Liam Malone

Liam Bevan Malone MNZM (born 23 December 1993) is a former New Zealand para-athlete, primarily competing in sprint events. He represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he won gold medals in the men's 200 metres T44[1] and 400 metres T44,[2] and the silver medal in the men's 100 metres T44.[3]

Liam Malone
MNZM
Malone in 2017
Personal information
Birth nameLiam Bevan Malone
Born (1993-12-23) 23 December 1993
Nelson, New Zealand
RelativesPeter Malone (grandfather)
Robert Trimble (3×great-grandfather)
Abel Heywood (4×great-grandfather)
William Malone (3×great-uncle)
Sport
CountryNew Zealand
SportAthletics
Disability classT43
ClubAthletics Nelson
Coached byBrodie Hewlett (2014–2016)
James Mortimer (2016–2017)
Medal record
Men's para athletics
Representing  New Zealand
Summer Paralympics
2016 Rio de Janeiro200 metres T44
2016 Rio de Janeiro400 metres T44
2016 Rio de Janeiro100 metres T44

Personal life

Malone was born in Nelson, the son of Murray Robert Malone and Trudi Scott.[4] He grew up in the suburb of Stoke and was educated at Nayland College.[5] He is the grandson of Peter Malone, who served as the mayor of Nelson from 1980 to 1992. He is also the great-great-great-grandson of Robert Trimble, a 19th-century member of the New Zealand Parliament, and the great-great-great-great-grandson of Abel Heywood, who served two separate terms as mayor of Manchester in the 1860s and 1870s. Malone is also the great-great-great-nephew of Lieutenant Colonel William George Malone, who commanded the Wellington Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli.[4]

Malone was born with fibular hemimelia (congenital absence of the fibula bone) in both legs. As a result, his legs were amputated just above his ankles when he was 18 months old.[6]

Career

As a double below-knee amputee, Malone is classified T43 for running events. His maximum permitted standing height on prosthetics is 1.877 m (6 ft 1.9 in).[7]

Malone was officially selected to represent New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics on 23 May 2016.[8] At the Paralympics, he won the silver medal in the men's 100 metres T44,[3] and the gold medals in the men's 200 metres T44 and men's 400 metres T44.[1][2] His two gold medals were achieved in Paralympic record time, taking the records from disgraced South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius.[9][10]

Malone was selected as New Zealand's flag bearer for the 2016 Summer Paralympics closing ceremony.[11] He was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2017 New Year Honours, for his services to athletics.[12]

Malone announced his retirement from athletics in January 2018.[13]

Malone began working in Artificial Intelligence start up Soul Machines immediately after retirement, the company is led by Oscar Award winner Dr Mark Sagar.[14]

Malone is also a popular keynote speaker and is represented by Celebrity Speakers New Zealand.

Personal bests
Event Result (wind) Date Location Notes
100 m (T43) 10.90 (+0.9 m/s) 8 September 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil AR[3]
200 m (T43) 21.06 (+0.6 m/s) 12 September 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil PR, AR[1]
400 m (T43) 46.20 15 September 2016 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil PR[2]

References
  1. "Results -- Men's 200 metres T44 -- Rio 2016 Paralympic Games" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  2. "Results -- Men's 400 metres T44 -- Rio 2016 Paralympic Games" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  3. "Results -- Men's 100 metres T44 -- Rio 2016 Paralympic Games" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 September 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  4. "The family of Lt. Colonel William Malone". 14 September 2016. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  5. Rollo, Phillip (12 September 2016). "Stoke it up! Paralympic Games sprinter Liam Malone's hometown shout out". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  6. "Legless Liam Malone is blade-running to Rio". Stuff.co.nz. 1 November 2014. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  7. "Classification Master List, Summer Season 2016 – New Zealand". IPC Athletics. Retrieved 16 September 2016.
  8. "Paralympics New Zealand name six track and field athletes for Rio". Stuff.co.nz. 23 May 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  9. "Oscar Pistorius record smashed by NZ's Liam Malone at Rio Games". ITV News. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  10. Pearson, Joseph (16 September 2016). "Rio Paralympics: Liam Malone breaks another Oscar Pistorius record to win 400m T44". Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  11. "Rio Paralympics: Liam Malone to carry flag for New Zealand at closing ceremony". Stuff.co.nz. 18 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  12. "New Year Honours List 2017". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  13. "Paralympian Liam Malone announces retirement". New Zealand Herald. 9 January 2018. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  14. "Retired paralympian Liam Malone swaps the track for career in technology". Stuff. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
Awards
Preceded by
Sophie Pascoe		 Halberg Awards – Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
2016		 Succeeded by
Sophie Pascoe
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.