6 Christian Athletes Participating in the Paris 2024 Paralympics

1. Andreza Vitória de Oliveira, Brazil

23-year-old Andreza Vitória de Oliveira from Brazil will make her second appearance at the Paralympic Games, following her first one in Tokyo in 2020. Last year, she won gold at the Parapan-American Games. She began playing boccia at 14 after her mother introduced her to the sport, and she has since become a world champion.

“I’m going to do everything that I can do with a lot of dedication so that, God willing, everything goes well and I come back with a Paralympic medal,” she said.

When Oliveira was just two years old, she was diagnosed with Leigh syndrome, a neurodegenerative condition that affects the central nervous system and makes walking difficult. She later started using a wheelchair when she was 11.

“When you find happiness in doing something you love, every moment becomes a blessing, and every effort turns into an inexhaustible source of fulfillment and gratitude,” she shared on Instagram in April.

Photo Credit: ©Instagram/andrezavitoriabc1

2. Trenten Merrill, USA

Trenten Merrill, 34, who currently holds the American record in the long jump for his classification, will compete in this year’s Paralympic games. Last year, he finished fourth in the long jump at the Paris World Championship off the podium by just a centimeter and merely four centimeters away from winning silver.

 “Work wholeheartedly as if working for the Lord and not for man,”  he shared on Instagram, quoting Colossians 3:23 and Proverbs 3:5–6, “Trust in the Lord with all thy heart; lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”

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Merrill, who lost his leg after a car hit him while riding a dirt bike, previously participated in multiple track and field events before moving forward with the long jump. He has also competed in Rio and Tokyo.

“God First 🙏🏼 Watch me compete at the Paralympics Sept 4th, 8:35 pm (local time) T64 Long Jump,” he wrote in his Instagram bio.

Photo Credit: ©Instagram/tr3n10

3. Jamie Whitmore-Meinz, USA

Jamie Whitmore-Meinz, 48, will take on the Paracycling completion on Sept. 4 as part of Team USA. In 2008, doctors amputated her left leg after she was diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma. A short time later, she learned that she was pregnant with twins.

“I’ve just always grown up knowing that strength comes from [God],” she said about this time in her life in a 2022 Sports Spectrum interview. “I’m going to fail and screw up, but I trust [God] to pull me out.”

In 2016, she won gold at the 2016 Rio Games in the women’s road race C1-3 (a classification for Para athletes competing with prosthesis or limited movement). She also holds a total of 12 world championships in total across her various disciplines and won the 2014 ESPY award for Best Female Athlete with a Disability.

“I’m so incredibly grateful God has led me on this path. … In 6 days, I’ll officially be 16 years cancer-free. I had no idea I would be heading to my third Paralympic Games way back then!” she wrote on Facebook last month. “God is good!”

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Sean M. Haffey/Staff

4. Nicolas Pieter Du Preez, South Africa

Nicolas Pieter Du Preez, who won gold in the 2020 Tokyo Games, will defend his title at this year’s hand cycling competition. During the 2020 games he won gold in the men’s time trial H1 race at the 2020 Tokyo Games despite sustaining a serious shoulder injury the previous year.

“So about a week after I broke my shoulder, I told my wife that ‘this is probably God telling me that the gold medal in Tokyo is mine,’” he recalled.

In a 2022 interview, Du Preez shared that doing sports is how he spends time with God.

“I pretty much escape and connect with myself and God whenever I am out training, especially on the long, easy training sessions,” he shared in a 2022 interview.

In 2003, Du Preez was hit by a car while cycling. As a result, he broke his neck and lost all function in his hands and fingers. A decade later, he became the first person with tetraplegia (paralysis and loss of motor function from a spinal injury) to complete an Ironman triathlon.

Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Paralympic Games

5. Jessica Long, USA

American swimmer Jessica Long, a 16-time Paralympic champion, will be heading to her sixth Paralympics in her quest to add more gold to her impressive record. She was born without her lower leg bones and spent the first months of her life in a Siberian orphanage. She shared recently on The Natalie Tysdal Podcast concerning how she struggled with anger since she was given up for adoption.

“I’ve always been proving myself, right? To prove that I wasn’t just a girl with no legs, that I was worth it, that I can find a way to forgive my birth mom, and that truly was the best thing,” the 32-year-old said.

After coming to the U.S., Long underwent 25 surgeries and won her first gold medal at age 12 in 2004.

In light of the upcoming games, Long knows that “at the end of the day, swimming is just something I love to do. It’s a talent that God gave me.”

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Michael Reaves/Staff

6. Katarina Roxon, Canada

Last on the list is 31-year-old Canadian swimmer Katarina Roxon, who will be making her 5th appearance at the Paralympic Games despite considering retirement in recent years.

“Going through many valleys this last quad has truly made me rely on God and his will for me, whatever it may be. I am grateful for this blessing He has given me!” she wrote on Instagram back in May.

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When she was just 15, Roxon was the youngest swimmer to represent Canada in the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Eight years later, she won gold at Rio in the 100-meter breaststroke and was part of the team that clinched the bronze in the 4×100 freestyle relay in Tokyo 2020.

Roxon, whose left arm is missing below her elbow, is a firm believer that being different is a superpower.

 “We are all in positions that can change the world! So use the abilities that God has blessed you with to change someone’s world for the better!!” she wrote.

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Buda Mendes/Staff