Josef "Pepo" Puch (born 10 January 1966 in

Graz Graz () is the capital of the Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state of Styria and the List of cities and towns in Austria, second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 inc ...

) is an Austrian-Croatian equestrian. He started in equestrian at fifteen. Puch competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

for

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

in the individual eventing with horse Banville D'Ivoy. He finished 63rd. In 2008, Puch was in an accident and has incomplete

paraplegia Paraplegia, or paraparesis, is an impairment in motor or sensory function of the lower extremities. The word comes from Ionic Greek () "half-stricken". It is usually caused by spinal cord injury or a congenital condition that affects the neura ...

as a result. At the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

he won a gold medal and a bronze medal, this time competing for his birth country of

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. At the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

he also won a gold medal in the individual championship test and a silver medal in the individual freestyle test grade 1b.Official Results Rio 2016
/ref>

References

External links

Video Interview with Pepo PuchOfficial homepage of Pepo Puch
Equestrians at the 2004 Summer Olympics Equestrians at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Equestrians at the 2024 Summer Paralympics Austrian male equestrians Croatian male equestrians Paralympic gold medalists for Austria Paralympic bronze medalists for Austria Sportspeople from Graz 1966 births Paralympic equestrians for Austria Olympic equestrians for Croatia Living people Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in equestrian Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Equestrians at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 20th-century Austrian sportsmen 21st-century Croatian sportsmen {{Austria-Paralympic-medalist-stub