Louise Sauvage

Louise Sauvage at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games

Louise Sauvage medal table
Wheelchair athlete
Australia
Paralympic Games
gold	1992 Barcelona	100 meters
gold	1992 Barcelona	200 metres
gold	1992 Barcelona	400 meters
gold	1996 Atlanta	400 meters
gold	1996 Atlanta	800 meters
gold	1996 Atlanta	1,500 meters
gold	1996 Atlanta	5,000 meters
gold	2000 Sydney	1,500 meters
gold	2000 Sydney	5,000 meters
silver	1992 Barcelona	800 meters
silver	2000 Sydney	800 meters
silver	2004 Athens	400 meters
silver	2004 Athens	800 meters
Commonwealth Games
silver	2002 Manchester	800 meters
IAAF World Championships
gold	1993 Stuttgart	800 meters
gold	1995 Gothenburg	800 meters
gold	1997 Athens	800 meters
gold	2001 Edmonton	800 meters
gold	2003 Paris	800 meters
IPC world championships
gold	1990 Netherlands	100 meters

Alix Louise Sauvage (born September 18, 1973 in Perth ), OAM , is an Australian athlete who won numerous medals at Paralympic Games. It starts in the TW4 classification.

Life

Louise Sauvage was born in 1973 to Rita Sauvage, née Ridgen, who emigrated from Leicestershire , England, and Maurice Sauvage, who was originally from the Seychelles. Her sister Ann was born four years before her. Louise Sauvage has suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome from birth , which is why she had to undergo 21 operations in the first ten years of her life. At the age of three she was the Telethon child of her hometown and in 1981 she received her first wheelchair and started doing wheelchair sports.

After ten years, Sauvage left school and attended a TAFE (Technical and Further Education) course in office and secretarial work.

Career

Louise Sauvage at the 800m final of the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney

In 1983 Sauvage was chosen as a participant in the Second National Junior Games for the Disabled . The following year she was the youngest female athlete to date to take part in the National Senior Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Games in Sydney . She won two silver and three bronze medals. In 1995 she won a total of fifteen medals, including seven gold, at the National Junior Games in her hometown of Perth .

In 1990 she took part in the World Athletics Championships held by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in the Netherlands and won the 100 meter race. She was also first on the 200-meter course, but was disqualified because she had crossed the lane barrier. In the same year the Stoke Mandeville Games took place in England, where they secured gold medals in the 100 meters, over 200 meters, over 400 meters and was successful with two relays. Following this tournament, Sauvage received a grant from the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS)

The following years of her career were marked by numerous successes at various summer Paralympics, in which she won a total of nine gold and three silver medals. In recognition of her achievement, she was allowed to light the Olympic flame as the last torchbearer at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney .

In addition to competitive sports , she also took part in the Boston Marathon from 1992 , where she found a permanent and strong competitor in Jean Driscoll , who also took part in the Paralympics. For years, the duels between these two athletes determined the outcome of the marathon handicapped race. In 1997 Sauvage first managed to beat Driscoll and win the marathon. She was able to repeat this success in the following year in the Fotofinisch and in 1999 with a wheelchair length advantage. Runner-up was Driscoll in each case. In 2001, after her arch rival withdrew, Sauvage was able to win the marathon again.

Honors

• Order of Australia -Medal
• A catamaran sailing in Port Jackson off Sydney was named after her.
• 1993: Australian Broadcasting Corporation ’s Junior Female Athlete of the Year Award
• 1994: Australian Paralympian of the Year
• 1996: Australian Paralympian of the Year
• 1997: Australian Paralympian of the Year
• 1997: Sport-For-All-Trophy of the International Olympic Committee
• 1997: Australian Institute of Sport Athlete of the Year
• 1998: Australian Paralympian of the Year
• 1998: ABIGROUP National Sports Award
• 1999: Australian Sportswoman of the Year
• 1999: International Wheelchair Athlete of the Year
• 2000: International Wheelchair Athlete of the Year
• 2000: Laureus World Sports Awards as Disabled Athlete of the Year

literature

• Louise Sauvage: Louise Sauvage: My Story . HarperSports, Sydney 2002

Web links

Commons : Louise Sauvage  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Louise Sauvage in the database of World Athletics (English)
• Louise Sauvage in the database of Athletics Australia (English)