The Czech Jiri Jezek races the 4km Pursuit at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
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Jiri Jezek has won nine medals at the Paralympic Games.
© • Jiri Jezek
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Czech cyclist Jiri Jezek has won medals at each of the last four Paralympic Games, cementing himself as a superstar on both the Czech and international stage.
During his career, Jezek has amassed six Paralympic Games gold medals and is a six-time UCI Para-Cycling world champion.
With 10 Paralympic medals, Jezek is equal with Great Britain’s Darren Kenny and Australia’s Christopher Scott as the most successful Paralympic cyclist ever.
After losing his right leg below-the-knee in a car accident at 11, Jezek immediately took up cycling as a hobby, and by 20, he won his first two golds at the Sydney 2000 Games as an amateur. Despite this success he continued to ride as an amateur but started intensifying his training regime, taking it up to a more professional level.
After Sydney, Jezek left his job as a prosthetic technician to become a professional cyclist. It immediately paid off, as he won gold in the road race time trial and silver in the 4km pursuit at the Athens 2004 Games before going on to steal the show in Beijing.
At the Paralympics in 2008, Jezek won gold in both the 4km pursuit and time trial and silver in the 1km and team sprint as the captain of the Czech team.
Today, as a veteran on the bike, Jezek calls himself a “climber,” saying he typically benefits from technical, hilly courses, where he tends to be much faster than his competitors.
Even in his late 30s, Jezek is in better shape than ever before, and he proved that in 2011 with a clean sweep of the top events. He defended his UCI Para-Cycling Track world title in March, finished atop the standings in the UCI World Cup and took home the crown at the UCI Para-Cycling Road World Championships in September.
At the London 2012 Games, Jezek won a silver medal in the individual pursuit and with a decade of Paralympic experience will be aspiring to become the greatest male para-cyclist in Rio.
Off the circuit, Jezek is involved with motivational speaking, supporting charities and helping in the development of prosthetic limbs. He has even written a book about his life story, entitled, “Frager.”
