Paralympic medalist regains use of her legs following crash, becomes road racing cyclist

Overall it’s been a depressing year in sports, I know. But then you see a story like this and it goes a long way toward making everything OK. Monique van der Vorst of the Netherlands has undergone two remarkable transformations: She lost the use of her legs as a teenager following ankle surgery, but trained hard and became a Paralympic athlete in wheelchair and handcycle racing. She won two silver medals in the handcycling road race and time trial at the Beijing Paralympics.

Then last year, at age 26, van der Vorst suffered a crash in training, and a miraculous thing happened. She began regaining feeling in her legs. Eventually she was able to walk again, and then took up cycling. And now she’s been signed by the Rabobank women’s cycling team.

“My development has been very quick. I never could have imagined one year ago I would be here,” Van der Vorst told The Associated Press. “All the training I did in the last 10 years gives me a good base.”

A coach loaned her a bike as Van der Vorst continued her rehabilitation and now she is joining the likes of Marianne Vos — silver medalist in the road race at the world championships in September — in the Rabo team.

“Cycling with arms or legs, tactics, corners are almost the same,” Van der Vorst said.

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Van der Vorst has set her sights on the road race at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and I can’t think of a more worthy athlete to root for.

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Paralympian walks again, joins pro cycling team after regaining use of legs [Huffington Post]
Paralympic medalist walks again [BBC News]