Local

Local athlete Krige Schabort wins ESPY award

LOS ANGELES, Cali. — A northwest Georgia dad won an ESPY award for Best Male Athlete with a Disability.

Krige Schabort and his wife accepted the award in Los Angeles Wednesday night.

Schabort, a bilateral above-the-knee amputee, is a three-time Paralympian who won the AJC Peachtree Road Race's 2014 wheelchair division. Schabort also won two Paralympic Games medals and won three major events in 2015, including the Yokohama ITU World Paratriathlon, the Monterrey CAMTRI Triathlon American Championships and the ITU World Triathlon Grand Final Edmonton event last fall.

Schabort said he was shocked to find out he was nominated for the award.

“I opened my email and I saw, 'Krige congratulations, you're nominated for an ESPY Award’ and I was like, ‘What?’ I couldn’t believe it. But to me it's an amazing feeling,” he said.

Rather than just asking for his family, friends and supporters to vote for him, Schabort decided to have a little fun with it. He grabbed some of his sons' and daughter's sports and swimming equipment and posed for a few fun photos.

Schabort is a South African native who lives with his family in Rome.