He started as an able-bodied karate competitor and became disabled due to an accident that injured his spinal cord at a karate show in 1993. This accident occurred in Lahti in front of hundreds of spectators. After that he played Wheelchair rugby for fifteen years before switching to wheelchair racing in 2008.[1] He is a world record holder in his classification.[2] At the 2012 Summer Paralympics he won gold in the men's T-51 class 100-metre wheelchair sprint.[3]
