The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

competed at the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, Brazil, from 7 September to 18 September 2016. The first places the team qualified were for three athletes in sailing events. They also qualified athletes in archery, goalball, shooting, swimming, and wheelchair basketball.

Team

The United States had a team of 267 sportspeople scheduled to compete in 20 different sports at the 2016 Games. The team was 17% larger than the one that compete at the 2012 Summer Paralympics. The USA qualified a team in each of the 8 different team sports at the Games, the first time this happened since the 2004 Summer Paralympics. Of the 267 sportspeople in Rio, 142 were participating at the Games another time, having already participated in a previous Games. The United States delegation included thirty veterans. The team had three active service members. Forty-three states and Washington DC were represented in Rio. The state with the greatest number of representatives was California, with 29. Michigan and Washington both sent 14 athletes. To generate interest in the Games, the USOC organized US Paralympics’ Road to Rio Tour. This 10 tour involved nine stops around the United States and officially got underway on July 4, 2015.

Medalists

Archery

The United States qualified eight archers for the Rio Games following their performance at the

2015 World Archery Para Championships Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

Men

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Jeff Fabry Jeff Fabry (born April 14, 1973, in Hanford, California) is an American amputee and Paralympic archer. He won bronze medals at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and the 2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer P ...

, align=left, Men's individual compound W1 , 596 , 11 ,
L 126-140 , colspan=5, Did not advance , - , align=left,

KJ Polish Kevin "KJ" Polish Jr. (born November 19, 1982) is an American Paralympic archer. He began archery aged three by his father, Kevin Sr., who owned an archery shop and began competing aged eleven. In 1999, Polish was involved in a car crash and s ...

, align=left rowspan=3, Men's individual compound open , 685 , 2 ,
W 143-129 ,
L 133-139 , colspan=4, Did not advance , - , align=left,

Andre Shelby Andre C. Shelby (born December 8, 1966) is a U.S. Paralympic archer and Paralympic and Parapan champion. Shelby was born in Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1966 to Lee and Etta Shelby. He graduated from Jeffersonville High School in 1985. At Jeffers ...

, 669 , 12 ,
W 143-131 ,
W 138-133 ,
W 142-141 ,
W 139-138 ,
W 144-143 , , - , align=left,

Matt Stutzman Matthew Stutzman (born December 10, 1982) is an American archer. He competed at the 2012 and Archery at the 2016 Summer Paralympics – Men's individual compound open, 2016 Paralympics and won a silver medal in 2012. Born without arms, Stutzman ...

, 684 , 4 ,
W 142-129 ,
L 141-142 , colspan=4, Did not advance , - , align=left, Eric Bennett , align=left rowspan=2, Men's individual recurve open , 622 , 7 ,
W 7-3 ,
W 6-4 ,
L 0-6 , colspan=3, Did not advance , - , align=left, Michael Lukow , 577 , 23 ,
L 0-6 , colspan=5, Did not advance

Women

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Lia Coryell Lisa "Lia" Coryell (born January 26, 1965) is an American Paralympic archer who competes in international archery competitions. She is a World champion and has competed at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics. Coryell was a former Army An ...

, align=left, Women's individual compound W1 , 535 , 7 , colspan=2 ,
L 115-134 , colspan=3, Did not advance , - , align=left,

Samantha Tucker Samantha (or the alternatively Samanta) is primarily used as a feminine given name. It was recorded in England in 1633 in Newton Regis, Warwickshire. It was also recorded in the 18th century in New England, but its etymology is uncertain. Specu ...

, align=left, Women's individual compound open , 597 , 17 ,
L 124-133 , colspan=5, Did not advance

Teams

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, align=left, Team compound W1 , 1131 , 3 , colspan=2 ,
W 128-113 ,
L 125-137 ,
L 129-137 , 4 , - , align=left,

, align=left, Team compound open , 1282 , 9 , ,
L 146-147 , colspan=4, Did not advance

Athletics

With 62 athletes and 4 guides, the US athletics delegation is the largest in the country's history. Roderick Townsend is a

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

er on the American team. He was the tallest member of the United States delegation at .

Grace Norman Grace Norman (born March 9, 1998) is an American Parathlete. She was the 2016 Paralympics gold medalist in the Women's individual PT4 Paratriathlon. She also won the silver medal in the women's PTS5 event at the 2020 Summer Paralympics The ...

and

Allysa Seely Allysa Seely (born January 4, 1989) is an American paratriathlete and gold medalist at the 2016 and 2020 Summer Paralympics. Background Seely was born on January 4, 1989. She grew up in Glendale, Arizona and graduated from Mountain Ridge Hig ...

competed in both athletics and paratriathlon in Rio.

Men's track

Men's field

Women's track

Women's field

Cycling

With one pathway for qualification being one highest ranked NPCs on the UCI Para-Cycling male and female Nations Ranking Lists on 31 December 2014, the United States qualified for the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio, assuming they continued to meet all other eligibility requirements. Allison Jones went to Rio as the American with the most Paralympic Games appearance. Rio was her eighth Games. Oksana Masters had previously competed at the Paralympics in other sports, medalling in rowing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in Rio and competing in Nordic skiing at the Winter Games.

Equestrian

The country qualified to participate in the team event at the Rio Games. They earned additional individual slots via the Para Equestrian Individual Ranking List Allocation method following the suspension of Russia, and France Finland not using one of their allocated spots.

Football 7-a-side

IFCPF Pre Paralympic Tournament Salou 2016 37

United States national 7-a-side football team qualified for the Rio Paralympics at 2015 World Championships because of their seventh-place finish. The draw for the tournament was held on May 6 at the 2016 Pre Paralympic Tournament in Salou,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The United States was put into Group B with Argentina, Netherlands and Russia. Iran qualified for the 2016 Rio Games following the suspension of Russia. The IPC ruled that there could not be a redraw for the groups. This resulted in Iran being put into Group A with the Netherlands, Argentina and the United States. The tournament where the Paralympic draw took place featured 7 of the 8 teams participating in Rio. It was the last major preparation event ahead of the Rio Games for all teams participating. The United States finished 6th after beating Argentina in one placement match 4 - 3 and losing to Ireland 4 - 1. The goals scored in the match against Argentina were the first the USA scored in the tournament, before putting up one more in their match against Ireland. Their roster for this tournament included Alex Hendricks, Sean Boyle, Keith Johnson, David Garza, Joshua Brunais, Bryce Boarman, Gavin Sibayan,

Adam Ballou Adam Ballou (born May 29, 1992) is an American soccer player and cerebral palsy football player. Ballou has cerebral palsy as a result of an intrauterine stroke, he was diagnosed at six months old. He attended James Madison University, graduatin ...

, Gregory Brigman, Mason Abbiate, Andrew Bremer, Sam Holmes, Kevin Hensley and Steven Bohlemann. They were coached by Stuart Sharp. Going into the Rio Games, the country was ranked eighth in the world.

Goalball

Men

The

United States men's national goalball team United States men's national goalball team is the men's national team of the United States. Goalball is a team sport designed specifically for athletes with a vision impairment. The team takes part in international goalball competitions. P ...

qualified for the Rio Games after finishing third at the

2014 IBSA Goalball World Championships Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

. Joseph Hamilton, a member of the qualifying team, said after qualifying, "It's overwhelming for our team, we’ve come a long way. We didn't make the London 2012 Games that was very hard for us. To qualify for Rio at the first chance, and against a team that has been our nemesis in recent years, is awesome. If we play our own style, I believe we are one of the best teams in the world, and now we’ve got a chance to try to prove that on the grandest stage of all." The team returns to the Paralympics after having missed out on qualifying for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London. The United States' men enter the tournament ranked 9th in the world. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Women

The United States women's national goalball team qualified for the Rio Games after finishing first at the

. The team goes to Rio having had a disappointing performance at the

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 ...

where they finished twelfth. Jen Armbruster's participation in Rio for the US women's national goalball team made for seven Games appearances. This total was the second highest Games appearances among US athletes attending the Rio Games. The United States' women enter the tournament ranked 4th in the world. ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Judo

With one pathway for qualification being having a top finish at the 2014 IBSA Judo World Championships, the United States earned a qualifying spot in Rio base on the performance of

Dartanyon Crockett Dartanyon Crockett (born May 22, 1991) is a competitive Judo athlete for the United States. Crockett is legally blind. He won the bronze medal in the men's 90 kg division at both the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London in London and the 2016 ...

in the men's -90 kg event. The B3 Judoka finished first in his class. Five judoka would eventually be named to the US squad in Rio, including returning Paralympian Dartanyon Crockett. The other four judoka were Christella Garcia,

Ben Goodrich Benjamin "Ben" Goodrich (born November 26, 1992) is an American Paralympic judoka. He competed in the Men's 100 kg event in the 2021 Tokyo Paralympics where he won a silver medal. He also participated in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games as a membe ...

Myles Porter Myles Porter (born November 22, 1985) is an American Paralympic judoka. Biography Myles was born in Fremont, Ohio and is currently attending University of Toledo. He was a 2007 bronze medalist at Parapan American Games and 2009 one too at Ren ...

and Sarah Chung.

Paracanoe

Paracanoer

Alana Nichols Alana Jane Nichols (born March 21, 1983) is an American Paralympic wheelchair basketball player and alpine skier. Childhood Nichols was born in New Mexico and when she was nine months old, her father was killed by a drunk driver. Because her ...

had previously competed at the Paralympics in alpine skiing and wheelchair basketball.

Rowing

One pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top eight finish at the 2015 FISA World Rowing Championships in a medal event. The United States qualified for the 2016 Games under this criterion in the AS Men's Single Sculls event with a fifth-place finish in a time of 04:59.510. The United States qualified a second boat in the AS Women's Single Sculls event with an eighth-place finish in a time of 05:49.760. The United States qualified a third boat with a second-place finish in the LTA Mixed Coxed Four event in a time of 03:19.820. This was less than a second behind the gold medal-winning boat, Great Britain, who had a time of 03:19.560. At the US Olympic and Paralympic rowing team trials held in Sarasota, Florida in April 2016, Jacqui Kapinowski confirmed her qualification by winning the women's arms and shoulders single sculls (ASW1x) event in a time of 6 minutes 15.91 seconds, finishing ahead of second place athlete KateLynne Steinke by 15.61 seconds.

Jaclyn Smith Jacquelyn Ellen "Jaclyn" Smith (born October 26, 1945) is an American actress and businesswoman. She is best known for her role as Kelly Garrett in the television series ''Charlie's Angels'' (1976–1981), and was the only original female lead ...

is the only visually impaired competitor for the USA. She was scheduled to compete in the LTA Mix 4 event.

Sailing

The American team qualified a boat for two of the three sailing classes at the Games through their results at the 2014 Disabled Sailing World Championships held in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, Canada. Places were earned in the solo 2.4mR event and a crew also qualified for the two-person SKUD-18 class. An alternative pathway for qualifying for Rio involved having a boat have top seven finish at the 2015 Combined World Championships in a medal event where the country had nor already qualified through via the 2014 IFDS Sailing World Championships. The Unite qualified for the 2016 Games under this criterion in the Sonar event with a sixth-place finish overall and the second country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships. Dee Smith, at 64 years of age, was the oldest member of the United States delegation in Rio.

Shooting

The first opportunity to qualify for shooting at the Rio Games took place at the 2014 IPC Shooting World Championships in Suhl. Shooters earned spots for their NPC. The United States earned a qualifying spot at this competition in the R4 – 10m Air Rifle Standing Mixed SH2 event as a result of

McKenna Dahl McKenna Dahl (born May 1, 1996) is an American people, American Paralympic sports shooter. She became the first female sports shooter to win a medal in Shooting at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, shooting at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and also won ...

. Michael Tagliapietra earned a second spot for the US, with this spot in the P3 – 25m Pistol Mixed SH1 event. The third opportunity for direct qualification for shooters to the Rio Paralympics took place at the 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup in Sydney, Australia. At this competition, John Joss III earned a qualifying spot for their country in the R6- Mixed 50m Rifle Prone SH1 event. The last direct qualifying event for Rio in shooting took place at the 2015 IPC Shooting World Cup in Fort Benning in November. Tammy Delano earned a qualifying spot for their country at this competition in the R3 Mixed 10m Air Rifle Prone SH1 event. Jazmin Almlie earned a second spot for the United States at this event with her finished in the R4 Mixed Air Rifle Standing SH2 event. John Joss III was one of three active service members competing at the Rio Games.

Sitting volleyball

Men

United States men's national sitting volleyball team qualified for the 2016 Games at the

2015 Parapan American Games The 2015 Parapan American Games, officially the V Parapan American Games and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 ParaPan-Am Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities, celebrated in the tradition of the Pa ...

after winning a silver medal. It marks the team's return to the Paralympic level after having last appeared in 2004. ---- ----

Women

United States women's national sitting volleyball team qualified for the 2016 Games at the 2014 World ParaVolley Sitting Volleyball World Championships. ;Group ---- ---- ;Semi-final ;Final

Table tennis

Tahl Leibovitz class 9 and Pamela Fontaine class 3 will compete represent USA in table tennis.

Swimming

American swimmers competed at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships as part of their Rio qualifying efforts. The top two finishers in each Rio medal event at the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 countries competed at ...

earned a qualifying spot for their country for Rio. Bradley Sndyer earned the United States a spot after winning gold in the Men's 100m Freestyle S11 with a time of 0:56.78.

Jessica Long Jessica Tatiana Long (born February 29, 1992) is a Russian-American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at five Paralympic Games, winnin ...

is expected to represent the United States in Rio. She had a strong performance at the 2015 IPC World Championships, winning seven medals, four of which were gold.

McClain Hermes McClain Hermes or often known as Laurrie Hermes (born 5 January 2001) is an American Paralympic swimmer who competes in international elite competitions. Career She is a World and Parapan American Games champion in freestyle swimming, she has al ...

is the youngest member of the United States Paralympic team. They turned 15 in January 2016. Jessica Long went to Rio as the most decorated American Paralympian at the Games. She had 17 total medals prior to Rio.

Elizabeth Marks Sergeant First Class Elizabeth Marks (born August 7, 1990) is an American Paralympic swimmer who specializes in the 100m breaststroke distance. Early life Marks was born to James Marks, a U.S. Marine veteran who served during the Vietnam Wa ...

was one of three active American service members competing at the Rio Games. The USA team included nine visually impaired swimmers. These were Cailin Currie,

Tharon Drake Tharon Drake is an American swimmer. He is the current U.S. record-holder in S11 class in 50m freestyle, 50m and 100m backstroke, 50m and 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley (short course); 50m and 100m breaststroke (short course); 50m, 1 ...

Tucker Dupree Tucker Dupree is an American swimmer. He won three medals at the 2012 Paralympic Games and one at the 2016 Paralympic Games. He has also set multiple world and American records in swimming. He competes in the Paralympic classes S12/SB12/SM12. ...

, Letticia Martinez,

Rebecca Meyers Rebecca Meyers (born November 20, 1994, in Baltimore) is a Paralympic swimmer of the United States. She won three gold and one silver medals in Rio 2016. She was also a member of the 2012 Paralympic Team, and won a silver and bronze in London. Re ...

, Martha Reuther, Bradley Snyder and Colleen Young.

Triathlon

Krige Schabort was a member of Team USA competing in the paratriathlon. He previously served in the South African Army.

and

competed in both athletics and the paratriathlon in Rio. There were four visually impaired paratriathletes on the USA team. They were

Elizabeth Baker Elizabeth Baker may refer to: * Elizabeth Baker (playwright) (1876–1962), English playwright * Bessie Anstice Baker (1849–1914), Australian intellectual and social activist *E. D. Baker, American children's novelist *Betsy Baker (born 1955), Ame ...

, Jillian Peterson, Particia Walsh and Jessica Jones Meyers.

Wheelchair basketball

Men

The United States men's national wheelchair basketball team has qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. They qualified through via the 2015 Parapan Am Games. They met Argentina in the semi-finals, whom they beat 59–36. They then went to the gold match medal game, where they defeated Canada 62–39. During the draw, Brazil had the choice of which group they wanted to be in. They were partnered with Spain, who would be in the group Brazil did not select. Brazil chose Group B, which included Iran, the United States, Great Britain, Germany and Algeria. That left Spain in Group A with Australia, Canada, Turkey, the Netherlands and Japan.

Trevon Jenifer Trevon "Trey" Jenifer (born September 7, 1988, in La Plata, Maryland) is an American Paralympic wheelchair basketball player. Career In 1992, Jenifer participated in Wheelchair Track and Wheelchair Basketball with New Life Inc. He is an America ...

was the shortest member of the Team USA in Rio. He is tall due to congenital amputations in both his legs.

Women

The United States women's national wheelchair basketball team has qualified for the 2016 Rio Paralympics. The women qualified after claiming gold at the Parapan Am Games in 2015 after defeating Canada 80–72. As hosts, Brazil got to choose which group they were put into. They were partnered with Algeria, who would be put in the group they did not choose. Brazil chose Group A, which included Canada, Germany, Great Britain and Argentina. Algeria ended up in Group B with the United States, the Netherlands, France and China.

Wheelchair rugby

The United States qualified for the Rio Paralympics. They were scheduled to open play in Rio against France on September 14. Their second game was scheduled to be against Sweden on September 15. Their final game of group play as against Japan on September 16. The United States entered the tournament ranked number one in the world. ---- ---- Semifinals Gold-medal match

Wheelchair tennis

The United States qualified two competitors in the men's single event as a result of Bipartite Commission Invitation places. The players invited were Steve Baldwin and

Jon Rydberg Jon Rydberg (born October 7, 1977) is a world-class American wheelchair tennis player. Biography Rydberg was born in Grantsburg, Wisconsin and raised in Pine City, Minnesota. He played tennis since 1992. He was a member of the United States at t ...

. The United States qualified four players in the women's single event.

Emmy Kaiser Emmy Kaiser (born May 16, 1990) is an American wheelchair tennis player. Biography Kaiser was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. A graduate of St. Henry High School, she is a 2011 Parapan American Games gold medalist for doubles wheelchair tennis and si ...

and Dana Mathewson qualified via the standard qualification route. Kaitlyn Verfuerth qualified via a Bipartite Commission Invitation place. Russia had qualified two player in the women's singles event, Ludmila Bubnova and Viktoriia Lvova. Following their suspension, one spot was re-allocated by the IPC to the United States' Shelby Baron. The United States qualified three players in the quad singles event. Nicholas Taylor and David Wagner qualified via the standard route.

Bryan Barten Bryan Barten (born October 8, 1973) is an American wheelchair tennis player, he is a three time US Open quads doubles finalist with Dylan Alcott and David Wagner. He has also competed at the Paralympic Games twice, reaching the quarterfinals a ...

qualified via a Bipartite Commission Invitation place.

References

{{NPCin2016SummerParalympics Nations at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

2016 in American sports

Team

Medalists

Archery

Men

Women

Teams

Athletics

Men's track

Men's field

Women's track

Women's field

Cycling

Equestrian

Football 7-a-side

Goalball

Men

Women

Judo

Paracanoe

Rowing

Sailing

Shooting

Sitting volleyball

Men

Women

Table tennis

Swimming

Triathlon

Wheelchair basketball

Men

Women

Wheelchair rugby

Wheelchair tennis

See also

References