Disability History and Awareness Month: The U.S. Paralympic Team Competes at the 2012 Games

The U.S. Paralympic Team Competes at the 2012 Games

The United States Olympic Committee announced the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team that competed in the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Aug. 29-Sept. 9.  The 227-member team, which included six guides for athletes who were visually impaired, was comprised of 133 men and 94 women.  “When the 2012 London Olympic Games come to a close on Sunday, the eyes of the world will turn to the Paralympic Games and the more than 4,000 athletes competing. Each of the 227 Americans named to the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team today are ready to captivate the world, on and off the field of play, just as our Olympians have,” USOC Chief Executive Officer Scott Blackmun said. “Our Paralympians embody what it means to be an American. They will compete with the pride and honor that is inherent in representing the United States of America, inspiring Americans young and old with their stories of triumph.”

American athletes competed in 19 sports throughout the 11 days of competition, including archery, boccia, cycling, equestrian, goalball, judo, powerlifting, rowing, sailing, shooting, sitting volleyball, soccer seven-a-side, swimming, table tennis, track and field, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, wheelchair fencing and wheelchair tennis.

Among the members of the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team were 19 athletes who won multiple medals at the last Games including swimmer Jessica Long (Baltimore, Md.), who co-led the U.S. Paralympic Team with six medals in Beijing, and wheelchair racer Jessica Galli (Hillsborough Township, N.J.), who captured five medals. Long claimed four of her career seven gold medals in 2008 while Galli claimed the women’s 400-meter (T53) title.

The team also included 20 U.S. military veterans and active duty service members, some of whom were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Navy Lieutenant Bradley Snyder, who lost his vision in September 2011 while serving in Afghanistan, was among the American athletes with military ties. Snyder competed in swimming on the one year anniversary of his injury. 

The London 2012 Paralympic Games was the largest edition of the Games yet, with an estimated 4,200 participating athletes, up from the 3,951 who competed in Beijing. Athletes from 165 countries competed in London, which includes representation from 19 more nations than in Beijing.

2012 U.S. Paralympic Team Notes

 

• Forty-two states and Washington D.C. had representatives on the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team. California had the most representation with 23 athletes followed by Colorado with 13. 

 

• Swimmer Colleen Young (St. Louis, Mo.), who turned 14 in June, was the youngest member of the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team. The oldest member of the team was 57-year-old fencer Gary Van Der Wege (Kyle, Texas) but archer Jerry Shields (Jacksonville, Fla.) and sailor Jean-Paul Creignou (St. Petersburg, Fla.) were also 57.

 

• In the track and field competition at the London 2012 Paralympic Games, the United States was represented by 58 athletes, including four guide athletes, making it the largest sport delegation for Team USA.

 

• Three athletes set world records at the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Trials – Track and Field in Indianapolis en route to spots on the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team. Raymond Martin (Jersey City, N.J.) set the 30.18 world mark in the men’s 200m (T52) while Galli set a new world mark in the women’s 200m (T53) with a time of 28.93. In the women’s shot put (F56), Angela Madsen (Long Beach, Calif.), a former Paralympic rower and Marine Corps veteran, threw a 9.30m. Blake Leeper (Kingston, Tenn.) tied the world record in the men’s 100m (T43) while competing in Canada.

 

• Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Md.), a wheelchair racer who won four medals at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, was joined on the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team by her sister younger Hannah, who made her Games debut. It was the first time sisters have raced against each other for Team USA.

 

• At the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Trials, a total of 99 American, 37 Pan American and 12 world records were set at the Bismarck State College Aquatic and Wellness Center; Long set four of the world records achieved in Bismarck.

 

• After representing the U.S. in table tennis at the 1984 Stoke Mandeville Paralympic Games, both Pamela Fontaine (North Brunswick, N.J.) and Tara Profitt (Berlin, Conn.) retired from the sport. After being apart for about 20 years, the team reunited in December 2008, and   returned to the Paralympic Games in London.

 

• Rower Dorian Weber (Brighton, Mass.) had a homecoming of sorts when he made his debut at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Born in Manhasset, N.Y., he grew up an hour outside of London in Henley-on-Thames, United Kingdom, but now lives in Massachusetts.

 

• Aimee Mullins served as the Chef de Mission for the U.S. Paralympic Team at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. President of the Women's Sports Foundation from 2007-08 and a current trustee for the organization, Mullins made a groundbreaking achievement at Georgetown University where she competed as the first-ever amputee on an NCAA Division I track team. A member of the 1996 U.S. Paralympic Team, she set world records in the 100 meters, 200m and long jump during her career.

 

Texas honors its nine 2012 Paralympians:

 

• Jim Bob Bizzell, Odessa, Texas, Track and Field
• Jeremy Campbell, Perryton, Texas, Track and Field
• Tobi Fawehinmi, Arlington, Texas, Track and Field
• Kristen Messer, Austin, Texas, Track and Field
• Jordan Mouton, Houston, Texas, Judo
• Jennifer Schuble, Houston, Texas, Cycling
• Gary Van Der Wege, Kyle, Texas, Fencing
• Stephen Welch, Southlake, Texas, Wheelchair Tennis
• Jonathan Wentz, Richardson, Texas, Equestrian

 From:

• History turns full circle at London 2012 Paralympic Games, Laura Smith-Spark, CNN, August 29, 2012 http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/29/sport/paralympics-history-veterans/index.html
•  Team USA website http://www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics/Features/2012/August/06/2012-US-Paralympic-Team-announced.aspx
• Team USA Homepage http://www.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics.aspx   

October is Persons with Disabilities History and Awareness Month in Texas.  Each workday in October 2012, the Governor’ Committee on People with Disabilities will post a daily Disability History Fact highlighting the accomplishments of people with disabilities or important dates and events related to the history of people with disabilities. These daily history facts will be presented to celebrate “Persons with Disabilities History and Awareness Month” in Texas. Learn more about disability history http://governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/resources/disability_history/