7.

OZ SANCHEZ

Jim Cowsert-USA TODAY Sports

For six years, Los Angeles native Oz Sanchez was a member of the Marine Corps. In
2001, he suffered a spinal cord injury after a motorcycle accident and was left
paralyzed.

A quick seven years later, he became a Paralympic athlete.

Sanchez represented the U.S. at the 2008 Games in Beijing, earning a gold medal in
the para-cycling time trial and a bronze medal in the road race. The next year, he
earned another gold medalthis time, in the time trial event at the UCI Para-Cycling
Road World Championships in Italy.
After finishing in the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii in 2010, Sanchez
returned to the Paralympic Games in London in 2012, where he once again took home
a gold medal in the team relay and a bronze in the individual time trial.
8. ALANA NICHOL

Scott Heavey/Getty Images

Snowboarding was always a part of Alana Nichols' life. Even after she injured herself
during a snowboarding trip at the age of 17, when she attempted a back flip on her
board but landed on her back on a rock, she kept competing, despite being paralyzed
from the waist down.

Originally, Nichols, now 30, sought to focus on wheelchair basketball, where she
achieved plenty of success: She earned a gold medal with the U.S. team in Beijing in
2008.

Then, upon relocating from Alabama to Colorado, she decided to give skiing a try.

Her success was almost immediate: In 2009, she trumped Laurie Stephensa
Paralympic gold medalistin the Super G at the North American Cup. Nichols also
medaled four times at the 2010 Paralympic Games in Vancouver, taking home gold in
the downhill sitting event and in the giant slalom sitting event.
9. KYLE MAYNARD

Jason Merritt/Getty Images

Kyle Maynard's accomplishments are many. He is a member of the National Wrestling

Hall of Fame. He was once designated GNC's World's Strongest Teen. He has been
named one of the U.S. Jaycees Top 10 Outstanding Young Americans.

And he has done it all as a congenital amputee.

Maynard was born without any arms or legs, but that hasn't stopped him from becoming
an MMA fighter, competing against able-bodied athletes.

He also works as a motivational speaker for the Washington Speaker's Bureau, has
twice been named the Best Male Athlete with a Disability at the ESPYs, owns a crossfit
gym in Suwanee, Ga., and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro without any assistance,
becoming the first-ever quadruple amputee to do so.
10.MELISSA STOCKWELL

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In March 2004, Melissa Stockwell was a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and had just
been shipped out to Iraq. Three weeks later, she became the first female soldier to lose
a limb when a roadside bomb exploded near her unarmored Humvee, claiming her left
leg.

Since then, Stockwell has made more history as the first Iraq veteran chosen to
participate in the Paralympics. Stockwell competed in the 100-meter butterfly, the 100-
meter freestyle and the 400-meter freestyle and finished sixth, fifth and fourth in her
events in 2008.

Stockwell has also earned three gold medals in 2010, 2011 and 2012 at the ITU
Triathlon World Championships and remains the top-ranked athlete in the women's TRI-
2 class, which features above-knee amputees.
In addition to competing internationally for the U.S., Stockwell also works as a
prosthetist and as a member of the board of directors of the Wounded Warrior Project.

11.Natalie Du Toit

Clive Rose/Getty Images

When Natalie Du Toit was 17 years old, she was riding her scooter to school after
swimming practice when she was struck by a car. Already an accomplished swimmer
who had been competing internationally since she was 14, the South African had to
have her left leg amputated at the knee.

Three months later, she was back in the pool.

Du Toit accomplished plenty in the Paralympic Games in 2004, 2008 and in 2012, but
what is special about her is that she has also achieved accolades in the
Olympics against able-bodied athletes.
In 2008, Du Toit was one of two Paralympians to qualify for the Summer Olympics in
Beijing. She qualified in May 2008 when she finished fourth at the 10K open water race
at the World Championships in Spain. In Beijing, she finished in 16th place, and she did
it without a prosthesis.

12. Jessica Long

Paul Cunningham-USA TODAY Sports

If you visit Jessica Long's personal website, you'll immediately come across an image of
her toting a gaggle of gold medals over her shoulder. It's only fitting, since she has 12 of
them. And those are only the golds; her medal total currently stands at a whopping 17.
Long was born with fibular hemimelia, and as a result, she had to have her lower legs
amputated at 18 months. She quickly learned to walk with prostheses, though, and
began her Paralympic career at the tender age of 12.

As the youngest member of the U.S. Paralympic Team in Athens in 2004, she earned
three gold medals: in the 100-meter freestyle, the 400-meter freestyle and the 4x100-
meter freestyle. That was only the beginning.

In 2006, Long broke a whopping 18 world records and tallied nine gold medals in nine
events at the IPC Swimming World Championships in South Africa. In 2008 in Beijing,
she took home six medals, four of which were gold. Most recently, in London in 2012,
she earned five gold medals, two silvers and a bronze before being named the U.S.
Paralympic Sportswoman of the Year.

13. Tatyana McFadden

Julian Finney/Getty Images

The list of medals garnered by Tatyana McFadden throughout the course of her
Paralympic career is dauntingit's that long.

The Russian-born wheelchair basketball and track competitor participated for the U.S. in
four Paralympic Games and in the 2013 World Championships, reeling in 16 medals,
including nine golds.

McFadden was born with spina bifida, which left her paralyzed from the waist down at
birth. Her mother abandoned her, and the orphanage in which she lived for the first six
years of her life didn't have the money to afford a wheelchair, so she walked on her
hands.

She was adopted by Deborah McFadden, a commissioner of disabilities for the U.S.
Health Department, and she began a new life in Baltimore in which she participated in a
variety of sports, including gymnastics, wheelchair basketball and track and field.

In her first competition at age eightthe 2004 Paralympics in Athensshe medaled

twice and hasn't slowed down since. She also won both the Boston and the London
marathons in 2013both of which occurred in the period of one weeK

14. Team Hoyt

Christopher Polk/Getty Images

After the tragic events at this year's Boston Marathon, the story of Dick and Rick Hoyt
became even more renowned than it was before. Team Hoyt has been running since
1977, participating in 70 marathons, including 30 in their home city of Boston, and six
Ironman triathlons.
Team Hoyt is Dick Hoyt and Rick Hoyt. Rick was born with cerebral palsy after his
umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck at birth; as such, his muscles can't receive
the right messages from his brain. Despite an early prognosis that was anything but
promising, Rick attended public school and college, where he graduated with a degree
in Special Education.

For their races, Team Hoyt has developed a special boat, special bicycle and special
wheelchair that allows Dick to pull, carry and push his son as they compete.

Even now, at the ages of 73 and 51, they still participate in 20-25 races per year,
including this year's Boston Marathon, which they were a mile away from finishing when
it was cut short by the bombs. The pair earned this year's Jimmy V Perseverance Award
at the ESPYs.

15. Jim Abbott

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

The legend of Jim Abbott grows more and more with every year that passes.
Despite the fact that he was born without a right hand, Abbott simply wouldn't let his
dreams of playing Major League Baseball be diminishedand his perseverance paid
off.

The native of Flint, Mich., was selected in the first round of the 1988 MLB draft after
establishing himself as one of the best prospects in college baseball. Within a year, he
was up in the majors, earning a spot in the California Angels' rotation without having
pitched in one minor league game.

In his third year in the majors, he posted an 18-11 record with a 2.89 ERA, finishing third
in the Cy Young voting. He also famously threw a no-hitter against the Indians in 1993.

16. Marla Runyan

Marla Runyan
She is also included in the list of great peoples with major disabilities. It is said about her that at the
age of nine, she suffered from a problem which was considered a form of macular degeneration that
left her legally blind. Despite this major diability, she performed different extraordinary tasks. She
remained there time national champion in the womens 500 meters race. There are also different
types of research studies on her that shown the fact that she also won four gold medals in the 1992
summer Paralympics.

In 1196 Paralympics, she also won silver in the shot put and gold medal in the Pentathlon. She was
also officially declared as first legally blind Paralympian to compete in the Olympic Games that were
arranged in Sydney at that time. She has also written her autobiography under the title of No Finish
Line

17. BHARAT KUMAR

Bharat Kumar Bharat Kumar Disability: Born with right hand only Bharat
Kumar was born with a right hand by birth, but his physical disability never
dissuade him from pursuing his dreams. Born on Dec 10, 1989, Bharat Kumar,
a world champion, has made Bharat (India) proud by winning over 50 medals
in para- swimming contests. Achievements: He has won two international
titles, one silver at the IWAS World Junior Athletics Championships in Ireland
and one gold medal and over 40 national level medals. Young Bharat has
flown to countries like England, Ireland, Holland, Malaysia and China to
participate in swimming contests.

18. PREETHI SRINIVASAN

4. Preethi Srinivasan Disability: Became Quadriplegic at the age of 18 on 11th

July, 1998. Achievement: Preethi Srinivasan, who was the captain of the
under-19 Tamil Nadu women's cricket team during its only victory in a
national tournament in 1997 and a champion in swimming, has defeated her
disabilities with her strong will. Wheel-chair bound 34-year-old Preethi has an
NGO called Soulfree, where she imparts lessons of hope to those women who
suffer from various kind of physical disabilities. She gives inspirational and
motivational speeches at various institutions

19. Marla Runyan

Disability: Blind

At the age of nine, Runyan developed Stargardts Disease, which is a form of

macular degeneration that left her legally blind. Marla Runyan is a three time
national champion in the womens 5000 meters. She won four gold medals in
the 1992 summer Paralympics. In the 1996 Paralympics she won silver in the
shot put and gold in the Pentathlon. In 2000 she became the first legally blind
paralympian to compete in the Olympic games in Sydney, Australia. She holds
various American records such as 20,000 Road (2003), All-female Marathon
(2002), 500m (2001) , Heptathlon (1996)