Lisa Christina Llorens, OAM[1](born 17 January 1978)[2] is an Australian Paralympic athlete. She was born in Canberra.[2] She specialises in Paralympic high jumping, long jumping, and sprinting, participating in competitions for athletes with autism.[3]
Llorens is known as "The Cheetah" because she has a great affinity with cheetahs. She commented "I feel like I have a connection with the cheetahs, because I'm quite shy, like a cat, and I run so fast." An educational documentary was made about her called Lisa Llorens: A Cheetah on the Track.[4] From 1998 to 2002, she held an athletics scholarship from the Australian Institute of Sport for Athletes with a Disability.[5]
Llorens competed at the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta, winning gold and bronze medals in track and field events.[6][7] She received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her 1996 gold medal.[1] She also represented Australia at the 2000 Summer Paralympics in Sydney, and won three gold medals in the 200 metre sprint, the high jump, and the long jump, and a silver medal in the 100 metre sprint.[8] She broke the Paralympic world record three times during her four long jumps.[9]
The Australian Paralympic Committee describes her as "Australia’s most outstanding female athlete with an intellectual disability", along with Crystal-Lea Adams.[13]
In 1997, she was awarded the Australian Capital Territory Female Sportstar of the Year,[14] and Young Canberra Citizen of the Year.[15] In November 2015, she was inducted into the ACT Sport Hall of Fame.[16] In 2016, Llorens was induced into the International Sports Federation for Persons with Intellectual Disability (INAS) Hall of Fame.[17]