Saysunee Jana (Thai: สายสุนีย์ จ๊ะนะ; born 15 June 1974) is a Thai wheelchair fencer. She became Thailand's first female Paralympic gold medalist when she won the Épée B event at the 2004 Athens Paralympics. She has won five gold, one silver, and four bronze medals in total from six appearances at the Paralympic Games.
Early life and career
When she was 17, Jana was in a motorcycle crash which resulted in her breaking her back and leaving both of her legs paralysed.[1]
Jana first participated in the Paralympic Games in 2004 where she won a gold medal in the Épée B event and a bronze medal in the Foil B event. This made her Thailand's first female Paralympic gold medalist. She won another bronze medal at the 2008 games, a gold medal at the 2012 games and a silver medal at the 2016 games, all of which were in Épée B events.[2] She competed at the 2024 games where she won gold medals in the sabre B,[3]foil B[4] and épée B[5] individual events and a bronze medal in the épée team event for the first time and the first medal of the Thai team.[6] She was also the flag bearer for Thailand at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Paralympic Games in London[7] and the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris.[8] In 2024 she became the first female wheelchair fencer to win three gold medals, one in each of the three wheelchair fencing disciplines (sabre, foil and epee) or all types of the fencing weapons, at any Paralympics.[9][10]
This also made her the second wheelchair fencer in any Paralympics to win three gold medals in individual fencing, the first being Roberto Marson in 1968.[9]
