Jaco Van Gass

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Jaco Van Gass Road cycling
To person
Date of birth August 20, 1986
nation United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom of South Africa
South AfricaSouth Africa 
discipline Paracycling - road / rail (C4)
Most important successes
UCI Paracycling World Track Championships
2020 World Champion - time trial, omnium
2020 silver - persecution
Last updated: April 17, 2020

Jaco Van Gass (born August 20, 1986 in Middelburg , South Africa ) is a British - South African disabled cyclist . He starts in class C4 .

Use in Afghanistan

Jaco Van Gass was born in South Africa. At the age of 20, he went to the UK to join the British Armed Forces . He finished his training in mid-2007 and became a member of a paratrooper regiment. During his second deployment to Afghanistan in 2009, Van Gass was hit by a reactive anti-tank rifle . He lost his left arm, collapsed his lungs , and sustained further injuries to his body and internal organs. He had to be operated on a total of eleven times. Through intensive rehabilitation and determination, Van Glass developed a new courage to face life.

Athletic career

Van Gass first learned to ski and took part in competitions as a member of the Combined Services Disabled Ski Team . In 2011 he was the first South African to conquer the eighth highest mountain in the world at 8,164 meters, the Manaslu in the Himalayas . In 2012 he made the attempt to climb Mount Everest , which failed due to poor weather conditions. In the meantime he has also successfully completed marathons .

In December 2013 Van Gass was part of a group of handicapped soldiers who, together with the British Prince Harry , completed a 335-kilometer march to the South Pole for the benefit of the aid organization "Walking With The Wounded". This raised £ 1.5 million in donations that will be used for the athletic rehabilitation of wounded soldiers.

Jaco Van Gass then turned his interest to cycling and was accepted into the Paralympic Development Program in 2013 . He won two gold medals in cycling at the Invictus Games in September 2014. Since the end of 2014 he participates in the Paralympic Academy Program of the British Cycling Federation British Cycling part.

In 2015 Van Gass competed for the first time in the UCI Paracycling Track World Championships and finished seventh in the single pursuit and eighth in the 1000 meter time trial . The UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships 2016 in Italy Montichiari he won the bronze medal in the scratch . Two years later, at the UCI Paracycling World Track Championships in Rio de Janeiro in 2018 , he finished third in the singles pursuit. In 2020 he became vice world champion in this discipline, and in Omnium and in Scratch he won the world title respectively.

further activities

Van Gass is an ambassador for the Rose Charitable Foundation , which supports wounded soldiers. In this capacity and as a member of the March to the South Pole , he has now appeared on television several times.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jaco Van Gass. In: Walking With The Wounded. Retrieved March 30, 2016 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Jaco van Gass - Military Speakers. In: militaryspeakers.co.uk. June 26, 1952, accessed March 30, 2016 .
  3. ↑ Welcome Home Press Conference. In: Walking With The Wounded. March 11, 2014, accessed March 30, 2016 .
  4. ↑ 3 Invictus Games athletes tell us how training has helped them recover from life-changing injuries. In: tv3.ie. June 13, 2017, accessed April 17, 2018 .
  5. ↑ a b Jaco Van Gass. In: British Cycling. April 10, 2016, accessed March 30, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Van Gass, Jaco
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British disabled cyclist
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1986
PLACE OF BIRTH Middelburg