September 20, 2024
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Para fencer Noah Hanssen won gold in Men’s Saber Category B in the 2024 Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championship in Brazil.
(Courtesy Noah Hanssen)

Noah Hanssen — Wheelchair fencing

Noah Hanssen is a wheelchair fencer from Ellicott City, Maryland, who is working toward a Master’s degree in public policy at the University of Maryland.

Hanssen’s interest in fencing began by imitating his favorite “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” characters with toy swords as a kid. He has used a wheelchair since he lost the use of his legs in a car accident at age 7, according to the University of Maryland.

Hanssen is also the vice president of the university’s fencing club.

This summer marks Hanssen’s first time competing in the Paralympics for Team USA. He’s coming off a gold medal performance in Men’s Saber Category B at the 2024 Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championship in Brazil.

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PARIS, FRANCE — JULY 15: Samantha Heyison of the USA competes in the Women’s Shot Put F64 Final during day eight of the World Para Athletics Championships Paris 2023 at Stade Charlety on July 15, 2023 in Paris, France.
(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Samantha Heyison — Para track and field

Samantha Heyison is a shot put and discus thrower from Adamstown, Maryland, who now competes for Wake Forest University.

At the young age of 19, she’s already a decorated athlete at the international level, winning two bronze medals at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships — one in discus and one in shot put.

Heyison attended Urbana High School in Ijamsville, where she won three state championships.

This summer will be Heyison’s first Paralympics. Born with constricted band syndrome, she competes in the F64 competition class, which is for field athletes with moderately affected movement in one or both legs or the absence of limbs.

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TOKYO, JAPAN — SEPTEMBER 05: Gold medalist Trevon Jenifer #16 of Team United States celebrates after the men’s Wheelchair Basketball medal ceremony on day 12 of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games at Ariake Arena on September 05, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.
(Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Trevon Jenifer — Wheelchair basketball

Trevon Jenifer is a 35-year-old wheelchair basketball player from Huntingtown, Maryland.

He’ll be looking to add a fourth Paralympic medal to his trophy case this summer in Paris. Jenifer was on the bronze medal-winning team in 2012, and the gold medal-winning teams in 2016 and 2020.

Jenifer started playing wheelchair basketball in 1992 with team Air Capital in Washington, D.C., according to Team USA. He was born with a congenital amputation that did not form his legs correctly.

He attended Huntingtown High School and wrestled against athletes without disabilities, finishing third in his weight class at the Maryland state tournament his senior year.

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FILE — In this Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012 file photo, Jessica Long of the United States poses with her gold medal during the medal ceremony for the women’s 100-meter breast stroke SB7 at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
(AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

Jessica Long — Para swimming

Jessica Long is a 32-year-old swimmer who is originally from Siberia and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland.

With 16 gold medals, 8 silvers and 5 bronzes in her trophy case, she’s one of the most decorated Paralympic athletes of all time.

She made her first Paralympics appearance at age 12, winning three gold medals in the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. When she dives into the pool this summer, she’ll be competing in her sixth Paralympics.

Long was born with fibular hemimelia, meaning she had no fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the others bones in her feet. Her legs were amputated below the knees at 18 months old, according to Team USA.

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JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA — JULY 19: Nick Mayhugh competes in the Men Long Jump mixed Day 2 of the 2024 U.S. Paralympics Team Trials on July 19, 2024 at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, Florida.
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Nick Mayhugh — Para track and field

Nick Mayhugh is a 28-year-old track and field athlete from Manassas, Virginia, who attended Patriot High School and Radford University.

In Paris, he’ll be competing in his second Paralympics and looking to build on an extremely successful outing at the 2020 Games, where he collected three gold medals (100-meter, 200-meter and 4×100-meter in the T37 class).

Mayhugh has cerebral palsy and competes in the T37 class, which is for athletes with movement and coordination moderately affected down one side.

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Switzerland’s Manuela Schar, center, winner of the women’s wheelchair race, celebrates with second-placed Germany’s Merle Menje, left, and third-placed United States’ Tatyana McFadden, in the London Marathon in central London, Sunday, Oct. 3, 2021.
(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Tatyana McFadden — Para track and field

Tatyana McFadden is a wheelchair track and field athlete from Baltimore, Maryland, who has a whopping 20 Paralympic medals.

Born with spina bifida, McFadden competes in the T54 class, which is for track athletes who have full function in their upper body with either moderately or highly-affected movement in the legs, or no legs at all. The legs play no part in racing for these athletes.

McFadden competes in events ranging all the way from the 100-meter to the 5,000-meter and has amassed eight gold medals, eight silvers and four bronzes since her first Paralympics in 2004.

She’s also served as an advocate for disabled athletes, with her work leading to the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act in 2008, also known as “Tatyana’s Law,” ensuring equal athletic opportunities for disabled students, according to Team USA.

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United States’ Daniel Romanchuk celebrates during the men’s 400m T54 at the 2020 Paralympics at the National Stadium in Tokyo, Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021.
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

Daniel Romanchuk — Para track and field

Daniel Romanchuk is a 26-year-old wheelchair track and field athlete from Mount Airy, Maryland.

Like McFadden, Romanchuk was born with spina bifida and competes in the T54 class for track athletes with an impaired use of the legs, or no legs at all.

After competing in the 2016 and 2020 Paralympics, he has one gold and one bronze medal to his name. He took home gold in the 400-meter and bronze in the marathon in Tokyo in 2021.

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — JUNE 29: Lawrence Sapp of the United States reacts after winning the Men’s 100 Meter Butterfly S14 final during the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Trials at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on June 29, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Lawrence Sapp — Para swimming

Lawrence Sapp is a 22-year-old swimmer from Waldorf, Maryland, and is competing in his second Paralympic Games this summer.

Sapp will be looking for his first medal. He nearly reached the podium in the 100-meter butterfly in Tokyo, coming in fifth in the S14 class, which is for swimmers with intellectual impairments. Sapp is diagnosed with autism and an intellectual impairment.

At North Point High School, Sapp broke five school records during his freshman year on his way to winning the coach’s award, according to Team USA.

He also successfully helped to advocate for changes at Maryland’s Motor Vehicles Administration that made the state’s driving test more accessible after failing it multiple times.

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MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA — JUNE 19: Zachary Shattuck of the United States competes in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley during day 3 of the 2021 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Trials at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on June 19, 2021 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Zachary Shattuck — Para swimming

Zachary Shattuck is a 28-year-old swimmer from Mount Airy, Maryland, who first began swimming competitively at Frostburg State University.

Shattuck will be competing in his second Paralympic Games in Paris, and will be looking for his first medal.

Born with dwarfism and standing at 4-feet, 6-inches, he competes primarily in the S6 class, which includes those of short stature and those with certain coordination issues or the absence of limbs.

Along with his own training, Shattuck helps coach the St. Mary’s College swim team and also coaches a club team there, according to U.S. Paralympics Swimming.

He’s also an advocate for draft sports, having recently met with the U.S. ambassador to Argentina to raise awareness for dwarf sports, U.S. Paralympics Swimming reported.

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Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

Source: https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMirAFBVV95cUxPSERmOXE1Sl9QcWpTX0I2WldYRzVXYjNSVGhsaTNFMF94TnFIVENqdUxEU25qVHNTaWJtTmw3WjRGTnVycnRsOElrejhLSmV0ZTg0OGpoNUVGTXFoeWRWVWRNZEJ4alZySUlMdldEWjktczVqczVyVS1wWWF5cTBjM1VSTVBmZjczLUFvbmRQNXNuY0VVeXQ0b2ZQLVlneF85UzhmOVBRV2xVMWti?oc=5

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