Assunta Legnante

Assunta Legnante
Personal information
Nationality Italian
Born (1978-05-14) 14 May 1978
Naples, Italy
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Weight 122 kg (269 lb)
Sport
Country Italy Italy
Sport Athletics
Paralympic athletics
Disability Visually impaired
Disability class T11
Event(s) Shot put
Discus throw
Club Italgest Athletic Club
Achievements and titles
Personal best(s)
  • Shot put: 19.04 m (2006)
  • Shot put indoor: 19.20 m (2002)
  • Shot put F11: 16.74 m (2012)
  • Discus Throw F11 : 32.72 m (2012)
Medal record
Women's athletics
European Indoor Championships
2007 Birmingham Shot put
2002 Vienna Shot put
Mediterranean Games
2001 Radès Shot put
2009 Pescara Shot put
European Cup Winter Throwing
2008 Split Shot put
2002 Pola Shot put
2004 Marsa Shot put
2005 Mersin Shot put
2007 Jalta Shot put
European U23 Championships
1999 Gothenburg Shot put
European Junior Championships
1997 Ljubljana Shot put
Paralympic Games
2012 London Shot put (F11-12)
IPC World Championships
2015 Doha Shot put F12
IPC European Championships
2014 Swansea Discus - F11/12

Assunta Legnante (born 14 May 1978 in Naples) is a visually impaired Italian shot putter. She has competed in both the Olympics and the Paralympics, one of the few athletes to do so. As of February 2013, she is the current F11 shot put world record holder.[1]

Non-disabled athletics career

Legnante won the silver medal at the 2002 and the gold medal at the 2007 European Indoor Athletics Championships, where she captained the Italian team.[2] She finished fifth at the 2006 European Athletics Championships. She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, having missed the 2004 Olympics due to dangerously high intraocular pressure.[2][3]

Her personal best throw is 19.04 metres, achieved in September 2006 in Busto Arsizio. Her best indoor result is 19.20 metres, achieved in February 2002 in Genova.[4]

Blindness and Paralympics

Legnante was born with congenital glaucoma in both eyes.[2] In 2009 she suddenly lost the sight in her better, right eye.[2][3] Her left retina then deteriorated.[2] She had a cataract removed in March 2012, but that did not improve her sight. She now has light perception in her left eye, but nothing more.[2]

The 2007 European indoor champion did not lose heart and started a new career as a Paralympic athlete, training for the forthcoming 2012 Summer Paralympics.[3]

At the 2012 Italian Paralympic Athletics Championships in Turin she set a new F11 shot put world record with a throw of 13.27 metres.[5] On 8 June, at Memorial Primo Nebiolo in Turin, she improved the world record, three times, to 15.22 m.[6] At the London Paralympics, she broke her own world record with a throw of 16.74 metres.[1]

In 2014 she returned to international level throwing 17.09 on 20 June and 17.39 at the regional championships in Naples eight days later.

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Representing  Italy
Athletics
1996 World Junior Championships Sydney, Australia 13th (q) Shot put 13.44 m
1999 European U23 Championships Göteborg, Sweden 3rd Shot put 16.53 m
2001 Mediterranean Games Radès, Tunisia 1st Shot put 17.23 m
Universiade Beijing, China 11th Shot put 16.16 m
2002 European Indoor Championships Vienna, Austria 2nd Shot put 18.60 m
European Championships Munich, Germany 8th Shot put 18.23 m = PB
2003 World Indoor Championships Birmingham, England 8th Shot put 18.20 m
World Championships Paris, France 8th Shot put 18.28 m
2004 World Athletics Final Monte Carlo, Monaco 6th Shot put 17.20 m
2005 European Indoor Championships Madrid, Spain 6th Shot put 17.76 m
World Championships Helsinki, Finland 12th Shot put 16.99 m
Universiade Izmir, Turkey 4th Shot put 17.31 m
2006 European Championships Gothenburg, Sweden 5th Shot put 18.83 m
2007 European Indoor Championships Birmingham, England 1st Shot put 18.92 m
2009 Mediterranean Games Pescara, Italy 2nd Shot put 17.44 m
Paralympic Athletics
2012 Summer Paralympics London, United Kingdom 1st Shot put 16.74 m
8th Discus throw 30.81 m

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "IPC Athletics World Records" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Beijing Olympic shot-putter Assunta Legnante now blind, seeks Paralympic title". Association Internationale De La Presse Sportive. Retrieved 3 February 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Atletica: Legnante shock "Non ci vedo piu"" (in Italian). sportlive.it. Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  4. ↑ IAAF Athlete Profile: Assunta Legnante
  5. ↑ "Assunta Legnante nuovo record del mondo, tanti ottimi risultati." (in Italian). Fispes.it. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  6. ↑ "Torino per il record bis di Abate" (in Italian). fidal.it. Retrieved 9 June 2012.

External links

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