spirit in motion

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Title: Medical Student John Mark carries the Olympic Flame into Wembley Stadion, passing Olympic Games Officials, 1948

Creator: Keystone

Institution: Sportimonium

CC BY-NC-SA

Over the 125 years of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, many thousands of athletes have taken part.
All Olympians and Paralympians are heroes, with some achieving the status of legends.
In this e-book, we look at sportspeople who are considered legends of their sports - for their successes, popularity, personalities, achievements and legacies.

(https://www.europeana.eu/en/exhibitions/heroes-of-the-olympic-games/legends)

Title: Kay Espenhayn

Institution: Museum of City History Leipzig

CC BY-NC-SA

Swimmer Kay Espenhayn

Kay Espenhayn was a German Paralympic swimmer. She was the first German sportsperson to be a UNICEF ambassador for disability sports.

Kay Espenhayn was born in Leipzig in 1968.

In August 2001, she set a world record at the European Championships in Sweden, and in December, competed in her last swimming competition in Germany. She was named Leipzig Sportswoman of the Year in 2000 and 2001, and became an Ambassador for UNICEF in 2002.

(https://www.europeana.eu/en/exhibitions/heroes-of-the-olympic-games/champions#kayespenhayn)

Title: E

Title: Esther Vergeer

Institution: Wikimedia Commons

Public Domain

Tennis player Esther Vergeer

Esther Vergeer is a seven-time Paralympic champion in wheelchair tennis who changed disability sports in the Netherlands forever.

Esther Vergeer was born in 1982, and started playing wheelchair tennis in 1994. Six years later, she became the Paralympic champion in Sydney, which, at the time, was a big surprise. But in the years that followed, she proved herself even more, by winning another six Paralympic golds.

As a result of Vergeer's successes, disabled sports are finally being taken seriously in the Netherlands.

(https://www.europeana.eu/en/exhibitions/heroes-of-the-olympic-games/legends)