US number one 100-meter T64 Paralympian sprinter Femita Ayanbeku. She is a 3X Paralympian, 8X National Champ, 2019 Worlds Bronze Medalist in the 200-meter T64, and American Record holder in the 100-meter T64 with 12.84 seconds.
Ayanbeku qualified for the 2024 Paris Paralympics in the 100-meter T64 event with a 13.01-second time six months after having her first child. At 23, Ayanbeku began her stellar sprinting career.
An 11-year-old vehicle accident left Ayanbeku with life-changing injuries. Due to blood circulation issues, her right leg was amputated after several days in the hospital.
In 2015, Ayanbeku received her first running blade at a clinic held by the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Össur in Boston.
Jerome Singleton, a three-time Paralympian (2008, 2012, 2016) and two-time gold and silver medalist, met Ayanbeku at the clinic.
What do you want to do with your blade?" Singleton asked Ayanbeku, setting the stage for her most difficult and gratifying years.
Ayanbeku said Singleton, “I want to learn how to run, I want to do something meaningful with this.” Ayanbeku aspired to utilize the blade well, but until she met Sherman Hart, she didn't know her physical potential.
Shortly after meeting at the clinic, Singleton brought Ayanbeku to his track coach, Sherman Hart, at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. Hart, a brilliant track and field coach from UMass Boston and Northeastern, began teaching Ayanbeku in November 2015, seeing her potential as a world-class sprinter.