Tomasz Rebisz

Tomasz Rebisz (born 2 February 1974) is a Paralympian athlete from Poland competing mainly in F46 classification throwing events.[1] The decision by the International Paralympic Committee to remove his classification form the Paralympic programme between 1998 and 2010 meant Rebisz had a gap of 16 years between winning medals at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta and the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London.

Tomasz Rebisz

Personal information
Born	2 February 1974 Koszalin, Poland
Height	185 cm (73 in)
Sport
Country	Poland
Sport	Athletics
Disability class	F46
Event(s)	shot put discus throw javelin throw
Club	START Koszalin
Coached by	Alexander Poplawski (club) Zbigniew Lewkowicz (national)
Medal record Track and field Representing  Poland Paralympic Games 1996 Atlanta Shot put - F46 1996 Atlanta Discus - F46 1996 Atlanta Javelin - F46 2012 London Shot put - F46 IPC World Championships 1998 Birmingham Shot put - F46 2011 Christchurch Discus - F46 2013 Lyon Discus - F46 1998 Birmingham Discus - F46 1998 Birmingham Javelin - F46

Athletics history

Rebisz was always interested in sport but took up athletics seriously in 1992. He was selected for the Poland national team at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, entering the shot put, javelin and discus throw events in the F46 classification.[2] He won medals in all three, silver in the discus and shot put and bronze in the javelin. He followed this with three more medals at the 1998 IPC Athletics World Championships in Birmingham, including gold in the shot put. The International Paralympic Committee then decided to remove all F46 throwing event from their Paralympic schedule, leaving Rebisz unable to compete at the highest level of his sport.[2]

In the run-up to the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London the IPC chose to reinstate the F46 classification to their programme. Rebisz felt cheated by the original decision to remove the T46 category and when discussing the reintroduction he stated that "I felt like someone had done it to annoy me,".[2] He entered the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, competing in the shot and discus. He came sixth in the shot put, but won gold in the discus. At London, he entered the only event available to him, the shot put, as his favoured discus event was not contested in the F46. He recorded a season's best of 15.01 metres, which was enough to win Rebisz a bronze, his first Paralympic medal in 16 years.[2]

Personal history

Rebisz was born in Koszalin, Poland in 1974. He has a daughter.[2]

Notes

1. "Rebisz, Tomasz". Paralympic.org. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
2. "Rebisz, Tomasz". IPC. Retrieved 30 August 2016.