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Take Your Elizabeth Marks: The Paralympic Spirit Soldiers To Victory In Pool At Rio 2016
- Updated: September 11, 2016
SB7 in Paralympic swimming states: “Swimmers who have an amputation of one arm are eligible to compete in this sport class. Also, athletes with significant restrictions across hip, knee and ankle joints could compete in this sport class.”
Meet Elizabeth Marks (USA), the soldier who has helped put the Invictus Games for wounded soldiers on the map, not only by becoming a champion in the water but one in life too.
The 25-year-old, who was injured on duty in Iraq in 2010, joined the US army when she was 17. The Arizona native suffered severe hip injuries in Iraq in 2010 when 19 that left her with no feeling in her left leg. Because she remains in the military, she has declined to speak about the details of how she was injured seven months into her tour of duty.
Marks was flown to Brooke Army Medical Centre in San Antonio, Texas, and underwent three surgeries to restructure her hips and regain enough mobility to walk. Swimming and pool work formed part of her recovery and rehabilitation plan.
In 2014, she collapsed before competing at the Invictus Games. A medical team from Papworth, Cambridgeshire, put her on a special life support machine that ultimately saved her life. When she met Invictus ambassador and passionate campaigner for wounded soldiers, Prince Harry, this year, Marks asked him to take her gold medal at the wounded soldiers championship this year back to England and give it to the team at Papworth that helped to save her life in 2014.
Her hero is her dad, James Marks, who signed up to the army as a 17-year-old in 1969 and fought in Vietnam. Now James Marks has a daughter who is a hero to many others – and a Paralympic champion in Rio.
Marks’ 1:28.13 victory left her ahead of teammate Jessica Long, 1:32.94 and Dutch challenger Lisa den Braber, 1:34.66.
Asked about her dominant victory, Marks said: “I had no idea (I was dominating). I can’t see when I am swimming. About 25 metres in I have no idea where anybody else is. As long as I feel pressure on my hands I know it is going well. I was just hoping for the best and putting everything I had into it.”
On her involvement with the Invictus Games (for wounded soldiers), Marks, a soldier herself, said: “I am honoured to be part of Team USA. Even more …
