Arjola Dedaj (born 26 November 1981 in Tirana, Albania) is a blind Italian Paralympic athlete who competes in sprinting and long jump events in international level events. [1]
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nickname(s) | Arj, Duracell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 26 November 1981 Tirana, Albania | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Country |  Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Paralympic athletics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Retinitis pigmentosa | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | T11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 metres 200 metres Long jump | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Fiamme Azzurre | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner | Emanuele Di Marino | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Personal life
editDedaj was born in Albania, she was discriminated by her visual impairment which she has had since the age of three years old because there were no schools in Albania that could provide her an education. She immigrated to Italy in a rubber dinghy in 1998 along with her father and brother to join her mother who was in Milan.[2][3]
She and her partner Emanuele Di Marino, who is her training partner and also participates in Paralympic track and field events are referred to as "La coppia dei sogni" ("the dream couple" in Italian).[4]
References
edit- ^ "Arjola Dedaj - IPC Athlete Bio". ipc.infostradasports.com. 4 May 2020. Archived from the original on 2 June 2021.
- ^ "Dedaj: a Paralympian's tale of discrimination and pain". aljazeera.com. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 10 September 2016.
- ^ "The work behind the training for the Rio 2016 Paralympics". TechnoGym. 4 May 2020.
- ^ "Arjola Dedaj's family affair". World Para Athletics. 13 March 2019. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020.
External links
edit- Arjola Dedaj at Paralympic.org
- Arjola Dedaj at IPC.InfostradaSports.com (archived)
- Arjola Dedaj at the CONI honored athlete website (in Italian)
