The Olympics have wrapped up in Paris, but the city is set to host another competition featuring some of the best athletes from across the globe.
The Paralympic Games begin Wednesday, Aug. 28, and end Sept. 8.
At least nine athletes from the D.C. area will be competing for Team USA. Here’s what to know about them.
Know of an area Paralympian who is not listed? Reach out via the WTOP “Contact Us” page.
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Noah Hanssen is a wheelchair fencer from Ellicott City, Maryland, who is working toward a Master’s degree in public policy at the University of Maryland.
Hanssen’s interest in fencing began by imitating his favorite “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” characters with toy swords as a kid. He has used a wheelchair since he lost the use of his legs in a car accident at age 7, according to the University of Maryland.
Hanssen is also the vice president of the university’s fencing club.
This summer marks Hanssen’s first time competing in the Paralympics for Team USA. He’s coming off a gold medal performance in Men’s Saber Category B at the 2024 Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championship in Brazil.
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Samantha Heyison is a shot put and discus thrower from Adamstown, Maryland, who now competes for Wake Forest University.
At the young age of 19, she’s already a decorated athlete at the international level, winning two bronze medals at the 2023 World Para Athletics Championships — one in discus and one in shot put.
Heyison attended Urbana High School in Ijamsville, where she won three state championships.
This summer will be Heyison’s first Paralympics. Born with constricted band syndrome, she competes in the F64 competition class, which is for field athletes with moderately affected movement in one or both legs or the absence of limbs.
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Trevon Jenifer is a 35-year-old wheelchair basketball player from Huntingtown, Maryland.
He’ll be looking to add a fourth Paralympic medal to his trophy case this summer in Paris. Jenifer was on the bronze medal-winning team in 2012, and the gold medal-winning teams in 2016 and 2020.
Jenifer started playing wheelchair basketball in 1992 with team Air Capital in Washington, D.C., according to Team USA. He was born with a congenital amputation that did not form his legs correctly.
He attended Huntingtown High School and wrestled against athletes without disabilities, finishing third in his weight class at the Maryland state tournament his senior year.
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Jessica Long is a 32-year-old swimmer who is originally from Siberia and grew up in Baltimore, Maryland.
With 16 gold medals, 8 silvers and 5 bronzes in her trophy case, she’s one of the most decorated Paralympic athletes of all time.
She made her first Paralympics appearance at age 12, winning three gold medals in the 2004 Games in Athens, Greece. When she dives into the pool this summer, she’ll be competing in her sixth Paralympics.
Long was born with fibular hemimelia, meaning she had no fibulas, ankles, heels and most of the others bones in her feet. Her legs were amputated below the knees at 18 months old, according to Team USA.
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Nick Mayhugh is a 28-year-old track and field athlete from Manassas, Virginia, who attended Patriot High School and Radford University.
In Paris, he’ll be competing in his second Paralympics and looking to build on an extremely successful outing at the 2020 Games, where he collected three gold medals (100-meter, 200-meter and 4×100-meter in the T37 class).
Mayhugh has cerebral palsy and competes in the T37 class, which is for athletes with movement and coordination moderately affected down one side.
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Tatyana McFadden is a wheelchair track and field athlete from Baltimore, Maryland, who has a whopping 20 Paralympic medals.
Born with spina bifida, McFadden competes in the T54 class, which is for track athletes who have full function in their upper body with either moderately or highly-affected movement in the legs, or no legs at all. The legs play no part in racing for these athletes.
McFadden competes in events ranging all the way from the 100-meter to the 5,000-meter and has amassed eight gold medals, eight silvers and four bronzes since her first Paralympics in 2004.
She’s also served as an advocate for disabled athletes, with her work leading to the Maryland Fitness and Athletics Equity for Students with Disabilities Act in 2008, also known as “Tatyana’s Law,” ensuring equal athletic opportunities for disabled students, according to Team USA.
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Daniel Romanchuk is a 26-year-old wheelchair track and field athlete from Mount Airy, Maryland.
Like McFadden, Romanchuk was born with spina bifida and competes in the T54 class for track athletes with an impaired use of the legs, or no legs at all.
After competing in the 2016 and 2020 Paralympics, he has one gold and one bronze medal to his name. He took home gold in the 400-meter and bronze in the marathon in Tokyo in 2021.
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Lawrence Sapp is a 22-year-old swimmer from Waldorf, Maryland, and is competing in his second Paralympic Games this summer.
Sapp will be looking for his first medal. He nearly reached the podium in the 100-meter butterfly in Tokyo, coming in fifth in the S14 class, which is for swimmers with intellectual impairments. Sapp is diagnosed with autism and an intellectual impairment.
At North Point High School, Sapp broke five school records during his freshman year on his way to winning the coach’s award, according to Team USA.
He also successfully helped to advocate for changes at Maryland’s Motor Vehicles Administration that made the state’s driving test more accessible after failing it multiple times.
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Zachary Shattuck is a 28-year-old swimmer from Mount Airy, Maryland, who first began swimming competitively at Frostburg State University.
Shattuck will be competing in his second Paralympic Games in Paris, and will be looking for his first medal.
Born with dwarfism and standing at 4-feet, 6-inches, he competes primarily in the S6 class, which includes those of short stature and those with certain coordination issues or the absence of limbs.
Along with his own training, Shattuck helps coach the St. Mary’s College swim team and also coaches a club team there, according to U.S. Paralympics Swimming.
He’s also an advocate for draft sports, having recently met with the U.S. ambassador to Argentina to raise awareness for dwarf sports, U.S. Paralympics Swimming reported.
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