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United States at the Paralympics

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
United States at the
Paralympics
IPC codeUSA
NPCUnited States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
Websitewww.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics
Medals
Ranked 1st
Gold
962
Silver
910
Bronze
854
Total
2,726
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, has participated in every Summer and Winter Paralympic Games and is currently first on the all-time medal table. The nation used to be a dominant Paralympic power in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, but has steadily declined since the 1990s to a point where it finished sixth in the 2012 Summer Paralympics medal count. The team then improved to a fourth-place finish in 2016, and third in 2020, and unexpectedly finished first at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

The United States was the co-host of the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York. It also hosted the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta and 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City.

Medal tables

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Red border color indicates host nation status.

Best results in non-medalling sports:

Summer
Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year
Football 5-a-side Did not participate
Winter
Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year
Wheelchair curling 4th Augusto Perez
Patrick McDonald
James Pierce
Jacqui Kapinowski
James Joseph
Steve Brown
Mixed tournament in 2010

Flagbearers

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Records

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Summer Paralympics

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Multi-medalists

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Athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five medals at the Summer Paralympics. Bold athletes are athletes who are still active.

No. Athlete Sport Years Games Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Trischa Zorn  Swimming 1980–2004 7 F 41 9 5 55
2 Jessica Long  Swimming 2004–2020 5 F 16 8 5 29
3 Erin Popovich  Swimming 2000–2008 3 F 14 5 0 19
4 Bart Dodson  Athletics 1984–2000 5 M 13 3 4 20
5 John Morgan  Swimming 1984, 1992 2 M 13 2 0 15
5 Elizabeth Scott  Swimming 1992–2000 3 F 10 2 5 17
6 Edward Owen  Athletics
 Swimming
1964–1988 7 M 9 2 2 13
7 Tatyana McFadden  Athletics 2004–2020 5 F 8 7 4 19
8 Brad Snyder  Swimming 2012–2020 3 M 6 2 0 8
9 Jean Driscoll  Athletics 1988–2000 4 F 5 3 4 12
10 Marla Runyan  Athletics 1992–1996 2 F 5 1 0 6
11 David Larson  Athletics 1988–2000 4 M 5 0 3 8
12 Dennis Oehler  Athletics 1988–1996 3 M 4 3 3 10
13 Brian Frasure  Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 4 3 2 9
14 Tony Volpentest  Athletics 1992–2000 3 M 4 1 0 5
15 Paul Nitz  Athletics 1992–2012 6 M 4 0 1 5
16 Danny Andrews  Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 4 0 0 4
16 Raymond Martin  Athletics 2012 1 M 4 0 0 4
18 David Wagner  Wheelchair tennis 2004–2016 4 M 3 3 2 8
19 Freeman Register  Athletics 1992–2000 3 M 3 1 2 6
20 Mallory Weggemann  Swimming 2012–2020 3 F 3 1 1 6
21 Nick Mayhugh  Athletics 2020 1 M 3 1 0 4
22 Kelley Becherer  Swimming 2008–2012 2 F 3 0 4 7
23 Justin Zook  Swimming 2004–2012 3 M 3 0 1 4
24 Royal Mitchell  Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 3 0 0 3
25 Jeremy Campbell  Athletics 2008–2012 2 M 3 0 0 3
26 Ross Davis  Athletics 1992–2000 3 M 2 4 3 9
27 Cheri Madsen  Athletics 1996–2016 6 F 2 4 2 8
28 Roy Perkins  Swimming 2008–2016 3 M 2 3 3 8
29 Scot Hollonbeck  Athletics 1992–2004 4 M 2 3 0 5
30 Gregory Burns  Swimming 1996–2000 3 M 2 2 1 5
31 Marlon Shirley  Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 2 2 1 5
32 Karissa Whitsell  Cycling 2004–2008 2 F 2 1 2 5
33 Cortney Jordan  Swimming 2008–2016 3 F 1 8 3 12
34 Amanda McGrory  Athletics 2008–2016 3 F 1 2 4 7
35 Cheri Blauwet  Athletics 2000–2008 3 F 1 1 4 6
36 Aimee Bruder  Swimming 1996–2008 4 F 0 1 4 5

Multi-gold medalists at single Games

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This is a list of athletes who have won at least two gold medals in a single Games. Ordered categorically by gold medals earned, sports, then year.

No. Athlete Sport Year Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
Athletics
1 David Larson  Athletics 1992 M 4 0 0 4
Marla Runyan  Athletics 1992 F 4 0 0 4
3 Danny Andrews  Athletics 2004 M 3 0 0 3
4 Dennis Oehler  Athletics 1988 M 3 0 1 4
5 Jean Driscoll  Athletics 1996 F 2 1 1 4
6 Curt Brinkman  Athletics 1980 M 2 1 0 3
Joe Gaetani  Athletics 1992 M 2 1 0 3
8 Maureen Gaynor  Athletics 1988 F 2 0 0 2
Cycling
1 Karissa Whitsell
Guide: Katie Compton
 Cycling 2004 F 2 1 1 4
2 Barbara Buchan  Cycling 2008 F 2 0 0 2
Swimming
1 Trischa Zorn  Swimming 1988 F 12 0 0 12
2 John Morgan  Swimming 1992 M 8 2 0 10
3 Erin Popovich  Swimming 2004 F 7 0 0 7
Elizabeth Scott  Swimming 1992 F 7 0 0 7
5 Jessica Long  Swimming 2012 F 5 2 1 7
6 McKenzie Coan  Swimming 2016 F 3 1 0 4
Rebecca Meyers  Swimming 2016 F 3 1 0 4
Brad Snyder  Swimming 2016 M 3 1 0 4
9 Gregory Burns  Swimming 1996 M 2 1 0 3
10 Kelley Becherer  Swimming 2012 F 2 0 2 4
Wheelchair tennis
1 Randy Snow  Wheelchair tennis 1992 M 2 0 0 2
Multiple sports
1 Ed Owen  Athletics 1968 M 4 0 1 7
 Swimming 2 0 0
2 Sharon Hedrick  Athletics 1980 F 3 1 0 5
 Wheelchair basketball 0 0 1

Multi-medalists at single event

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This is a list of athletes who have won at least three medals in a single event at the Summer Paralympics. Ordered categorically by medals earned, sports, then gold medals earned.

No. Athlete Sport Event Years Games Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Trischa Zorn  Swimming 100m backstroke 1980–2004 7 F 5 1 1 7
2 Jessica Long  Swimming 400m freestyle 2004–2016 4 F 3 1 0 4
3 Ross Davis  Athletics 100 metres 1992–2000 3 M 2 1 0 3
Bart Dodson  Athletics 200 metres 1992–2000 3 M 2 1 0 3
Rudy Garcia-Tolson  Swimming 200m individual medley 2004–2012 3 M 2 1 0 3
Roy Perkins  Swimming 50m butterfly 2008–2016 3 M 2 1 0 3
7 David Larson  Athletics 400 metres 1988–1996 3 M 2 0 1 3

Athletes with most appearances

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Summer Paralympics
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This is a list of athletes who have competed in four or more Summer Paralympics. Active athletes are in bold. Athletes under 15 years of age and over 40 years of age are in bold.

No. Athlete Sport Birth Year Games Years First/Last Age Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Pamela Fontaine  Table tennis
 Wheelchair basketball
1964 1984–2016 20 - 52 F 0 1 1 2
2 Trischa Zorn  Swimming 1964 1980–2004 16 - 40 F 44 9 5 55
3 Lex Gillette  Athletics 1984 2004–2016 20 - 32 M 0 4 0 4
Winter Paralympics
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Prize money

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When a US athlete wins an Olympic medal, as of 2016, the USOPC paid the winner $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.[1] The USOPC increased the payouts by 25% to $37,000 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze beginning in 2017.[2] These numbers are significantly lower than in other countries, where Olympic gold medalists receive up to $1 million from their governments for a gold medal.[3][4] Since 2018, payouts to Paralympic athletes have been the same as to the Olympians. The International Paralympic Committee noted that "'Operation Gold Awards' for [American] Paralympic athletes [would] be increased by as much as 400 percent."[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cao, Athena Cao (15 August 2016) Uncle Sam goes for gold, too: Up to $9,900 per Olympic gold medal First Coast News via USA Today
  2. ^ "USOC Increases 'Operation Gold' Payouts By 25% Beginning in 2017". Swimswam.com. December 14, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  3. ^ Many Countries Pay Big Bonuses For Olympic Medals. This One Is Shelling Out $2.7 Million.
  4. ^ Some countries pay more than six figures to athletes who bring home a medal -- but not the U.S.
  5. ^ Paralympians to earn equal payouts as Olympians in the USA