Christiane Reppe

Christiane Reppe (born 21 August 1987) is a German disability swimmer, and cyclist who has competed at three Summer Paralympics. To date her most successful Games was the 2004 Games in Athens where she won two bronze medals, in the 100m and 400m freestyle S9 events. As a handcyclist she is a two time UCI Para-cycling World Champion.

Personal history Reppe was born in Dresden in 1987. In 1992 a tumor was discovered in her right leg. The resulting treatment saw her leg amputated. She left sport completely and joined her family's business, but the calling to compete and travel were too strong and she looked for a sport outside swimming that she could join. Initially she tried track and field events, specifically the javelin and shot put, but she had a preference for endurance events and contacted a cycling club in Dresden. She attended a trial biking weekend where she was introduced to handbiking, and she decided to take up the sport.

While Reppe was competing at the London Paralympics she was followed by German film director Niko von Glasgow, who used her experience of the Games as part of his documentary Mein Weg nach Olympia. Through the film she was contacted by German Paralympian Errol Marklein, who was now at the forefront as a coach for handbiking in Germany. In 2013, after the premier of Mein Weg nach Olympia in Essen, Marklin surprised Reppe on the stage with a custom built handbike which was the beginning of a new career for Reppe as a professional rider.

Now classified as a H4 rider, Reppe first represented Germany at a major international when she attended the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships in Greenville in the United States. She won her first UCI World title, taking the women's Road race title and followed this with the bronze medal in the time trial. She successfully defended her road race title the following year in the 2011 Championships in Nottwil and improved on her time trial event by taking home the silver medal.