Kendall Gretsch (born April 2, 1992) is an American triathlete,

biathlete The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and shooting sports, rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into sh ...

and

cross-country skier Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

. She was born 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 ...

. She has competed in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics and has a unique distinction of winning gold medals in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.

Education

Gretsch studied at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

where she earned a degree in Bio Medical Engineering. She was a member of

Alpha Omicron Pi Alpha Omicron Pi (, AOII, Alpha O) is an international women's fraternity founded on January 2, 1897, at Barnard College on the campus of Columbia University in New York City. The main archive URL iThe Baird's Manual Online Archive homepage "AOI ...

sorority.

Career

2018 Winter Paralympics

Gretsch made her Paralympic debut at the

2018 Winter Paralympics ) , nations = 49 , athletes = 569 , events = 80 in 6 sports , opening = 9 March , closing = 18 March , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Eun-jung Seo Soon-seok , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic ...

and created history in her maiden Paralympic appearance after claiming a gold medal in the women's 6km sitting biathlon event. She eventually became the first American to claim a medal in a biathlon event in either the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

or the

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaired ...

. Her medal was also the first gold medal achieved by the United States at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in the opening day of the multi-sport event. Gretsch also repeated her gold medal hunt at the

after emerging as the winner in the women's 12km sitting event which is a part of the cross-country skiing event. This was her second Paralympic gold medal and the first gold medal that she achieved in cross-country skiing. Gretsch was one of two Paralympic gold winners representing the United States, the other being Daniel Cnossen, the first male biathlete to achieve a medal in either the

or the

2020 Summer Paralympics

Gretsch made her debut Summer Paralympics appearance representing

United States at the 2020 Summer Paralympics The United States competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics in Tokyo, Japan from 24 August to 5 September 2021. Medalists Archery Eric Bennett, Lia Coryell, Kevin Mather, KJ Polish, Emma Rose Ravish, Andre Shelby and Matt Stutzman have all ...

in paratriathlon event and it also marked her second Paralympic appearance after featuring in 2018 Winter Paralympics. She went onto clinch her first Summer Paralympic medal in her maiden Summer Paralympic appearance. She became a Paralympic champion in the women's PTWC paratriathlon event whereas she notably defeated reigning world champion Lauren Parker of Australia to claim gold medal in the relevant competition. She also became the fifth American and third American woman to have clinched gold medals in both Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics.

2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships

She won the gold medal in the women's 7.5km sitting cross-country skiing event at the

2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships The 2021 World Para Snow Sports Championships was an international disability sport competition held in Lillehammer, Norway from 8 to 23 January 2022. It was the inaugural edition of the World Para Snow Sports Championships with para-alpine skiin ...

held in Lillehammer, Norway. She also won gold medals in the women's 10km sitting biathlon event and in the women's Individual sitting biathlon event. In cross-country skiing, she won the silver medal in the women's long-distance sitting event.

2022 Winter Paralympics

She competed in the Women's 6 kilometres Biathlon seated, winning a bronze medal.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gretsch, Kendall 1992 births Living people American female biathletes American female cross-country skiers American female triathletes Paralympic biathletes of the United States Paralympic cross-country skiers of the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Paralympic silver medalists for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Biathletes at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Biathletes at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Cross-country skiers at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2018 Winter Paralympics Medalists at the 2022 Winter Paralympics Paralympic medalists in cross-country skiing People from Downers Grove, Illinois People with spina bifida Sportspeople from DuPage County, Illinois Paralympic medalists in biathlon Paratriathletes at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in paratriathlon Medalists at the 2020 Summer Paralympics 21st-century American women Washington University in St. Louis alumni