Para-cyclist Pieter du Preez claimed a 2024 Paralympic bronze medal in the Men’s H1 Individual Time Trial this morning, with a time of 36:07:05.

Italian Fabrizio Cornegliani took the gold medal (34:50.45), while Maxime Hordies of Belgium bagged silver (35:11.13).

𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐙𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 TEAM SA🇿🇦

Nicolas Pieter du Preez claims bronze in the Men’s H1 Individual Time Trial with a time of 36:07:05! 🥉#ForMyCountry #Paralympic #TeamSA pic.twitter.com/u9ImNajFJy

— Team South Africa (@OfficialTeamRSA) September 4, 2024

At age 23, Du Preez was cycling to a chiropractic appointment when he was hit by a car. His injuries resulted in C6 quadriplegia. He was also born with a degenerative eye disease.

According to his bio on Team SA’s website, Du Preez was the first quadriplegic athlete to complete an Ironman. At the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, he won the gold medal in the Road Time Trial H1 event. His other major medals include a silver and a bronze at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships and 14 medals, including five gold, six silver and three bronze, at the Road World Championships. He has also won the Berlin Marathon seven times.

Watch Pieter Du Preez’s journey from Tokyo Gold to Paris dreams: