Josia pot fetches gold: a triumph despite great challenges

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At the Paralympics 2024 in Paris, the 21-year-old Para swimmer Josia pot from Erlangen won the gold medal through an impressive final sprint in the 150-meter layout. Although he was only in third place after 100 meters, he put everything on one card and overtook the two Australian swimmers Ahmed Kelly and Grant Patterson. With a time of 3: 00.16 minutes, he secured first place and once again proved his unshakable fighting spirit.

Josia was conveyed by his father Hans-Georg pot, a triathlete. Already in his childhood his father brought him to jog and taught him swimming during a vacation. Josia remembers his father's admonition: "Everyone has to learn to swim, whether disabled or non-disabled." A first important step for Josia was to get the seahorse, which laid the foundation for his future sporting career.

challenges in the life of the Paralympics star

Josia struggles with Tar syndrome, a rare genetic disease that leads to a strong restriction of his physical possibilities; His hands have grown directly on his shoulders and his legs are uneven and stiffened. Despite these challenges, he found a freedom in the water that made him one of the most successful para swimmers. After his gold win, he started again only a day later and won a silver medal over 50 m back with a time of 47.06 seconds.

The many difficulties that Josia had to overcome also include health risks associated with his swimming technique. In its type of competition, the target stop with his head can lead to unconsciousness. According to studies by the Cologne Sports University, such head injuries could result in long -term cognitive impairments. Nevertheless, Josia takes this risk and is always flanked by his supervisor Anna Pfretzschner, who is ready to get him out of the water in an emergency

In addition, pot has to cope with personal strokes of fate in recent years. His grandfather died in 2022, and a year later he also had to lose his dog. These losses stressed him heavily, and pot admitted that it was extremely challenging to remain focused: "It was very hard years for me and my family."

political recognition and future visions

After he returned so much at the Paralympics 2024, Josia received congratulations from none other than the Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who congratulated him on his "fantastic performance". Pot described the encounter as unexpected and warm and felt proud and grateful. "It can hardly be put into words. Something like that is incredible," he said.

With his two medals in the pocket, pot hopes to initiate a change in swimming. His wish is to move a lot in sports during his active time. "I would like to advance a few more things before I left swimming," said the law student and was optimistic about the future.