Athlete Profile
Athlete of the day
27.08.2004
MENDOZA Saul
Country: Mexico
Sport: Athletics
Class: T54
Saul Mendoza grew up loving and actively participating in a number of sports. He was discovered at age 15 while playing Wheelchair Basketball. Since then he has competed in over 300 races in his career. He has won a number of international marathon events (including the Los Angeles Marathon seven times). In his first Paralympic Competition in Seoul 1988 he won silver and two bronze medals. He won gold at Atlanta in 1996, followed by another gold at the Sydney Olympic Games and bronze at the Paralympic Games in 2000. He holds world records in the 5000m, 5km, 10km, the Olympic record for the 1500m and the third fastest in the Marathon and last week he added to his impressive record with a silver medal at the ATHENS 2004 Olympic Games.
For his achievements, he has been awarded the Mexican Athlete of the Year in 1996, 1999, and 2002 and in 2000 was the first athlete with a disability to be named Athlete of the Century. Mendoza also delivers speeches encouraging motivation, goal setting and disability awareness in Mexico and the United States.
