Edward_Maalouf

Edward Maalouf

Edward Maalouf

Lebanese Paralympic cyclist

Edward Maalouf (born December 11, 1968, in Hadath, Beqaa Valley, Lebanon[1]) is a Lebanese competitive handcyclist. He is the first and only person to have won medals for Lebanon at the Paralympic Games.[2]

Quick Facts Medal record, Representing Lebanon ...

In 1995 while at work, he fell from the sixth floor of a building in Beyrouth, and was left paraplegic.[citation needed]. Two years later, he began to train in disability sports.[citation needed]

Major Results

In 2006, he won the handcycle marathon in New York City.[3]

In 2007, he won a silver medal in the disability cycling world championships in Bordeaux. Later that same year, he won the European Handbike Circuit as well as the Beyrouth Handcycle Marathon.[4]

In 2008, Maalouf both won the International Handcycle Marathon.

In the 2009, he competed at the International Handcycle Marathon where a striking event took place. During the race, one of his tires was ruptured, and he had to spend roughly two minutes replacing it. Despite this obstacle, Maalouf managed to earn third place.[5]

2008 Beijing Olympics

At the Paralympic Games in Beijing, he earned 2 bronze medals.[6] He was Lebanon's sole representative at the Beijing Games and was his country's flag bearer during the opening ceremony.[7][8]

To prepare himself, Maalouf underwent intensive training in the Netherlands, and was accompanied by two Dutch coaches in Beijing.[9][10]

He competed in two events: the time trial and the road race, both in category HC B - B being "for athletes with complete loss of lower limb function and limited trunk stability".[11] In the time trial, he was one of fifteen competitors, and finished third with a time of 22:12.91 - 0.85 seconds behind Vittorio Podesta of Italy. Heinz Frei of Switzerland won gold in 22:06.23. Maalouf had thus won his country's first Paralympic medal. In the road race, he was again one of fifteen competitors, and again won the bronze medal. His time of 1:28:26 was just one second behind Heinz Frei's winning time (1:28:25), and was identical (within a second) to that of silver medalist Max Weber of Germany.[12]

Maalouf later said that he had been exhausted during the second race. He went "straight to the hospital" afterwards, and was diagnosed with a blood infection.[13] He then spent four months in hospital.[14] After the games, he also stated that he had received very little support from the Lebanese authorities. He said that they had provided him only with plane tickets and a tracksuit, and he had received no official recognition after his performance, other than congratulations from the Lebanese ambassador to China.[15]

2012 London Olympics

He competed again as Lebanon's sole representative at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, taking part in two road cycling events. In the men's road race H2, he was lapped and eliminated. In the men's time trial H2, he finished ninth of fourteen, in 30:01.34.[16]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Edward Maalouf : Tomber du sixième étage… et rebondir", Iloubnan, October 10, 2009
  2. [2]
    Lebanon at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
  3. [3]
    "New York Road Runners Official Race Results". results.nyrr.org. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  4. [4]
    "Edward Maalouf : Tomber du sixième étage… et rebondir", Iloubnan, October 10, 2009
  5. [5]
    "Edward Maalouf : une 3e place et un pneu crevé", Iloubnan, December 6, 2009
  6. [6]
    "2008 Paralympic Games - Medal Tally". www.china.org.cn. Retrieved 2020-10-03.
  7. [7]
    "Deuxième médaille de bronze pour Edward Maalouf", Iloubnan, September 15, 2008
  8. [8]
    Lebanon at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
  9. [9]
    "Edward Maalouf : Tomber du sixième étage… et rebondir", Iloubnan, October 10, 2009
  10. [10]
    "Edward Maalouf signe l’exploit à Pékin", Baldati, September 13, 2008
  11. [11]
    "Interview Edward Maalouf", SRM
  12. [12]
    Lebanon at the Paralympics, International Paralympic Committee
  13. [13]
    "Interview Edward Maalouf", SRM
  14. [14]
    "Marathon Heroes" Archived 2010-07-02 at the Wayback Machine, Beirut Marathon Association
  15. [15]
    "Edward Maalouf: « Je n’ai à aucun moment été soutenu par les autorités libanaises »", Libnanews, November 10, 2008
  16. [16]
    Edward Maalouf results, International Paralympic Committee
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