Background
She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder. Her affected leg was amputated above the knee at age seven.
journalist athletics competitor
She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder. Her affected leg was amputated above the knee at age seven.
Inspired by amputee marathon runner Paddy Rossbach, Reinertsen began to run at age 11. At her first international track meet, when she was 13, she broke the 100 m world record for female above-knee amputees. Her T42 400 m world record time, set in 1999, still stands today.
She represented the United States of America at the 1992 Summer Paralympics but found herself racing arm amputees due to low numbers of female competitors.
Although she was then world record holder in her own classification, she came last in her heat. Reinertsen was the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
She first attempted the race in 2004, but was disqualified when she reached the end of the bike course 15 minutes after cut-off time. She returned to Kona in 2005, with a motto of "Unfinished Business", and crossed the finish line in just over 15 hours.
Reinertsen has run marathons around the world, including New York City, Los Angeles, Millennium New Zealand, London and Boston.
In 2011, she was the first female leg amputee to run in The Great Wall Marathon in China, completing the 10k event in 1:49. Reinertsen has broken the women"s above-knee amputee marathon record several times but does not currently hold lieutenant She placed second (behind Melissa Stockwell) in 2011.
While better-known for her success in Ironman Triathlon, Reinhertsen states that her "focus for 2013 and beyond is to train to qualify for the (newly introduced, sprint distance) triathlon event at the Paralympics in 2016".
In 2006, Reinertsen competed with her then-boyfriend, Ironman and prosthetist Peter Harsch, on 10. They were eliminated from the race in 7th place.
Honors and 1991: United States Olympic Committee Best Female Athlete with a Disability Reinertsen is a spokesperson for Ossur and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. In 2004, she was featured on the cover of Runner"s World and named one of the first eight "Heroes of Running" in the magazine.
She has also appeared on the cover of Triathlete magazine, Max Sports & Fitness and Competitor, and was controversially photographed naked for The Body Issue of Entertainment and Sports Programming Network. Reinertsen was featured in the 2008 Lincoln MKZ "Reach Higher" campaign and the 2011 "Nike Throwdown" television commercial.
Alongside elite athletes including Mirinda Carfrae, Chris Lieto, Nathan Adrian and Dara Torres, she is one of the faces of the 2012 Team Refuel/Got Chocolate Milk? campaign. In 2009, Reinertsen released a memoir, In a Single Bound: Losing My Legal, Finding Myself and Training for Life. She graduated from The George Washington University with a Bachelor in Communication and International Affairs, and received her Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Southern California.
Formerly a sports journalist, once working for National Broadcasting Company, she is now a motivational speaker.
A native of New York, Reinertsen now lives and trains in California.
Reinertsen was a member of the United States Disabled Track Team for 7 years. Reinertsen was a member of the United States of America Triathlon Paratriathlon National Team in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.