Lera Doederlein’s story: From Russian orphanage to Paralympic hopeful

Oksana is a highly accomplished Paralympian, multi-sport athlete, and influential and recognizable Pro athlete. Lera is a teenager and a CAF grant recipient for sled hockey, cycling, surfing and more. She dreams of following her path and pursuing her own Paralympic dreams. Together these two have shown the power an athlete has when given their mobility and the tools they need to realize their dreams. With support from Toyota and CAF, Oksana and Lera are writing their own success stories. We are officially one year out from the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympics where we expect Oksana will be competing for gold for Team USA.

Lera has been a part of CAF/Nexus Women's Handcycling Team lead by the legendary, Iron Man champion, Carlos Moleda.

This video documents CAF's first Women's Handcycling Team, their team dynamic, strategy and goals.

Lera was born in Russia with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a severe condition that affects joints in her legs. She was adopted and moved to the US at nearly two years old, where she used forearm crutches as her main form of mobility. When she grew into her teenage years, she had been told life would get harder in the future, with mobility getting more restrictive for her. At 14 years old she decided to double-amputate both of her legs above the knee. It wasn't long before Lera was introduced to adaptive sports! Lera was selected to play for the 2019-2020 women’s US national sled hockey team after only two years of playing the sport, Lera is making her mark in the sport and is hoping to help get woman's Sled Hockey a Paralympic sport (like the males is!). Lera has ambitions of competing in the Paralympic's at Nordic Skiing! On top of this Lera also competes in Hand Cycling and Adaptive Surfing! To follow Lera's journey on instagram follow - LERA_0415