Sarah Reinertsen (born 22 May 1975) is an American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between ...

and former track athlete. She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder; her affected leg was amputated above the knee at age seven.

Early athletics career

Inspired by amputee marathon runner Paddy Rossbach, Reinertsen began to run at age 11. At her first international track meet, when she was 13, she broke the 100 m world record for female above-knee amputees. Her T42 400 m world record time, set in 1999, still stands today. Reinertsen was a member of the US Disabled Track Team for 7 years. She represented the US at the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , eve ...

but found herself racing arm amputees due to low numbers of female competitors. Although she was then world record holder in her own classification, she came last in her heat.

Ironman Triathlon and other endurance events

Reinertsen was the first female leg amputee to complete the

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

Kona Kona or KONA may refer to: People *Kona (surname) * Dilshad Nahar Kona, Bangladeshi singer also known as Kona Television * ''Kona'' (TV series), a Kenyan telenovela that premiered in 2013 Locations * Kona, Kentucky * Kona, North Carolina * Kon ...

, Hawaii. She first attempted the race in 2004, but was disqualified when she reached the end of the bike course 15 minutes after cut-off time. She returned to Kona in 2005, with a motto of 'Unfinished Business', and crossed the finish line in just over 15 hours. Reinertsen has run marathons around the world, including

NYC New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, LA, Millennium New Zealand,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

. In 2011, she was the first female leg amputee to run in The Great Wall Marathon in China, completing the 10k event in 1:49. Reinertsen has broken the women's above-knee amputee marathon record several times but does not currently hold it.

ITU Paratriathlon

In 2003, 2007 and 2009, Reinertsen was

ITU The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...

Paratriathlon Para triathlon is a variant of the triathlon for athletes with a physical disability. The sport is governed by World Triathlon (TRI) (formerly known as ITU), and was first held as a Paralympic event at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, ...

World Champion in her classification. She placed second (behind

Melissa Stockwell Melissa Stockwell (born January 31, 1980) is an American two-time Paralympic triathlete, swimmer and former U.S. Army officer. Competing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in three swimming events, she returned to race in the 2016 Paralympic Games ...

) in 2011. Reinertsen was a member of the

USA Triathlon USA Triathlon (USAT) is the national governing body for the multisport disciplines of triathlon, duathlon, aquathlon and winter triathlon in the United States. USA Triathlon is a member federation of the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee an ...

Paratriathlon National Team in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011. While better-known for her success in Ironman Triathlon, Reinertsen states that her "focus for 2013 and beyond is to train to qualify for the (newly introduced, sprint distance) triathlon event at the Paralympics in 2016".

The Amazing Race

In 2006, Reinertsen competed with her friend, Ironman and prosthetist Peter Harsch, on ''

The Amazing Race 10 ''The Amazing Race 10'' is the tenth season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured twelve teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS on September 17, 2006, and concluded on ...

'', where they were eliminated in 7th place.

Honors and awards

* 1991:

US Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in C ...

Best Female Athlete with a Disability * 1998: New York Road Runners Club & Achilles Track Club Female Athlete of the Year * 2004:

San Diego Hall of Champions The San Diego Hall of Champions was an American multi-sport museum in San Diego, California until its closure in June 2017. The Hall of Champions housed the Breitbard Hall of Fame - San Diego's sports hall of fame - which is now located at Petco P ...

Challenged Athlete Star of the Year * 2006: Best Female Athlete with a Disability ESPY Award * 2006: USAT Best Female Physically Challenged Triathlete of the Year

Miscellaneous

Reinertsen is a spokesperson for Ossur and the

Challenged Athletes Foundation The Challenged Athletes Foundation (CAF), established in 1997, assists, supports, and provides opportunity to people with physical challenges, so that they can lead active lifestyles and compete in athletic events. It is founded in the belief th ...

. In 2004, she was featured on the cover of ''

Runner's World ''Runner's World'' is a globally circulated monthly magazine for runners of all skills sets, published by Hearst in Easton, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Before its acquisition by Hearst, it was founded and published by Rodale, Inc. in E ...

'' and named one of the first eight "Heroes of Running" in the magazine. She has also appeared on the cover of ''Triathlete'' magazine, ''Max Sports & Fitness'' and ''Competitor'', and was controversially photographed naked for The Body Issue of ''

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

''. Reinertsen was featured in the 2008

Lincoln MKZ The Lincoln MKZ, is a four-door, five-passenger mid-size luxury sedan manufactured by Ford and marketed as the Zephyr ( MY 2006) and as the MKZ (MY 2007–2020) by Ford's Lincoln brand across two generations in both gasoline and hybrid gas/elect ...

'Reach Higher' campaign and the 2011 'Nike Throwdown' TV commercial. Alongside elite athletes including Mirinda Carfrae,

Chris Lieto Chris Lieto (born February 7, 1972 in Red Bank, New Jersey) is a professional triathlete and the winner of the 2006 Ironman Japan, 2005 Ironman Canada, and 2002 Ironman Wisconsin triathlons. Athletic career Lieto grew up in Danville, Califor ...

Nathan Adrian Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian (born December 7, 1988) is an American competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held the American record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event. In his Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer O ...

and

Dara Torres Dara Grace Torres (born April 15, 1967) is an American former competitive swimmer, who is a 12-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events. Torres is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Ga ...

, she is one of the faces of the 2012 Team Refuel/Got Chocolate Milk? campaign. In 2009, Reinertsen released a memoir, ''In a Single Bound: Losing My Leg, Finding Myself and Training for Life''. She graduated from The

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , presi ...

Elliott School of International Affairs The Elliott School of International Affairs (known as the Elliott School or ESIA) is the professional school of international relations, foreign policy, and international development of the George Washington University, in Washington, D.C. It is ...

with a BA in Communication and International Affairs, and received her MA in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California. Formerly a sports journalist, once working for

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

, she is now a motivational speaker. A native of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, Reinertsen now lives and trains in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reinertsen, Sarah 1975 births Elliott School of International Affairs alumni Living people American amputees American female long-distance runners American female triathletes Paratriathletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Paralympic track and field athletes of the United States World record holders in Paralympic athletics The Amazing Race (American TV series) contestants American people of Norwegian descent People from Long Island Sportspeople from Orange County, California Sportspeople from New York (state) American disabled sportspeople Long-distance runners with limb difference Paralympic long-distance runners