IPC NEW LOGO
INTERNATIONAL PARALYMPIC COMMITTEE
2120-Heinz Frei photo

Heinz Frei

Swiss flag
Switzerland
Athletics
19
9
13

Biography

Impairment information

Type of Impairment
Spinal Cord Injuries
Origin of Impairment
Acquired
Classification
H3

Further personal information

Family
Children Jan and Tamara
Residence
Oberbipp, SUI
Languages
French, German, English

Sport specific information

When and where did you begin this sport?
He took up the sport in 1980 at age 22.
Why this sport?
"I loved the sport before my accident and I missed it very, very much."
Club / Team
RC Solothurn : Switzerland
Training Regime
He covers between 400 and 500 kilometres in a normal training week.

International debut

Year
1982
Competing for
Switzerland
Location
Nottwil, SUI

General interest

Nicknames
Hene (Athlete, 16 Aug 2010)
Hobbies
Playing sports, spending time with family, travelling. (swissparalympic.ch, 23 Jul 2015)
Memorable sporting achievement
Winning two gold medals at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, at age 50. (spiegel.de, 01 Jun 2015)
Hero / Idol
Canadian wheelchair racer Andre Viger. (Athlete, 16 Aug 2010)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"Never give up in a race or in life." (topendwheelchair.com, 2013)
Awards and honours
He has been named Para Athlete of the Year in Switzerland in 1987, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2008 and 2009. (credit-suisse-sports-awards.ch, 2017)
Other sports
He competed in athletics at each Paralympic Games from 1984 to 2016, and in cross-country skiing at the Paralympic Winter Games in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1998 and 2006. (SportsDeskOnline, 18 Sep 2016)
Impairment
In 1978 he was involved in an accident while running in the mountains. (schweizer-illustrierte.ch, 09 Oct 2012)

Results

Unit Date Rank
Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games (Sydney, Australia)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 400 m T53 Heat 1 3
Men's 400 m T53 Final Round 6
Men's 800 m T53 Heat 2 1
Men's 800 m T53 Final Round 1
Men's 1500 m T54 Heat 1 5
Men's 1500 m T54 Heat 2 3
Men's 1500 m T54 Final Round 5
Men's 5000 m T54 Heat 2 5
Men's 5000 m T54 Heat 2 5
Men's 10000 m T54 Heat 1 1
Men's 10000 m T54 Final Round 3
Men's 4x400 m T54 Heat 1 3
Men's 4x400 m T54 Final Round 4
Men's Marathon T54 Final Round 3
IPC Athletics World Championships Villeneuve d'Ascq 2002 (Villeneuve d'Ascq, France)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 10000 m T54 Heat 1 2
Men's 10000 m T54 Final Round 5
Men's 4x100 m T53-54 Heat 1 2
Men's 4x100 m T53-54 Final Round 4
Men's Marathon T54 Final Round 1
Men's 5000 m T54 Final Round 8
Men's 5000 m T54 Heat 2 3
Men's 800 m T53 Final Round 2
Men's 800 m T53 Heat 1 1
Athens 2004 Paralympic Games (Athens, Greece)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 400 m T53 Heat 3 5
Men's 800 m T53 Heat 2 2
Men's 800 m T53 Final Round 6
Men's 5000 m T54 Heat 1 8
Men's 5000 m T54 Final Round 11
Men's 10000 m T54 Heat 1 7
Men's 10000 m T54 Final Round 7
Men's 4x400 m T53-54 Heat 3 2
Men's Marathon T54 Final Round 7
IPC Athletics World Championships Assen 2006 (Assen, Netherlands)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 800 m T53 Heat 1 1
Men's 800 m T53 Final Round 2
Men's 1500 m T54 Heat 3 2
Men's 1500 m T54 Heat 2 2
Men's 1500 m T54 Final Round 5
Men's 5000 m T54 Heat 3 4
Men's 5000 m T54 Heat 2 4
Men's 5000 m T54 Final Round 9
Men's 10000 m T54 Heat 2 3
Men's 10000 m T54 Final Round 3
Men's 4x400 m T53-54 Heat 2 2
Innsbruck 1988 Paralympic Winter Games (Innsbruck, Austria)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Long Distance 10 km Gr I Final Round 3
Men's 3x2.5 km Relay Gr I-II Final Round 2
Men's Short Distance 5 km Gr I Final Round 1
Albertville 1992 Paralympic Winter Games (Albertville, France)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Short Distance 5 km LW10 Final Round 4
Men's Long Distance 10 km LW10 Final Round 4
Men's 3x2.5 km Relay LW10-11 Final Round 3
Lillehammer 1994 Paralympic Winter Games (Lillehammer, Norway)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 5 km Sitski LW10 Final Round 5
Men's 10 km Sitski LW10 Final Round 5
Men's 15 km Sitski LW10 Final Round 4
Men's 7.5 km LW10 Final Round 4
Nagano 1998 Paralympic Winter Games (Nagano, Japan)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 5 km Sitski LW10 Final Round 6
Men's 10 km Sitski LW10 Final Round 3
Men's 15 km Sitski LW10-12 Final Round 3
Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games (Torino, Italy)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 5 km Sitski Final Round 22
Men's 10 km Sitski Final Round 17
Men's 15 km Sitski Final Round 20
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games (Beijing, China)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Road Individual Road Race HC B Final Round 1
Men's 800 m T53 Heat 2 4
Men's 800 m T53 Final Round 6
Men's 5000 m T54 Heat 3 4
Men's Marathon T54 Final Round 14
Men's Road Individual Time Trial HC B Final Round 1
Innsbruck 1984 Paralympic Winter Games (Innsbruck, Austria)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 3x2.5 km Relay Gr I-II Final Round 3
Men's Short Distance 5 km Gr I Final Round 4
Men's Middle Distance 10 km Gr I Final Round 3
IPC Athletics World Championships Birmingham 1998 (Birmingham, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Marathon T55 Final Round 1
Men's 10000 m T55 Final Round 6
Men's 400 m T54 Heat 1 2
Men's 400 m T54 Final Round 1
Men's 800 m T54 Heat 1 1
Men's 800 m T54 Final Round 1
Men's 10000 m T55 Heat 1 4
Stoke Mandeville & New York 1984 Paralympic Games (Stoke Mandeville (GBR), New York (USA), Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m 2 Heat 2 4
Men's Marathon 2 Final Round 1
Men's 4x400 m 2-5 Heat 3 2
Men's 400 m 2 Heat 1 2
Men's 400 m 2 Heat 1 2
Men's 400 m 2 Heat 1 2
Men's 400 m 2 Final Round 3
Men's 800 m 2 Heat 4 2
Men's 800 m 2 Heat 2 1
Men's 800 m 2 Final Round 2
Men's 1500 m 2 Heat 2 2
Men's 1500 m 2 Heat 1 3
Men's 1500 m 2 Final Round 1
Men's 5000 m 2 Heat 1 1
Men's 5000 m 2 Heat 2 1
Men's 5000 m 2 Final Round 1
Men's 4x100 m 2-5 Heat 4 1
Men's 4x200 m 2-5 Heat 4 2
Seoul 1988 Paralympic Games (Seoul, South Korea)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 400 m 2 Heat 2 2
Men's 400 m 2 Heat 2 3
Men's 400 m 2 Final Round 4
Men's 800 m 2 Heat 2 2
Men's 800 m 2 Final Round 2
Men's 1500 m 2 Heat 1 2
Men's 1500 m 2 Heat 1 3
Men's 1500 m 2 Final Round 1
Men's 5000 m 2 Heat 2 3
Men's 5000 m 2 Final Round 2
Men's 10000 m 2 Final Round 1
Men's Marathon 2 Final Round 4
Barcelona 1992 Paralympic Games (Barcelona, Spain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 400 m TW3 Heat 2 2
Men's 400 m TW3 Final Round 5
Men's 800 m TW3 Heat 2 2
Men's 800 m TW3 Final Round 1
Men's 1500 m TW3-4 Heat 3 4
Men's 1500 m TW3-4 Heat 1 3
Men's 1500 m TW3-4 Final Round 4
Men's 5000 m TW3-4 Heat 2 2
Men's 5000 m TW3-4 Heat 2 2
Men's 5000 m TW3-4 Final Round 1
Men's 10000 m TW3-4 Heat 2 2
Men's 4x100 m TW3-4 Heat 1 1
Men's 4x100 m TW3-4 Final Round 3
Men's 4x400 m TW3-4 Heat 1 1
Men's 4x400 m TW3-4 Final Round 4
Men's Marathon TW3-4 Final Round 1
Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games (Atlanta, United States of America)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 1500 m T52-53 Final Round 1
Men's 5000 m T52-53 Heat 3 4
Men's 5000 m T52-53 Heat 2 2
Men's 5000 m T52-53 Final Round 5
Men's 10000 m T52-53 Heat 2 1
Men's 10000 m T52-53 Final Round 1
Men's 4x100 m T52-53 Heat 1 3
Men's 4x400 m T52-53 Heat 2 1
Men's 4x400 m T52-53 Final Round 2
Men's Marathon T52-53 Final Round 3
Men's 1500 m T52-53 Heat 1 3
Men's 1500 m T52-53 Heat 3 1
Men's 800 m T52 Final Round 2
Men's 400 m T52 Heat 1 1
Men's 400 m T52 Final Round 9999
Men's 800 m T52 Heat 2 1
2011 IPC Athletics World Championships (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Marathon T53/54 Final 2011-01-30 2
London 2012 Paralympic Games (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Time Trial H2 Final Round 2012-09-05 1
Men's Road Race H2 Final Round 2012-09-07 5
Mixed Team Relay H1-4 Final Round 2012-09-08 3
Men's Marathon T54 Final Round 2012-09-09 11
IPC Athletics World Championships (Lyon, France)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Marathon T54 Final 1 2013-07-28 2
Rio 2016 Paralympic Games (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's Time Trial H3 Final Round 2016-09-14 4
Men's Road Race H3 Final Round 2016-09-15 7
Mixed Team Relay H2-5 Final Round 2016-09-16 4
Men's Marathon T54 Final Round 2016-09-18 17