Tezna grew up thinking that maybe one day, she could be a Paralympic swimmer. At 12, she became South Africa’s para national champ. When Tezna got in an accident one week before the Rio Paralympic Trials, she took a step away from sports to reset. Years later, she decided to pick up track and field “to stay fit,” and within the year, she became a 3x African Record and South African Paralympian competing in the 200m and long jump.
Because there’s not (yet enough) serious prize money in para athletics, Tezna also works full-time in iGaming and is pursuing her Masters degree in Sports Management. That’s right: she’s a full-time athlete, full-time employee, and full-time student all at once. One day, Tezna hopes women and para athletes are able to make a living off of their professional athletic careers.
“You have no idea how much you being there makes a big difference to someone else.”
Tezna Abrahams
Paralympian & 3x African Record Holder,
Track & Field, South Africa
In this conversation — recorded before the Paralympics — Tezna shares how she stumbled upon track, her aspirations for the future, and why representation matters. According to Tezna, “You have no idea how much you being there makes a big difference to someone else.” While she’s the only mixed athlete on the South African Paralympic track & field team and is proud to be a role model who can inspire future generations of athletes, “we are more human than we are our skin color. If you cut us open, we all bleed the same.”
