Leo pekka tahti biography

  • Leo-Pekka Tähti is a Finnish athlete and Paralympian competing mainly in category T54 sprint events.
  • Leo-Pekka Tähti Leo-Pekka Tähti (born 22 June 1983 in Pori, Finland) is a Finnish athlete and Paralympian competing mainly in category T54 sprint events.
  • He is the only athlete in Paralympic history to have won three gold medals in a row in the 100m T54 – winning in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and.

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    On the road to Tokyo: The world’s fastest wheelchair racer, Leo-Pekka Tähti

    6.3.2020

    Will the Paralympic wins continue?

    Leo-Pekka Tähti was born in Pori, Finland, in 1983. Despite his congenital spinal cord injury, Leo-Pekka had a normal childhood and began doing sports at a young age, his first sport being wheelchair basketball. Wheelchair basketball has indeed remained his secondary sport alongside wheelchair racing to this day.

    Leo-Pekka started wheelchair racing at 14 and it wasn’t long before he completed his first half marathon with the result of 1:26:49. Since then, Leo-Pekka has come far, as his current record for a full marathon is around the same at 1:46:04!

    Alongside his own sport training, Leo-Pekka has acquired a vocational qualification in coaching, which may come in useful once he retires from his career as an athlete.

    Wheelchair racing is one of the most popular disability sports in the world and it has been a part of the Paralympics since the first Games hel

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    Five facts about…..Leo-Pekka Tahti

    Finland’s Leo-Pekka Tahti has been almost unbeatable over 100m T54 for nearly a decade and will certainly be one to beat at October’s IPC friidrott World Championships in Qatar, Doha.

    Here are five facts you might not know about the star wheelchair racer.

    1. In January 2013 a vote in land i norden decided that Tahti’s victory in the 100m T54 at London 2012 was the "best sports moment of the year in Finland".

    2. He is the only athlete in Paralympic history to have won three gold medals in a row in the 100m T54 – winning in Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012. “Next year in Rio I try to reach my fourth victory in a row,” he declared.

    3. The 32-year-old was undefeated over 100m for over four years, between May 2007 and July 2011, winning around 70 competitions in a row.

    4. Tahti -the world record holder - has pushed below 14 seconds 24 times in his career so far – one of only fem athletes to break that barrier.

    5. He tried wheelchair pole v

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    Paralympian Leo-Pekka Tähti breaks down building accessibility barriers

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    Paralympian Leo-Pekka Tähti breaks down building accessibility barriers

    Published 03-03-2021

    Nothing stopped Paralympian gold medalist Leo-Pekka Tähti from becoming the world’s fastest wheelchair racer. The same passion drives him to fight barriers that stand in the way of equality – such as buildings without elevators.

    Leo-Pekka Tähti, 37, was born with a congenital spinal cord injury that left him unable to use his legs. A love of competition drove him to take up wheelchair racing at age 15, and today he is celebrated as a Finnish sporting legend, unbeatable for the past 16 years in the 100m dash.

    Tähti is also a respected spokesman for equality. Over the past decade he has noted a genuine improvement in attitudes towards people with disabilities. “Perhaps the clearest sign of a shift was when I was chosen as Finland’s Athlete of the Year in 2016.”

    While many barriers to

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