Daniel Romanchuk (born 3 August 1998) is an American

Paralympic athlete The Paralympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. As of 2020, the Summer Paralympics included 22 sports and 539 medal events, and the Winter Paralympics include 5 sports and disciplines and about ...

who competes primarily in

wheelchair racing Wheelchair racing is the racing of wheelchairs in track and road races. Wheelchair racing is open to athletes with any qualifying type of disability, amputees, spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy and partially sighted (when combined with another ...

events. He won the

Chicago Marathon The Chicago Marathon is a marathon (long-distance foot race) held every October in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the six World Marathon Majors. Thus, it is also a World Athletics Label Road Race. The Chicago Marathon is the fourth-largest r ...

on October 7, 2018; just under a month later, he became the first American to win the men's wheelchair race at the

New York City Marathon The New York City Marathon (currently branded TCS New York City Marathon after its headline sponsor) is an annual marathon () that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is the largest marathon in the world, with 53,627 finishe ...

, as well as the youngest winner in the history of the wheelchair event in New York. Romanchuk followed up these wins with a win at the

Boston Marathon The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon race hosted by several cities and towns in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States. It is traditionally held on Patriots' Day, the third Monday of April. Begun in 1897, the event was i ...

on April 15, 2019. He became the first American man to win Boston's wheelchair division since 1993. With his victory at the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held ...

in April 2019, Romanchuk also won the

World Para Athletics The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and func ...

Marathon Championships title.

Early life

Romanchuk was born in

Mount Airy, Maryland Mount Airy is a town in Carroll and Frederick counties in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is part of both the Washington Metropolitan Area and Baltimore Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census the population was 9,288. Outside the town limits, ...

with

spina bifida Spina bifida (Latin for 'split spine'; SB) is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the spine and the membranes around the spinal cord during early development in pregnancy. There are three main types: spina bifida occulta, me ...

, a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord. When he was 2, his parents enrolled him in an adaptive sports program linked to the

Kennedy Krieger Institute The Kennedy Krieger Institute () is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, Johns Hopkins affiliate located in Baltimore, Maryland, that provides in-patient and out-patient medical care, community services, and school based programs for children and ...

in nearby

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He participated in his first track meet at age 6, but also took part in other sports, including archery,

sled hockey Sledge hockey, also known as Sled hockey in American English, and Para ice hockey in international competition, is an adaptation of ice hockey for players who have a physical disability. The sport was invented in the early 1960s at a rehabilitat ...

, and softball. In track events, he set age-group records and took part in national competitions at an early age.

Paralympics

In the winter of 2014, Romanchuk's mother Kim encouraged him to focus more on track in an effort to make the 2016 Paralympic team. He made the team at age 18, and competed in every track event in Rio, from the 100m to the 5000m. In 2021, he won the gold medal in the men's 400 metres T54 event at the

2020 Summer Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralym ...

held in Tokyo, Japan. He also won the bronze medal in the men's marathon T54 event.

Marathon racing

Romanchuk entered and finished the

Baltimore Marathon The Baltimore Marathon is the flagship race of several races held in Baltimore, Maryland known collectively as the Baltimore Running Festival. The event was once one of the fastest-growing marathons in the United States, but the number of finishe ...

, his first, at the age of 14. In April 2018, he placed 3rd in the

. In October 2018, Romanchuk won the

with a time of 1:31:34; he beat defending champion

Marcel Hug Marcel Eric Hug (born 16 January 1986) is a Paralympian athlete from Switzerland competing in category T54 wheelchair racing events. Hug, nicknamed 'The Silver Bullet', has competed in four Summer Paralympic Games for Switzerland, winning two ...

by one second. Less than a month later, he became the first American winner and youngest winner in the history of the New York Marathon's wheelchair event, again defeating Hug (who had won in 2016 and 2017), and again by just one second. In 2019, Romanchuk won the

in 1:21:36. He became the youngest ever winner of that race, as well as the first American to win Boston since 1993. In April 2019, he won the London Marathon with a time of 1:33:38. In 2019 he also won the

and he qualified to represent the United States at the

held in Tokyo, Japan. He won the bronze medal in the men's marathon T54 event. In October 2022, Romanchuk placed second in the

2022 London Marathon The 2022 London Marathon was the 42nd running of the annual London Marathon on 2 October 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the race was postponed from April until October to maximise the chances of a mass participation event. The elite men's a ...

, with a time of 1:24:40, two seconds behind Hug.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Romanchuk, Daniel 1998 births Living people American male wheelchair racers Boston Marathon winners Chicago Marathon winners Medalists at the 2015 Parapan American Games New York City Marathon male winners People from Mount Airy, Maryland People with spina bifida Sportspeople from the Baltimore metropolitan area Sportspeople from the Washington metropolitan area Track and field athletes from Maryland World Para Athletics Championships winners Paralympic track and field athletes of the United States Athletes (track and field) at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic medalists in athletics (track and field)