Amanda McGrory (born June 9, 1986) is an American wheelchair athlete.

Biography

McGrory graduated from Unionville High School in

Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Kennett Square is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World because mushroom farming in the region produces over 500 million pounds of mushrooms a year, totaling half of the United ...

. She attended the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, graduating in 2010 with a bachelor's degree in psychology and in 2018 with a masters in information science. While an undergraduate she competed both in basketball and in track and field. McGrory earned four medals during the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, China: gold in the 5000 meters, silver in the marathon, and bronze in both the 800 meters and the 4×100 meter relay. She won both the 2009

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and 2006

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Marathon wheelchair races. She has also competed in the World Championships for Track and Field (2006, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) and Marathon (2015), winning 10 medals over the years (3 gold, 3 silver, 4 bronze). McGrory was diagnosed with

transverse myelitis Transverse myelitis (TM) is a rare neurological condition wherein the spinal cord is inflamed. The adjective ''transverse'' implies that the spinal inflammation (myelitis) extends horizontally throughout the cross section of the spinal cord; the ...

when she was five years old, after an allergy shot inflamed her spinal cord. Such an occurrence was "I think there was one chance in six million," she said. "But I think it's usually better when you are young because kids are resilient. I couldn't ride a two-wheeler anymore, but my friends could still be outside. But I was the coolest kid in school because I had a wheelchair."

Selected results

* 2011: First Place- New York City Marathon * 2011: First Place- London Marathon * 2009: First Place- London Marathon * 2009: First place- Grandma's Marathon * 2008: Gold medal, 5000m T54; silver medal, Marathon T54; bronze medal, 800m T53; bronze medal, Women's 4 x 100m relay T53/T54 - Paralympic Games,

Beijing, China } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

* 2007: First place (5000m), second place (400m), third place (800m) - Meet in the Heat,

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, GA. * 2007: Third place, 1500m - Boiling Point Wheelchair Track Classic, Windsor,

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

* 2007: Third place, 800m - U.S. Paralympics Track & Field National Championships,

, GA. * 2007: First place - Open Women's Division of the

Shepherd Center Shepherd Center is a private, not-for profit hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1975, the 152-bed hospital focuses on the medical treatment, research and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord injury and disease, acquired brain injury, ...

Wheelchair Division of the AJC

Peachtree Road Race The Peachtree Road Race (branded AJC Peachtree Road Race for sponsorship reasons) is an American 10-kilometer run held annually in Atlanta. After being held on Independence Day from 1970 to 2019, the race was cancelled because of the COVID pand ...

in Atlanta, Georgia with the time of 23:11:05. * 2006: Gold medal (800m), silver medal (400m) - IPC Athletics World Championships, Assen, Netherlands * 2006: First place - ING New York City Marathon,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, NY * 2006: Visa Paralympic World Cup, Manchester, United Kingdom * 2005: Represented the US at the Jr. Pan-Am Games in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

* 2003, 2004: Traveled to Australia as a member of the USA Jr. Team * 2010

Los Angeles Marathon The Los Angeles Marathon (formerly known as the City of Los Angeles Marathon) is an annual running event typically held each spring in Los Angeles, California, since 1986. The marathon was inspired by the success of the 1984 Summer Olympic Ga ...

: 1:53:12, first *

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

** 800 m T53: 1:54.48, 7th ** 1500 m T54: 3:38.19, 7th ** 5000 m T54: 12:29.07, 7th ** Marathon T54: 1:46:35, 4th *

2013 Boston Marathon The 2013 Boston Marathon was the 117th running of the annual marathon race in Boston, United States, which took place on April 15, 2013. Organized by the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), it hosted the second of the World Marathon Majors to ...

: 1:49:19, third *2016 Rio Paralympic Games, silver (1500m, 5000m), bronze (marathon), 4th (800m)

References

External links

* *
USA Paralympic Team Profile
1986 births Living people People with paraplegia American female wheelchair racers Illinois Fighting Illini Paralympic athletes Paralympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States People from Kennett Square, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from Chester County, Pennsylvania Track and field athletes from Pennsylvania Paralympic wheelchair racers Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 21st-century American women {{US-Paralympic-medalist-stub