e-nabling the Paralympics
How can Craftbot printers be used to help a paralympian?
Learn about Petra Lévay and get to know the details!
Having the opportunity to ride a bike is a simple and easy task for most of us. However, we do not really think it over that the basic daily habits might not be that fundamental for everybody.
Petra Lévay is among the daily heroes who didn't let her physical disability influence her goals and long-term dreams.
Petra was born with limb deficiency in her left forearm. Despite of this she was so keen to sports, that she started to swim at the age of 2. Her motivation and dedication brought amazing results in her swimming career. In 2002, at the age of 16 she even managed to break the world record for 200-meter breaststroke. During the years, Petra won several international and national competitions, and she turned to be 44-times Hungarian champion by 2004.
Petra Lévay
Unfortunately, in the same year she just missed the qualification to the Athens Paralympics, therefore this led her to the decision to stop the professional swimming. 10 years passed, but Petra wasn't completely happy with her achievements as she realized that she hasn't accomplished her biggest dream in her life, to participate at the Paralympics. Luckily it wasn't too late for her, so in 2014 she decided to combine her swimming past and push her boundaries in a new sport form, in paratriathlon.
However, she had an unsuccessful qualification to the Rio Paralympics in 2016, this year was the most successful for her as a triathlete, winning the Medium-Range European Championships and finishing sixth in the Sprint World Championships in Rotterdam.
As a new plan, she set the goal to participate at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021. With an incredible amount of hard work and willpower her dream came true and between 24th August – 5th September 2021, there she was in Tokyo attending the Paralympics!
Preparing for the Paralympics didn't only include the physical trainings, but Petra needed to make sure that she will have the adequate accessories for her bike to be able to compete safely.
It took almost 8 months to upgrade her triathlon bike so it would be more comfortable and safer for her hand during the cycling sessions.
This process was supported by 4 institutes: Neuzer bicycle company, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design and e-Nable Hungary in cooperation with Craftbot.
To start the process, Petra had several consultations with the Neuzer company to discuss her needs and the technical possibilities of this new accessory. In order to design a perfectly fitting hand holder, Petra's helpers took various samples of her hand and poured them into plaster.
With the help of this plaster made hand model, the bike accessory was designed and later the first prototype was created.
e-Nable Hungary was helping Petra with 3D printing the different prototypes, so she could actually try them and could see if they were comfortable or some changes were still needed. The e-NABLE Hungary is an amazing group of individuals who are using Craftbot 3D printers to create free 3D printed hands and arms for those in need of an upper limb assistive device.
After several rounds of modification in the hand holder, the team ended up having the perfect design. To make a durable and long-lasting accessory, e-Nable Hungary 3D printed the final version with carbon-fiber filament, so it wouldn't break even under higher pressure.
e-Nable Hungary was helping Petra with 3D printing the different prototypes so she could actually try them and could see if they were comfortable or some changes were still needed. The e-NABLE Hungary is an amazing group of individuals who are using Cratfbot 3D printers to create free 3D printed hands and arms for those in need of an upper limb assistive device.
On 29th August 2021, Petra’s big day came and she found herself racing at the Paralympics. In the paratriathlon sport the competitors compete in the sprint distance, i.e. 750 m swimming, 20 km cycling and 5 km running.
At the end of the most memorable day of her life, Petra finished her contest at the Paralympics and took the 9th place. She was extremely happy and proud that she fought for her dream until she reached it!
e-Nable and Craftbot were honored to support such an incredible sporter in the bike upgrade project. Petra is an exceptional sportswoman who serves as an amazing example for younger generations.
