Three-Time Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku Inducted as Honorary Member of Sigma Gamma Rho

Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. has inducted three-time U.S. Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku as an Honorary Member. The sorority announced the induction today, Friday, July 24, 2026, during its 61st Biennial Boule in Tampa, Florida.

Femita Ayanbeku is a sprinter who competes in the T64 classification in the 100 and 200 meters, and she has represented the United States at three Paralympic Games: Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024. At the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships, she won a bronze medal in the 200 meters T64.

Ayanbeku lost her right leg below the knee following a car accident when she was 11 years old. She began competitive sprinting at 23, after attending a 2015 clinic in Boston hosted by the Challenged Athletes Foundation and Össur, where she received her first running blade. She went on to become an eight-time national champion and set the American record of 12.84 seconds in the 100 meters T64 in 2021. Her return to the Paralympic stage in Paris carried added meaning, as she qualified for the 2024 Games roughly six months after giving birth in January of that year, resuming training only weeks postpartum.

Beyond the track, Ayanbeku is the founder of Limb-it-less Creations, a nonprofit dedicated to creating awareness and support for the amputee and adaptive sports community. She is the first American amputee woman to be featured in a Victoria’s Secret campaign and serves as a board member for the Born to Run Foundation and Adaptive Sports New England. A Boston native, she is an alumna of American International College.

Ayanbeku was inducted as part of Sigma Gamma Rho’s Honorary Membership Class of 2026, a group of twenty women recognized during the 2026 Boule Honorary Membership Ceremony for achievements spanning sports, entertainment, education, public service, advocacy, entrepreneurship, and global humanitarian work.

The ceremony took place as Sigma Gamma Rho gathered in Tampa, Florida, for its 61st Biennial Boule under International President Marica T. Harris. In announcing the class, Harris said the 2026 honorees “embody the spirit of service, the power of purpose,” carrying forward the sorority’s mission of Greater Service, Greater Progress.

We at Watch The Yard would like to congratulate Femita Ayanbeku on her induction as an Honorary Member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Incorporated.

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