Alena Kánová

Alena Kánová (born 29 March 1980) is a Slovakian table tennis player who has played at the Summer Paralympics for her country, winning gold in 2000. She also competed at the 2014 Winter Paralympics in wheelchair curling.

Alena Kánová was born on 29 March 1980 in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia. At the age of 14, she was paralysed following a road accident and has been confined to a wheelchair since. After the accident, she attended the Slovakian National Rehabilitation Center for a year, before returning to school. She tried several sports, but focused on table tennis as she had a table at home on which she could practice.

Kánová competed in her first Summer Paralympics at the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, where she won the gold medal in the individual class 3 tournament. She continued to compete at successive Paralympic Games, winning a bronze in 2004 in Athens, Greece, and a silver at the Beijing Games in 2008. Her most recent medal came at the 2012 Summer Paralympics, when she defeated Welsh athlete Sara Head in the bronze medal match and won her nation's first medal of the competition. She does not keep her Paralympic medals, instead giving them away to those who have helped her compete.

Outside of table tennis, she also competes in wheelchair curling, making the Paralympic team for the Winter Paralympics in 2014 in Sochi, Russia.