| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Born | July 30, 1976 Castlegar, British Columbia |
| Height | 173 cm (68 in) (2008) |
| Weight | 66 kg (150 lb) (2008) |
| Sport | |
| Country | Canada |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Event(s) | 100 m, 200 m, 400 m, long jump |
| Achievements and titles | |
| Paralympic finals |
2008 Summer Paralympics: 100 m T42 – Gold 2000 Summer Paralympics: 100 m T42 – Gold |
| Personal best(s) |
60 m: 7.87 (2006, WR) |
Earle Connor (July 30, 1976-) is a Canadian Paralympic amputee sprinter. Connor holds several athletics world records in the class of T42, or above-knee, amputee.
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Earle Connor was born July 30, 1976 in Castlegar, British Columbia to Dave and Diane Connor. Because he was born without a left fibula, his left leg was amputated above-the-knee when he was 3 months old.[2] At the age of 9 months Earle was fitted with his first prosthetic leg.
Growing up in rural Saskatchewan, Connor played all available sports, excelling at hockey, tennis and baseball, and graduated from Rosthern Junior College. Connor was the first amputee ever drafted into the Canadian Junior Hockey system as a goaltender for the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL.[3]
Connor was inspired by watching television coverage of the 1996 Summer Paralympics to become an amputee sprinter with the goal of competing at the 2000 Summer Paralympics. At the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney, he took gold in the 100-metre final, but finished second in the 200 metres when a misstep on the first corner cost him a few seconds.
Connor missed the 2004 Summer Paralympics and was banned from competition for two years after testing positive for trace amounts of testosterone and nandrolone in August 2004. The testosterone was believed to be from a medically-prescribed patch he had been using after having one testes surgically removed due to cancer-related concerns in 2001.[4]
He returned to the Paralympics in 2008, winning gold in the men's T42 100 m sprint and setting a new Paralympic record time of 12.32 seconds.[5]