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| Nationality | United States | ||||||||||||
| Born | December 22, 1983 Jamaica, New York |
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| Residence | East Islip, New York | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 56 kg (120 lb; 8.8 st) | ||||||||||||
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| Country | United States | ||||||||||||
| Sport | Wrestling, Weightlifting | ||||||||||||
| College/university team | Penn State University | ||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Rohan Mario Murphy (born December 22, 1983) is an American paralympian, wrestler, and motivational speaker. Rohan Murphy is also the founder of CatchSpark.com, an inspirational networking community, and a 2011 candidate for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Man & Woman of the Year fundraising campaign. Murphy has been featured on media such as ABC news, Sports Illustrated, 20/20, and Nike's “No Excuses” campaign.[1]
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During his early years, Murphy was unable and unwilling to participate in sports due to his physical disability. However, in 8th grade East Islip Coach Ron Croteau offered Murphy a position as equipment manager for the soccer, wrestling, and tennis teams. After noticing both Murphy’s dedication as manager and upper-body strength during gym class, Croteau suggested that Murphy begin wrestling. Murphy and Croteau spent the entire summer training and Murphy joined the East Islip wrestling team in 9th grade. Murphy wrestled his first match in December 1997 at the Sayville Holiday Tournament. Though he lost his first match and several thereafter, Murphy began to train harder and dedicated himself completely to wrestling. He ended up becoming one of the most decorated wrestlers in East Islip Redmen history by finishing his career as three-time All-League and two-time All-County wrestler.[2] Murphy walked on to wrestle at Penn State for Coach Troy Sunderland. He earned three varsity letters while at Penn State.
During his time at Penn State, Murphy began participating in Paralympic weightlifting events. In May 2006, Murphy won a Bronze medal in the 56 kg Junior Division of the 2006 IPC World Powerlifting Championships in Busan, Korea. Murphy lifted 281.1 pounds (127.5 kg), breaking the previous U.S. paralympic record of 270 pounds for the 56 kg division, which he set earlier this year at the Southeast Regional.[3] Murphy’s feat grabbed the attention of Nike and Murphy was subsequently featured in Nike’s “No Excuses” campaign.[4] “No Excuses” was a New Year’s campaign that sought to motivate people to create a work out plan and stick to it. Murphy is currently training for the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games which are set to be held in London starting August 29, 2012. Currently, Rohan Murphy is a professional motivational speaker. Murphy speaks on a wide variety of subjects, most notably overcoming adversity and accepting the differences of yourself and others. He also teaches Krankcycle classes at Gold’s Gym in Islip, New York.[5]