Arnu Fourie
 Arnu Fourie at the 2016 Summer Paralympics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Arnu Fourie | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  South African | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 24 April 1985 South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arnu Fourie (born 24 April 1985) is a South African Paralympian athlete who runs in the T44 class. His is a single-below-the-knee amputee.
Life and career
[edit]Fourie was born in Bloemfontein, and lost his left leg below the knee in a boating propeller accident in 2003. He was a rugby player at the time, and was signed by the Golden Lions before his accident. He initially lost interest in sports, but he took up running after the death of a friend convinced him that he should be more active. Fourie graduated from Stellenbosch University and is employed as an accountant in Stellenbosch. He trains at the Maties Helderberg Sports Club for Disabled Athletes under coach Suzanne Ferreira.[1]
Fourie participated in the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, taking 4th place in the 100 m and 6th place in the 200 m final. He won a gold medal in the IAAF Golden League Meet in Paris in 2011,[2] and a gold medal as part of the 4x100 relay team at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Fourie won a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London on 5 September 2012, running the third leg as part of the South African 4 × 100 m relay team in a world record time of 41.78 seconds.[3] He won a bronze medal in the 100 meter event with a time of 11.08 seconds.[4] He set a T44 world record in his 200-meter heat, then broke it in the final; he placed fourth overall in the event behind T43 classified athletes.[5]
He is married to Carene Fourie née Zaayman.
References
[edit]- ^ Arnu Fourie, IPC, retrieved 6 September 2012
- ^ Arnu Fourie, archived from the original on 21 April 2013, retrieved 5 September 2012
- ^ Gold for men's relay team in world record time, 5 September 2012, retrieved 5 September 2012
- ^ "Paralympics 2012: Jonnie Peacock wins gold in T44 100m". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
- ^ "London 2012 Paralympic Games - Athletics - Men's 200 m T44". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
See also
[edit]- 1985 births
- Afrikaner people
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
- Living people
- Paralympic athletes for South Africa
- Paralympic bronze medalists for South Africa
- Paralympic gold medalists for South Africa
- Sportspeople from Bloemfontein
- South African amputees
- South African male sprinters
- Sprinters with limb difference
- World record holders in para-athletics
- Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics
- Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)
- Paralympic sprinters
- 21st-century South African sportsmen