Daniel du Plessis is a South African

para-athlete Para-athletics is the sport of athletics practiced by people with a disability as a parasport. The athletics events within the parasport are mostly the same as those available to able-bodied people, with two major exceptions in wheelchair rac ...

from

Pretoria, Gauteng Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

where he competes for the IS Ability Sports Club. He is the current African record holder over 400m at 52.41 seconds in the T62 class. Du Plessis has limb deficiency in both legs due to

fibular hemimelia Fibular hemimelia or longitudinal fibular deficiency is "the Birth defect, congenital absence of the fibula and it is the most common congenital absence of long bone of the extremities." It is the shortening of the fibula at birth, or the complet ...

which resulted in both legs being amputated below the knee. He uses prosthetic

running blades Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

. He is due to make his Paralympic debut at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inte ...

in Tokyo, Japan. Du Plessis has a degree in

actuarial science Actuarial science is the discipline that applies mathematics, mathematical and statistics, statistical methods to Risk assessment, assess risk in insurance, pension, finance, investment and other industries and professions. Actuary, Actuaries a ...

from

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

and works in the financial sector.

References

External links

* Stellenbosch University alumni Sportspeople from Pretoria Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Athletes (track and field) at the 2024 Summer Paralympics 21st-century South African sportsmen {{SouthAfrica-sport-bio-stub