Léa Bayekula
Belgian wheelchair racer
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | (1995-04-26) 26 April 1995 (age 29) Brussels, Belgium | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Belgium | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para athletics | |||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Spina bifida | |||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T54 | |||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 metres 400 metres 800 metres 1500 metres | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Royal white star athletic club | |||||||||||||||||
| Team | Red Velvet Racing Team | |||||||||||||||||
| Coached by | Arno Mul | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Léa Bayekula (born 26 April 1995) is a Belgian wheelchair racer who competes in international track and field competitions. She is a European bronze medalist in wheelchair sprinting.[1][2][3]
Biography
Léa Bayekula was born with spina bifida in a family of 8 where she and her twin sister are the oldest children. She was 6 years old when, after years of training, she finally mastered how to walk. Her parents always made it a point of honor that she should join a traditional school and not an institution for children with disabilities.[4]
She discovered parasports by chance at the age of 15 during a general public day organized in Brussels by the Ligue handisport francophone [fr]. She first practiced wheelchair basketball for three years.[5] Then, after seeing a demonstration by Belgian Paralympic athlete Marieke Vervoort of what she could do with her wheelchair, she switched to para-athletics at age 18, specializing in 100 to 400 metres.[6]
Personal
Bayekula joined the gospel choir, Voice of Angels, when she was 6. She enjoyed going to concerts with the choir. With the choir she even reached the finals of "Belgium's got Talent" in 2013 on RTL-TVI, a french-language channel in Belgium. She practices contemporary dance since the age of 17, models and dreamt of becoming an actress[4]
She became a Handicap International Ambassador in 2021.[5]
Competitions
References
- ^ "Lea Bayekula - Ligue Handisport (in French)". Ligue Handisport. 14 July 2023.
- ^ "Lea Bayekula - IPC Profile". International Paralympic Committee. 14 July 2023.
- ^ "European Para Athletics Championships: Lea Bayekula gives Belgium its first medal (in Dutch)". sporza.be. 1 June 2021.
- ^ a b "Léa Bayekula Des rêves plein la tête !" (PDF). Association Spina Bifida Belge Francophone (in French). Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ a b "Léa Bayekula : "Donner plus de visibilité au handicap"". Handicap International (in French). 26 July 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
- ^ "Léa Bayekula, athlète ambitieuse et rieuse: « C'est inadmissible qu'on doive s'adapter dans un monde qui devrait être accessible à tous". weekend.levif.be (in French). 2 September 2021. Retrieved 5 September 2024.
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