Elizabeth Marks Broke a Record and Won a Medal in Tokyo — Read More About the Paralympic Swimmer

Marks joined the US Army in 2008, and is currently a sergeant first class. According to the Army WCAP website, Marks attended a six-month program run by the National Guard called Arizona Project Challenge when she was an adolescent, which inspired her to enlist when she was just 17. Her dad is a US Marine veteran who served in Vietnam.

While deployed in Iraq in 2010 as a combat medic, Marks got injured in both her hips. She later had to have three operations and took up swimming a year later. In 2012, she was accepted into the US Army World Class Athlete Program (WCAP) and found fit for duty to continue being a soldier in the Army.

In 2014, while in London for the Invictus Games — the international sporting competition Prince Harry founded for injured, sick, or wounded service personnel — she fell severely ill with a severe respiratory infection and had to be put on life support. She now lives with reduced lung capacity and vision impairments as a result. Marks credits the doctors at Papworth Hospital in Great Britain for saving her life; at the Invictus Games in 2016, she gave one of her medals to Prince Harry to give to Papworth Hospital. In 2017, she underwent an amputation of her left leg below the knee.

In para swimming, Marks competes in the S6, SB6, and SM6 classifications. The "S," "SB," and "SM" prefixes stand for the strokes: "S" is freestyle, butterfly, and backstroke. "SB" is for breaststroke, and "SM" is for the individual medley. The numbers identify what type of impairment the athlete has; the classifications S1/SB1/SM1 - S10/SB10/SM10 are events for athletes with a physical impairment and S11/SB11/SM11 - S13/SB13/SM13 is for athletes with a vision impairment. Athletes with an intellectual impairment are classified as S14/SB14/SM14.

In 2016, Marks was awarded the prestigious Pat Tillman Award For Service at the 2016 ESPYs. The Pat Tillman award was established in 2014 and is given to athletes who shows commitment to serving others, which commemorates Pat Tillman, the former NFL player and US Army Ranger.

"Sgt. Elizabeth Marks, this year's recipient, is an athlete of remarkable courage and perseverance who has made extraordinary sacrifices in her own life to help others and serve our country," Connor Schell, the former senior vice president of ESPN Films who previously oversaw The ESPYS, said in 2016. "She represents the best of our country and we are proud to present her with this award."

Marks competed in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio where she won gold in the 100-meter breaststroke and bronze in the 4x100-meter medley relay. She also competed in the 100-meter backstroke, where she came in eighth place.

On Aug. 25, Marks set a Paralympic record in the 50-meter freestyle during her preliminary heat with a time of 33.16. Although that record was beaten in the finals, she came in second during that race and took home the silver medal in the S6 50-meter freestyle. She now has three Paralympic medals to her name.