USA Triathlon Announces 2024 U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team

PTS2 

Paralympian (2016, 2008, 2004)  

Barr, 37, returns to the Paralympic Games after his PTS2 classification was not included in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. A Paralympic swimmer who competed at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, Barr raced triathlon at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, placing fourth. Barr lost his right leg as a teenager due to cancer. He’d go on to swim for NCAA Division I California Polytechnic State University. In 2019, Barr won the 2019 ESPY for Best Male Athlete with a Disability. He was named USA Triathlon’s 2018 Male Paratriathlete of the Year.  

PTS4 

Clough, 30, played NCAA Division I lacrosse at the University of North Carolina. Making his Paralympics debut in Paris, Clough found para-sport following a boating accident that led to a below-the-knee amputation on his right leg. Looking for a new athletic endeavor, Clough was introduced to paratriathlon in 2022 through USA Triathlon’s para virtual combine. The program offers para athletes the opportunity to submit their running and swim times to USA Triathlon’s high performance department. Showing talent for swimming and running, Clough began training with USA Triathlon Certified Coach Mark Sortino and won the PTS4 Paratriathlon National Championship in July 2022, just months after learning the sport. Outside of sport, Clough owns and operates a coffee shop in Charlotte, N.C. – The Giddy Goat Coffee Roasters.  

PTVI 

Guided by Zack Goodman 

Paralympian (2020)  

A Tokyo 2020 Paralympian, Coon is a member of the U.S. Paratriathlon Resident Team in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and is coached by USA Triathlon Certified Coach Derick Williamson. He placed fifth in Tokyo and has earned 16 podiums and five wins on the World Triathlon Para Series circuit. Coon is guided by triathlete Zack Goodman (San Diego, Calif.). Together, they won the 2022 U.S. Paratriathlon national championship. Also an avid rock climber and downhill skier, Coon lost his vision at age 7 due to a rare form of eye cancer. Coon has summited Mt. Kilimanjaro and in 2018 became the first totally blind person to complete an IRONMAN in under 11 hours.   

PTVI 

Guided by Ben Hoffman  

Cravens, 21, will make his Paralympic debut in Paris. He is a member of USA Triathlon's elite development squad, Project Podium, one of two paratriathletes (along with Chris Hammer) to join the program based in Tempe, Arizona. Cravens grew up playing soccer until he was diagnosed with Stargardt Disease, a juvenile form of macular degeneration. He was introduced to triathlon through the Challenged Athletes Foundation and started his elite paratriathlon career in 2019, placing third at the Paratriathlon National Championships. Guided by IRONMAN champion triathlete Ben Hoffman (Tucson, Ariz.), Cravens won his first World Triathlon Para Series race in 2023 at Yokohama. He placed fourth at the 2023 World Championships.  

PTS2 

2020, 2016, Paralympic silver medalist  

A two-time Paralympic silver medalist (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020), Danz comes to Paris for her third Paralympic Games. A four-time World Champion, Danz has earned 22 wins in 46 World Triathlon starts. Danz won silver as part of a U.S. podium sweep with Allysa Seely (gold) and Melissa Stockwell (bronze) at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, paratriathlon’s debut at the Paralympics. Danz is a graduate of Northwestern University and is a member of the U.S. Paratriathlon Resident Team in Colorado Springs. Danz is a cancer survivor and had her leg amputated due to osteosarcoma at age 14. Danz then took up downhill skiing before being introduced to triathlon through Dare2Tri, a nonprofit and paratriathlon club based out of Chicago. 

PTS4 

Paralympian (2020) 

Elmlinger, 45, made her Paralympic debut at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, racing up a classification in the women’s PTS5 as her classification was not a part of the 2020 Paralympics. She won the 2023 World Championship and comes to Paris on a nine-race winning streak. A U.S. Army veteran, Elmlinger served three back-to-back deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq. After her deployments, she earned her degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina and became an avid runner. Elmlinger in 2013 was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, a rare form of soft tissue cancer, leading to the amputation of her leg. Elmlinger has a daughter, Jayden, who will celebrate her 16th birthday in Paris.  

PTWC 

2020 Paralympic gold medalist; 2018, 2022 Winter Paralympic 5x medalist (biathlon & Nordic skiing)   

Gretsch, 32, is a two-sport star and one of only five U.S. Paralympians to win gold medals in both the summer and winter Paralympic Games. She won gold in Tokyo in the first women’s triathlon wheelchair race in Paralympic history. A three-time World Champion, Gretsch became involved in triathlon after her sophomore year of college at Washington University in St. Louis, when was encouraged to get involved with non-profit Dare2Tri. Gretsch, who has spina bifida, is still involved with Dare2Tri today. She also works with the Sisters in Sports Foundation, an organization that helps support and connect female athletes with disabilities. Gretsch is a member of the U.S. Paratriathlon Resident Team in Colorado Springs.  

PTS5 

Paralympian (2020, 2016, 2012)  

Hammer, 38, is a Paralympic veteran who finished fourth at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Before transitioning to triathlon, Hammer ran track and field at the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Hammer trains with USA Triathlon’s elite training squad, Project Podium, becoming the program’s first paratriathlete to train alongside Olympic hopefuls. Fellow paratriathlete Owen Cravens later joined Hammer at Project Podium. Hammer won the 2021 World Championship and he is the first paratriathlete to race in the elite field at an IRONMAN 70.3 event. Hammer was born with one hand, the result of a congenital condition. He ran collegiately for Grand Valley State University and later coached the NCAA varsity women’s triathlon team at Davis & Elkins College.  

PTS2 

2016 Paralympic bronze medalist  

Lahna won bronze at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games while representing his native Morocco. A resident of California since 2011, Lahna officially raced for Team USA for the first time in 2021. Born with Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency, leaving him without a femur in his right leg, Lahna was limited in his mobility as a young child. At the age of 20, he was fitted with a real prosthetic, and within five years, he rode his first bike. Twelve months later, he crossed the Atlas Mountains – 1,550 miles of diverse terrain across northwestern Africa — on that same bike. Today, Lahna credits the Challenged Athletes Foundation for supporting his elite triathlon career.  

PTS4 

Meyers, 18, makes her Paralympic debut in Paris as the youngest member of the team. Meyers this spring signed her national letter of intent to compete in NCAA Division II varsity women’s triathlon at Colorado Mesa University. Meyers was born with fibular hemimelia, a congenital limb deficiency that limits the growth of the calf bone. Her leg was amputated below the knee when she was just a toddler, two months after being adopted from China by parents Jacob and Leah. She started her triathlon journey in 2017 and has earned 10 podiums and three wins in World Triathlon events.  

PTS4 

Paralympian (2020) 

A Tokyo 2020 Paralympian, McElvenny, 41, is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who had his right leg amputated after stepping on an IED while serving with the U.S. Marine Corps in Afghanistan. McElvenny is a 2006 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, where he competed on the men’s rugby team. McElvenny began his triathlon career in 2013 thanks to the support of the Challenged Athletes Foundation. He raced at the 2013 IRONMAN World Championship in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, and has raced eight full-distance IRONMAN events.  

He has earned 13 podiums and four wins in World Triathlon para events.  

PTS5 

2020 Paralympic silver medalist; 2016 Paralympic gold medalist (triathlon), bronze medalist (400m) 

A two-time Paralympian, Norman won gold at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games and silver at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. She also competed in track and field in Rio, winning bronze in the women’s 400-meters. A four-time World Champion, Norman has won eight consecutive World Triathlon races dating back to November of 2022. A 2020 graduate of Cedarville University in Ohio, Norman competed on the NCAA track and cross-country teams, and also represented Cedarville at the 2019 USA Triathlon Collegiate Club National Championships, joining Allysa Seely as the first two paratriathletes to compete at the event. Norman was born with congenital constriction band syndrome in her left leg at birth, which resulted in the amputation of her left leg and right big toe below the knee. Her triathlon career began with a mini-triathlon in Ohio, and her first elite paratriathlon race was in 2014.  

PTWC 

Perry, 31, will make her Paralympic debut in Paris. The 2022 U.S. Paratriathlon National Champion, Perry has earned six podiums and two wins in World Triathlon events. Perry has been a member of the U.S. Paratriathlon Resident Team in Colorado Springs since 2023. A runner before sustaining a spinal cord injury in 2017, Perry started competing in wheelchair racing and triathlon in 2022. Born in Philadelphia, Perry moved with her family to Osaka, Japan, when she was a baby. She moved back to the U.S. in 2011 to attend school and run collegiately at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, to study exercise science.  

PTWC 

Paris 2024 will be Sanborn’s Paralympic debut. He has earned 22 podiums, including eight wins at World Triathlon events. Sanborn, 42, is a retired U.S. Army veteran who served for 15 years as an Airborne Ranger and a demonstrator on the U.S. Army Parachute Team The Golden Knights. During his service with the Army, he began competing in triathlon. After sustaining an injury, nonprofit Dare2Tri helped him transition from a triathlete to a paratriathlete. 

PTS2 

2016 Paralympic bronze medalist  

Stockwell, 44, won a bronze medal in paratriathlon’s debut at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, completing a U.S. podium sweep with Allysa Seely and Hailey Danz. A three-time paratriathlon World Champion, Stockwell also competed at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics in swimming. A U.S. Army veteran, Stockwell in 2004 became the first female U.S. soldier in history to lose a limb in active combat. She was honored with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for her service. Stockwell is a co-founder of the Chicago-based non-profit, Dare2Tri. A licensed prosthetist, Stockwell and her husband, Brian, own an orthotic and prosthetic company, Tolsma Stockwell Prosthetics. 

At the Paralympic Games, triathletes will cover a 750-meter swim, non-drafting 20-kilometer bike and 5k run. All races will be held in the heart of Paris, at the Pont Alexandre III bridge, the same venue as the Olympic triathlon competitions.  

The Paralympic triathlon events will take place Sunday, Sept. 1 and Monday, Sept. 2.  

Sunday’s competition will feature PTS5 (men's and women's), PTS4 (men's and women's), PTS3 (men's), and PTS2 (men's and women's), with races beginning at 8 a.m. in Paris (2 a.m. ET/11 p.m. PT, Aug. 31). *Note: the Women's PTS4 race will include both classes PTS4 and PTS3.

Monday’s competition will include PTWC (men's and women's) and PTVI (men's and women's), with races beginning at 8 a.m. in Paris (2 a.m. ET/11 p.m. PT, Sept. 1). 

For streaming and broadcast information, visit NBC’s website here.   

Athletes whose classifications are not included in the Paris Games are permitted to “class up” and race in a higher category against athletes with less severe impairments, provided they meet qualification and selection criteria.

USA Triathlon is proud to serve as the National Governing Body for triathlon, as well as duathlon, aquathlon, aquabike, winter triathlon, off-road triathlon, paratriathlon, and indoor and virtual multisport events in the United States. Founded in 1982, USA Triathlon sanctions more than 3,500 events and races and connects with and supports more than 300,000 unique active members each year, making it the largest multisport organization in the world. In addition to its work at the grassroots level with athletes, coaches, and race directors — as well as the USA Triathlon Foundation — USA Triathlon provides leadership and support to elite athletes competing at international events, including World Triathlon World Championships, Pan American Games and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.