Bizzell's Bio
BEIJING, China -- Former McMurry track and field and football standout Jim Bob Bizzell won a silver medal in the men’s 200-meters (T44) Saturday at the Paralympic Games.
Bizzell, who was a two-time all-American performer as a member of the McMurry track and field program, won the silver medal with a personal-best time of 22.62. He finished behind only South African Oscar Pistorius, who won the race with a time of 21.67.
“(Bizzell) is simply unbelievable,” McMurry track and field coach Barbara Crousen said. “To be able to train for and win a medal in the Paralympics in a little over a year is just amazing. I hope that he continues to train over the next four years. If he does, he’s my pick to win the gold.”
Bizzell played safety for the McMurry football team in 2004 and 2005, but he especially left his mark as a member of the McMurry track and field program. He received all-American status as a member of the 2006 McMurry 4x100 and 4x400-meter relay teams.
In March 2007, Bizzell was involved in a motorcycle accident that resulted in his left leg being amputated six inches below the knee. He began his training for the Paralympics in Oklahoma City, but he spent three months (February-April) earlier this year living at the Crousen household in Abilene to train with the eventual national championship McMurry men’s track and field team.
“He told me that he fell in love with track at McMurry,” Crousen said. “He trained with (the McMurry track team) for three months because he said that wanted to be close to his friends at McMurry. The way he ran in our practices, he would have made our relay team and competed at the national meet for us.”
-Courtesy McMurry University Sports Information Department
