Jim Knaub

Biography and cause of death of Jim Knaub

James William Knaub (January 5, 1956 – November 17, 2024) Jim Knaub was an American professional wheelchair marathon athlete.

Jim Knaub Background

Knaub was born in Corona, California on January 5, 1956. He died in Long Beach, California on November 17, 2024, at the age of 68.

Jim Knaub Sport

Knaub was a pole vault competitor at Long Beach State and a semifinalist for the 1976 Olympics before a 1978 traffic accident left him paralyzed. He went through rehabilitation at Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center, but did not regain the use of his legs. After setting a wheelchair marathon world record at the 1982 Boston Marathon, he went on to win four more times for a total of four world records, and, along with female champion Candace Cable,

“gave the ‘wheelies’ a personality in the 1980s and early 1990s”. In the 1990s he held “the world record in every race distance from 5,000 meters to the marathon.”

Jim Knaub Other ventures

Jim joined Cannondale Bicycle Corporation in 1998 as production manager for the company’s competition wheelchairs.

Jim appeared as an actor in television (The A Team, The Fall Guy, The Love Boat S6 E7 as Arthur (1982), and others) and movies.

In 2013, it was reported that a film about Knaub’s life, titled Hell on Wheels, was in development by Walt Disney Pictures.

Jim Knaub Accolades

Lakewood, California Youth Hall of Fame, 1981
Long Beach State Hall of Fame, 1990

Source: Wikipedia