Resilience: Ntando and Juan

The Spirit Athletics would like to finish the year 2021 on a very positive and high note. In this ever growingly glamorous and appearance-is-everything world, it is important to recognize these incredible athletes. It is a tribute to all the athletes with disabilities.

Ntando Mahlangu: A star South African Paralympic athlete who won gold medals in men’s long jump T63 and men’s 200m T61 events at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan. At just age 14, he won the silver medal in the men’s 200m T42 event at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Paralympics in 2016. Ntando born with fibular hemi-melia: a condition that affected both legs from knee down, spent most of his earlier life in a wheelchair. In 2012, when he was 10-years old, a decision was made to amputate both his legs through the knee. Ntando aims to inspire more children to dream big and go for their goals, despite the challenges, by being a good example of what is possible with access to prosthetics, education, and sport.

Juan Jose Florian: a victim of Colombia’s Civil War and reinvented himself as a professional para cyclist and para swimmer. He was the national record holder in multiple S5 swimming events and won the road race and time trial cycling events at the 2021 Colombian National Championships. He was kidnapped from his home when he was a teenager and forced to join the FARC guerrillas. After nine months, he escaped the FARC rebels and joined the Colombian army when he was 18. Juan lost both arms, right leg right eye and can barely hear due to a bomb (a package sent by FARC rebels) explosion at his mother’s house in 2011.

“[The challenges are] a gift gave me a new lease on life,” says the now 38-year-old.