Wim De Paepe

Wim De Paepe (born 1 January 1985) is a Belgian Paralympic swimmer and triathlete. He competes in classification PTS2.

Biography

De Paepe grew up on a farm, specializing the production of strawberries, in the country-side of Bois-de-Nivelles in Hainaut Province, Belgium, in a family of 5, with a brother and a sister. He lost a part of his right leg when he was ten years old in an accident with a farmer's equipment, as a result of which he now wears a prosthetic leg.

Personal

De Paepe is married and has three sons.

He represented Belgium at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece finishing 6th in the final of the men's 400 metres freestyle S9.

After a long hiatus from competition sports, and when COVID-19 forced him to slow down at work, he turned to sports and after he cycled up the Mount Ventoux in France, he decided to join the "Royal Cercle Athlétique du Brabant Wallon" setting his mind to para triathlon. He follows that up in December of that year with another bronze medal, this time at the World Triathlon Para Championships in Abu Dhabi.

Nearly a year later to the day, he wins another bronze medal at the 2022 World Triathlon Para Championships again in Abu Dhabi.

Twenty years after participating as a swimmer in the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece, he qualified as a triathlete for the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France. In Paris, he finished 5th, one place better than in 2024. Barely 20 days after the Olympics, he won a bronze medal at the Europe Triathlon Championships in Vichy, France and in October he become world champion at the 2024 World Triathlon Para Championships in Torremolinos, Spain and the first Belgian to do so.