Marlou Van Rhijn of Netherlands crosses the line to win gold in the Women's 200m - T44 Final at the Paralympic Games in London
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Silver medalist Marie-Amelie Le Fur of France, Gold medalist Marlou Van Rhijn of Netherlands and bronze medalist Katrin Green of Germany pose on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Women's 200m - T44 Final at the London Paralympics
© • Getty images
Born in 1991 without lower legs, van Rhijn was a member of the Dutch national swimming team until the age of 18 participating at European and World Championships, and breaking several national records.
But in May 2010 she lost her motivation, quit swimming, and was approached by Dutch para-athletics coach Guido Bonsen, and was hooked.
Her first major international appearance was at the 2012 IPC Athletics European Championships in her home country. She took 100m (13.62) and 200m (26.98) gold and was labeled with the nickname ‘The Blade Babe’ after her striking good looks.
At London 2012 van Rhijn was the only T43 (double below knee amputation) to participate in the 100m and 200m T44 (single below knee) finals.
In the 100m heats she (13.27) broke the T43 world record and in the final had to settle for silver (13.32) behind France’s Marie-Amelie le Fur (13.26) in gold.
She was not to be defeated in the 200m however and stormed to gold in a T43 world record time of 26.18.
As a result of her glorious achievements in 2012 she was crowned disabled athlete of the year 2012 in the Netherlands in a ceremony broadcast live on Dutch television.
