PARIS — U.S. Paralympians Grace Norman (Bloomington, Ind.), Hailey Danz (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Chris Hammer (Gilbert, Ariz.) each won gold at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 on Monday, Sept. 2, leading the U.S. Paralympic Triathlon Team, which won eight medals on a historic day to top the medal count for all countries.

The eight-medal performance is the best for any country in paratriathlon at a single Paralympic Games and the third straight Paralympic Games the U.S. has won the paratriathlon medal count.

The U.S. medals included:

Gold

Grace Norman (PTS5)

Chris Hammer (PTS5)

Hailey Danz (PTS2)

Silver

Carson Clough (PTS4)

Mohamed Lahna (PTS2)

Kendall Gretsch (PTWC)

Bronze

Mark Barr (PTS2)

Allysa Seely (PTS2)

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At the international level, paratriathletes compete in categories based on their physical disabilities. This allows athletes to race against those with similar impairments and to get their necessary accommodations (like guides for athletes in the visually impaired category or handlers for those who compete in the wheelchair division).However, not every category is contested at every Paralympics. Athletes can then choose to race “up” in a category against athletes with less severe impairments.

PTWC: Wheelchair athletes. There are two subcategories of PTWC, with the most impaired getting a head start in the Paralympic race.

PTVI: The visually impaired athletes also use a head start system (called “factoring”) with the totally blind starting first. VI athletes all race with a sighted guide tethered to them.Athletes are classified into their respective paratri categories based on assessments of their specific disabilities.

PTS2: Severe impairments

PTS3: Significant impairments

PTS4: Moderate impairments

PTS5: Mild impairments

At the Paris 2024 Paralympics, the women’s PTS3 classification will compete in the women's PTS4 medal event.