Anna Grimaldi
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 February 1997 Dunedin, New Zealand |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Athletics |
| Disability class | T47, F46 |
| Event(s) | |
| Club | Athletics Taieri |
Anna Grimaldi MNZM (born 12 February 1997) is a New Zealand para-athlete, primarily competing in the long jump and sprint events. She represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, winning the gold medal in the women's long jump T47.
Grimaldi was born in Dunedin to Tony and Di Grimaldi, and has one sister, Abby. She was born with a withered right forearm and no functional right hand. She attended Bayfield High School in Dunedin; she played netball and basketball for the school and in her final year was a sports prefect. Grimaldi studies quantity surveying at Otago Polytechnic.
Grimaldi started para-athletics after attending a Paralympic talent identification event in October 2013. She initially was reluctant to attend, having had no formal athletics training and fearing she would be "shocking". She is classified T47 for track events and long jump, and F46 for field events. She won her first international competition medal, a bronze in the women's long jump T47, at the 2015 IPC Athletics World Championships in Doha, Qatar. She set a personal best of 5.41 m, while her second-best 5.38 m secured her the bronze medal over Russian Alexandra Moguchaya on countback. Grimaldi also placed fifth in the women's 200 metres T47 final.
Her long jump distance at the 2015 World Championships ranked her in the top five in the long jump T47 during the Paralympics qualifying period, earning her a slot at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. She was officially confirmed to represent New Zealand at the Paralympics on 23 May 2016. At the Paralympics, she won the gold medal in the women's long jump T47 with a distance of 5.62 m, breaking her personal best by 21 cm. She also placed fourth in the women's 100 metres T47 final, and competed in the 200 metres T47 where she was disqualified in the heat for a lane infringement.
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