Jonas Zimnickas - Proud Paralympian

“The greatest privilege would be to represent Great Britain in the 2012 London Paralympics and with the support of sponsors I believe I can reach this goal.”
As a man with one fully formed leg, desperately trying to confirm his place at this year’s Paralympic Games and with a girlfriend who is three months pregnant, Jonas Zimnickas would be forgiven for being a little stressed.
As it was, Jonas was quite possibly the happiest, most laid back person you could come across.
Jonas Zimnickas was born on 14th Sept 1982 on a dairy farm in North Poland with a deformed lower right leg and foot, which never developed. As years went by the difference in size grew more and more, and by his teenage years his left leg was 30cm longer than his right. When first asked about how he felt as a young boy and then a teenager about his disability Jonas was almost amused at how he was. “Yes, yes, it was uncomfortable and it hurt” but Jonas brushed it off with a chuckle. In fact, it was only when the microphone was put away that his girlfriend, Jocasta, really questioned him on how he responded, and between them they opened up further about his struggles growing up.

Jonas’s disability meant he spent a lot of his childhood in pain, with legs, or appropriately stumps, being fit to him that were neither comfortable nor of a great standard, leaving Jonas with a constant limp and, to this day, his hips are still twisted as his body adapted.
In and out of hospital in his youth, an extensive two-year period that saw him spending more time in treatment than education left him falling behind at school. Yet he was placed back into class with children of his age, alienated from the group socially and a great distance behind on his educational progress. Yet, as this gap in schooling became apparent, he was treated like a miscreant, shouted at and physically manhandled by aggressive teachers who thought him stupid and a troublemaker.

However, at home, his disability was never discussed or accepted and he was taught to hide it where ever possible, and still expected to help out on the farm after school and on the weekends. Even as he grew as a child into sports like basketball, he was removed from such activities with no explanation from his parents.

With a limb that would cause him constant pain, stuck with a limp and a hip that will be forever twisted, Jonas grew sick of his continuous struggle. At the age of 20, tired of the pain, he decided to have the lower part of his leg amputated in Warsaw, a move his parents neither wanted nor supported.
Moving away from home

In 2004 he came to England to pay back the money he had borrowed for the operation. From here on in, Jonas seemed to fall into his place in the world. Whilst still wary of his leg and the negative connotations his disability had had at home, not once, but twice Jonas would embark on new jobs without telling his employers about his secret.
In this country he came to find that his disability was accepted, and the aspects of shame he had once felt began to lift. Not only that, but he found England very welcoming too, in stark contrast to the racial tension back home in a once Lithuanian region of Poland.
Pride restored, Jonas went from his work as a fitness instructor to another area you would not first assume was the refuge of someone with his disability – running.
As Jonas told me “running, as all amputees will tell you, is something that you do not try to do. When you are young it hurts, especially with how my leg was, and you just learn to avoid any extra pressure subconsciously.”

But some frustration at work and an email suggesting England were looking for new Paralympics stars ahead of 2012 gave Jonas the motivation to try something different. He found a trainer in Cambridge who was already involved with a runner like him and joined them for sessions and drills to see how it went.
“At the time I just joined in with slow drills and tried to get used to it, I never expected it to take off like this. I was teaching many fitness classes during the week, going to salsa, and with no car I had to bike everywhere I went, but it was just another activity.”
After four months, training twice a week, he entered his first event at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre in London and ran 100m in 13.34 seconds.
Sadly, his progress was stalled by work on a new leg joint, and months of hard work went down the drain. But with under two months to go, Jonas is confident he will make the Paralympics.
“12.50 (secs) is the time I have to hit...I have not hit it yet but I am confident I will do, especially as my training can now increase intensity. I will be competing every weekend, which I could not do last year because of the adjustments to my leg. I will get that experience of competition I have not had, and have had more time to train at Lee Valley.”
Jonas has chosen to compete for Great Britain. He wants to “thank the country which gave me a new start and inspire others” - hopefully creating awareness of the achievements and pride in physical activity for disabled people.
“England is my home. My friends are here, my family are here, it is where I have felt at home since the moment I came here. I believe that where you are happiest, that is your home. It would mean a lot, loads of people have been following me and helping me, and my success would hopefully feel like success for them as well.”
Sponsorship
Now with the Paralympics drawing near, Jonas has had to go part-time at work to give himself any chance of competing in London. With a baby on the way and many events all other the country to travel to, sponsorship is a lifeline that keeps this dream alive.
“I drive to London nearly every day; train for four hours and then drive back and go to work, finish at about eleven o’clock, and then in the morning it starts again. I would love that every event was in Cambridge, but I have to travel all over the country. I also need the gear to compete, and any sponsorship I can get goes a long way to helping me achieve my goals and focus as much energy as I can on reaching my potential.”
From there onwards, Jonas also wants to use any money he can raise on starting Britain’s first amputee basketball team and training. Jonas plays able bodied basketball now, and the only alternative for an amputee like him is to play wheelchair basketball, but as someone not confined to a wheelchair this is not logical either.
Taking inspiration from American stand up amputee basketball team Amp1, Jonas wants to give amputees like himself the chance to play with similarly disabled sportsman.
For a man who told me he is just taking one day at a time, Jonas clearly has big plans, and is determined to make sure sport can be enjoyed by as many people as possible.


More information on Jonas’ journey to the Paralympics, his training and sponsorship can be found at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jonas-Sprint-Blog-All-the-way-to-London-2012-Paralympics/278987285489025
http://fitnesstrainingcambridge.com/training/
And a link to his sponsorship details at:
http://fitnesstrainingcambridge.com/bootcamp/