Jenny Parinos Takes Up Running and Aims for Triathlon
At 30, the Paralympic table tennis medalist overcomes body doubts, buys a bike, and sets her sights on a multisport debut.
Paralympic table tennis medalist Jenny Parinos took up running at age 30 and has already purchased her first bicycle to prepare for a triathlon. She shares how she broke internal barriers and overcame self-consciousness during training.
An accomplished Paralympic table tennis player, Jenny Parinos has decided to embrace new challenges in endurance sports. Long accustomed to watching road races in Santos as a spectator—especially the 10 km da Tribuna—the athlete always harbored a desire to run, but believed the curvature in her legs caused by a genetic condition was an insurmountable barrier.
The turning point and first steps
The shift in perspective began when her husband, Kilian, started competing in running and triathlon events. After expressing her wish to run 'if only I had straight legs,' Jenny realized the limitation was self-imposed. Recognizing that she did not need straight legs to run shattered that barrier: at age 30, she laced up her running shoes and began training.
Now maintaining a running routine on the beach on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, the athlete also had to confront the fear of public judgment. Her initial self-consciousness gave way to the realization that the opinions of strangers should not stop her from pursuing a goal she had held back for three decades. The public response, she notes, has been overwhelmingly positive and has inspired others to get active.
The next goal: triathlon
Running paved the way for even more ambitious goals. Jenny bought her first bicycle and plans to start swimming training to make her triathlon debut, viewing the combination of all three disciplines as an ongoing journey of self-discovery and pushing her limits in sports.