April Holmes of the United States competes in the Women's 100m - T44 heats at the Paralympic Games in London
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Marlou Van Rhijn of the Netherlands, Marie Amelie Le Fur of France and April Holmes of the USA attend the Medal Ceremony in the Women's 100m T44 Final at the London Paralympics
© • Getty Images
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In July 2006 Holmes became the first single leg amputee to run the 100m in under 13 seconds (12.98), a feat no-one has repeated since.
A train accident in 2001 saw her lose her lower left leg, but amazingly three years later she was competing at her first Paralympic Games in Athens where she took bronze in the F44/46 Long Jump (4.56m). She also took part in the 100m and 200m T46 events. But, as a leg amputee (T44) competing in an arm amputee (T46) class, Holmes was at an obvious disadvantage and failed to medal.
Two years later at the 2006 IPC Athletics World Championships, and racing against athletes in a similar class, Holmes stormed to gold in both the 100m (13.13) and 200m (27.05), leaving her close rival Marie Amelie le Fur of France with two silver medals. In the same year, Holmes also set the 100m world record which still stands today.
In the lead-up to the Beijing 2008 Paralympics, Holmes set a new 200m (27.10) world record yet in China she fell in the final of the event and was eventually disqualified.
She bounced back, and days later in the Birds Nest Stadium, she won a thrilling 100m final (13.72) just ahead of France’s Marie Amelie le Fur (13.73) in a race that saw the top four finishers separated by just 0.02 seconds.
In 2009, she had surgery on a reoccurring hip injury and showed that she was showing no ill affects from it with a 100m bronze medal finish at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships, a race won by her great rival Le Fur.
At London 2012 Holmes, aged 39, showed age is no barrier to success taking 100m bronze (13.33) behind France’s Le Fur (13.19) and Dutch rival Marlou van Rhijn (13.32).
As a first female athlete member of Team Jordan, she runs the April Holmes Foundation, a non-profit organization that assists people with physical and learning disabilities with scholarships and medical equipment. She also acts as a great role model and ambassador for the Paralympic Movement.
