Liisa Lilja (born 26 August 1992) is a Finnish paratriathlete who competes in international elite events. She is a World silver medalist, European champion and competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics finishing in fourth place.[1][2]
 Lilja at 2016 Summer Paralympics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | 26 August 1992 Pori, Finland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Finland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paratriathlon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Bone cancer survivor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | PTS2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Tommi Martikainen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Lilja was diagnosed with bone cancer in her right leg when she was eight years old and her right leg got amputated above the knee when she was ten years old. She began rehabilitation by doing swimming lessons and started competing in paratriathlon internationally in 2014.
Training accident
editIn November 2018, Lilja was involved in a car accident in Torrevieja, Spain while on a cycling training session. She was riding downhill at 40mph and collided with a car that was on the wrong side of the road, the driver of the vehicle was convicted of drink driving when he was given a blood test. Lilja spent a few days in hospital after breaking two bones in her left leg. She was unable to train fully for three months.[3]
References
edit- ^ "Liisa Lilja - Athlete Bio". World Triathlon. 9 March 2021.
- ^ "Liisa Lilja - IPC Profile". International Paralympic Committee. 9 March 2021.
- ^ "World champion Liisa Lilja came close to death when a drunk driver hit her in the middle of a bike ride: "It was such a scary moment that life isn't scary at all anymore" (in Finnish)". Urheilu. 28 August 2019.