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Paralympic athlete Elizabeth Marks heads into second Games, far exceeding initial goal of being ‘fit for duty’

Elizabeth Marks just wanted to show that she was fit to do her duty.

From Arizona, Sgt. 1st Class Marks, 30, didn’t start swimming until 2012 after sustaining a bilateral hip injury while on a tour of Iraq. He began swimming as a way to get back into shape and qualify for active duty again when a friend suggested he compete in the Warrior Games, a sporting event for wounded, injured or sick service members and veterans.

“I was just trying to find myself fit for duty and couldn’t run, so I started swimming as a second form of cardio, and there was a gentleman who encouraged me to try the Warrior Games,” said Marks. Fox News.

Sergeant. 1st Class Elizabeth Marks, an athlete-soldier in the US Army’s World Class Athletes Program, broke two American records in the Paralympic Swimming Trials June 17-21 while qualifying for the Summer Games. Photo of Major Nathaniel García

Joining the army at 17 was “the most strictly athletic thing” Marks had done before starting competitive swimming.

That was the first hurdle, but not the last, that Marks would face on his way to achieving fitness.

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Following his hip injury, Marks slipped into a coma in 2014 during the Invictus Games in London and was hooked up to an Ecmo machine for a brief time, needing a leg amputation after his injuries in 2017.

After each setback, he bounced back and returned to the competition, still striving to reach new heights.

“I have a somewhat complicated medical history,” Marks said, but he also claims to have “the best support system in the world.”

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“The World Class Athlete Program and my brothers and sisters in the military give me so much motivation and so much life that they make it easy to want to do it,” he added. She also credits her husband, Mason Heibel, as “the team behind the team.”

During that time, he still made his Paralympic debut in Rio in 2016, despite suffering from chronic pain. Marks is the first female soldier-athlete to compete in the Paralympic Games.

Since his amputation, he has returned to training and even recently managed to break a couple of American records during the tests for the Paralympic Games from June 17 to 21, in which he swam 1: 21.56 in the 100 meter backstroke and 37.08 in the 50 meter butterfly. .

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She is not paying attention to the records.

“I’m just trying to swim and be present in the water,” Marks said. “I’m not looking for rankings or world records.”

This year’s Olympics will be Marks’ first trip to Japan, and he’s looking forward to meeting the people there.

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“My favorite part [of Rio] they were the people who volunteered to work at the event, so just meeting the people who are kind enough to donate their time… I’m looking forward to seeing that in Japan as well.

The marks were deemed fit for service on July 3, 2012.

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