "Athletics - Achievements", Australian Institute of Sport Archived 21 December 2010 at WebCite
12. "Cheetah starts her final chase". Asia Africa Intelligence Wire. 28 February 2004. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
13. "2005 INAS-FID World Athletics Championships, Day 1, 26/Sept/2005", Australian Paralympic Committee, 28 September 2005
14. "Australian Capital Territory Sportstar of the Year Honour Roll". ACTSPORT Website. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
15. "Past Winners". Young Canberra Citizen of the Year. Retrieved 12 February 2012.
16. Gul, Jonathon (23 November 2015). "Nine Canberra athletes added to ACT Sport Hall of Fame". ABC News. Retrieved 30 November 2015.

External links

Australian T20 athletes Sharon Rackham (centre, gold medal) and Lisa Llorens (right, bronze medal) on the medal dais after the 200m at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games

• "Australian cheetah hunts down rivals", The Telegraph, 7 November 2000