Thumbs up: Cheers for an athlete named Stefan

When Santa Rosa native Stefan Leroy completed his third Boston Marathon in April, he was more elated than his previous finishes. That’s because this time he was not in a handcycle. Leroy, a 24-year-old double amputee Army veteran, was on carbon-fiber blade runners.

“There’s been races where I literally want to take my legs off and throw them against the wall, and this one - perfect,” he told the Boston Globe. “I only brought my wheelchair, but I feel like I could put my legs on right now. Not to keep running … I’m done running right now.”

But that didn’t last long. Less than a month later, he was back in action, competing at the Invictus Games at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla. last week. The Maria Carrillo High alum, who lost his legs to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan in 2012, competed in a number of events in the games, which featured more than 500 wounded veterans from 14 countries.

According to his father, Mike Leroy, Stefan ended up with a gold medal in seated volleyball, a bronze in the 400 meter run and a third place finish in his heat in the 1,600-meter run. He also was featured in a number of new reports including a profile on ESPN. After that, he and the family went to Animal Kingdom. Not a bad way to spend a week.