Ljiljana
Ljubisic

Ljiljana Ljubisic has competed at five Paralympic Games but will make her Parapan American Games debut at Lima 2019.

She won six medals in Paralympic Games competition. At the 1992 Games in Barcelona she earned gold in discus and silver in shot put and collected two bronze in the same events at the 1996 Atlanta Games. At her first Games in 1984, she won silver as part of Canada’s goalball team. Four years later, she took bronze in shotput in Seoul.

After 1984, she began to train in Para athletics with a specialty in the discus throw and shotput. In fact, Lilo was the first blind athlete to ever spin with a discus.

Along with her athletic achievements, Lilo has been acknowledged for her leadership and contribution to the international world of sport and the Paralympic Movement. She’s received awards from the AthletesCAN, Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity (CAAWS), she has also been named one of the 20 Most Influential Women in Sport & Physical Activity and was listed in the Top 100 of Canada’s Most Powerful Women in 2007 (Women’s Executive Network).

A 1992 B.C. Athlete of the Year recipient, Lilo was elected as the first female Chair of the International Paralympic Committee’s Athletes’ Council.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Five Paralympic Games 1984… 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000…. Inducted into the Canadian Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2011

PERSONAL

A misdiagnosed childhood illness at 16 months caused her eyesight to slowly deteriorate until 1990 when she was declared fully blind…Bachelor of arts in psychology… 2007 recipient of the Juan Antonio Samaranch IOC President’s Athlete Award… named to Canada’s Top 20 most influential women in sport 2003-2007…

NOTABLE INTERNATIONAL RESULTS

• 2002 World Championships discus 6th
• 2000 Paralympic Games discus 4th
• 1996 Paralympic Games shotput 3rd
• 1996 Paralympic Games discus 3rd
• 1994 World Championships discus 1st
• 1994 World Championships shotput 2nd
• 1992 Paralympic Games discus 1st
• 1992 Paralympic Games shotput 2nd
• 1988 Paralympic Games shotput 3rd
• 1984 Paralympic Games goalball 2nd