United States at the Paralympics

The United States of America (USA), represented by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, has participated in every Summer and Winter Paralympic Games and is currently first on the all-time medal table. The nation used to be a dominant Paralympic power in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, but has steadily declined since the 1990s to a point where it finished sixth in the 2012 Summer Paralympics medal count. The team then improved to a fourth-place finish in 2016, and third in 2020, and unexpectedly finished first at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

United States at the
Paralympics
IPC codeUSA
NPCUnited States Olympic & Paralympic Committee
Websitewww.teamusa.org/US-Paralympics
Medals
Ranked 1st
Gold
962
Silver
910
Bronze
854
Total
2,726
Summer appearances
Winter appearances

The United States was the co-host of the 1984 Summer Paralympics in Stoke Mandeville and New York. It also hosted the 1996 Summer Paralympics in Atlanta and 2002 Winter Paralympics in Salt Lake City.

Medal tables

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Red border color indicates host nation status.

Best results in non-medalling sports:

Summer
Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year
  Football 5-a-side Did not participate
Winter
Sport Rank Athlete Event & Year
  Wheelchair curling 4th Augusto Perez
Patrick McDonald
James Pierce
Jacqui Kapinowski
James Joseph
Steve Brown
Mixed tournament in 2010

Flagbearers

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Records

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Summer Paralympics

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Multi-medalists

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Athletes who have won at least three gold medals or five medals at the Summer Paralympics. Bold athletes are athletes who are still active.

No. Athlete Sport Years Games Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Trischa Zorn   Swimming 1980–2004 7 F 41 9 5 55
2 Jessica Long   Swimming 2004–2020 5 F 16 8 5 29
3 Erin Popovich   Swimming 2000–2008 3 F 14 5 0 19
4 Bart Dodson   Athletics 1984–2000 5 M 13 3 4 20
5 John Morgan   Swimming 1984, 1992 2 M 13 2 0 15
5 Elizabeth Scott   Swimming 1992–2000 3 F 10 2 5 17
6 Edward Owen   Athletics
  Swimming
1964–1988 7 M 9 2 2 13
7 Tatyana McFadden   Athletics 2004–2020 5 F 8 7 4 19
8 Brad Snyder   Swimming 2012–2020 3 M 6 2 0 8
9 Jean Driscoll   Athletics 1988–2000 4 F 5 3 4 12
10 Marla Runyan   Athletics 1992–1996 2 F 5 1 0 6
11 David Larson   Athletics 1988–2000 4 M 5 0 3 8
12 Dennis Oehler   Athletics 1988–1996 3 M 4 3 3 10
13 Brian Frasure   Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 4 3 2 9
14 Tony Volpentest   Athletics 1992–2000 3 M 4 1 0 5
15 Paul Nitz   Athletics 1992–2012 6 M 4 0 1 5
16 Danny Andrews   Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 4 0 0 4
16 Raymond Martin   Athletics 2012 1 M 4 0 0 4
18 David Wagner   Wheelchair tennis 2004–2016 4 M 3 3 2 8
19 Freeman Register   Athletics 1992–2000 3 M 3 1 2 6
20 Mallory Weggemann   Swimming 2012–2020 3 F 3 1 1 6
21 Nick Mayhugh   Athletics 2020 1 M 3 1 0 4
22 Kelley Becherer   Swimming 2008–2012 2 F 3 0 4 7
23 Justin Zook   Swimming 2004–2012 3 M 3 0 1 4
24 Royal Mitchell   Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 3 0 0 3
25 Jeremy Campbell   Athletics 2008–2012 2 M 3 0 0 3
26 Ross Davis   Athletics 1992–2000 3 M 2 4 3 9
27 Cheri Madsen   Athletics 1996–2016 6 F 2 4 2 8
28 Roy Perkins   Swimming 2008–2016 3 M 2 3 3 8
29 Scot Hollonbeck   Athletics 1992–2004 4 M 2 3 0 5
30 Gregory Burns   Swimming 1996–2000 3 M 2 2 1 5
31 Marlon Shirley   Athletics 2000–2008 3 M 2 2 1 5
32 Karissa Whitsell   Cycling 2004–2008 2 F 2 1 2 5
33 Cortney Jordan   Swimming 2008–2016 3 F 1 8 3 12
34 Amanda McGrory   Athletics 2008–2016 3 F 1 2 4 7
35 Cheri Blauwet   Athletics 2000–2008 3 F 1 1 4 6
36 Aimee Bruder   Swimming 1996–2008 4 F 0 1 4 5

Multi-gold medalists at single Games

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This is a list of athletes who have won at least two gold medals in a single Games. Ordered categorically by gold medals earned, sports, then year.

No. Athlete Sport Year Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
Athletics
1 David Larson   Athletics 1992 M 4 0 0 4
Marla Runyan   Athletics 1992 F 4 0 0 4
3 Danny Andrews   Athletics 2004 M 3 0 0 3
4 Dennis Oehler   Athletics 1988 M 3 0 1 4
5 Jean Driscoll   Athletics 1996 F 2 1 1 4
6 Curt Brinkman   Athletics 1980 M 2 1 0 3
Joe Gaetani   Athletics 1992 M 2 1 0 3
8 Maureen Gaynor   Athletics 1988 F 2 0 0 2
Cycling
1 Karissa Whitsell
Guide: Katie Compton
  Cycling 2004 F 2 1 1 4
2 Barbara Buchan   Cycling 2008 F 2 0 0 2
Swimming
1 Trischa Zorn   Swimming 1988 F 12 0 0 12
2 John Morgan   Swimming 1992 M 8 2 0 10
3 Erin Popovich   Swimming 2004 F 7 0 0 7
Elizabeth Scott   Swimming 1992 F 7 0 0 7
5 Jessica Long   Swimming 2012 F 5 2 1 7
6 McKenzie Coan   Swimming 2016 F 3 1 0 4
Rebecca Meyers   Swimming 2016 F 3 1 0 4
Brad Snyder   Swimming 2016 M 3 1 0 4
9 Gregory Burns   Swimming 1996 M 2 1 0 3
10 Kelley Becherer   Swimming 2012 F 2 0 2 4
Wheelchair tennis
1 Randy Snow   Wheelchair tennis 1992 M 2 0 0 2
Multiple sports
1 Ed Owen   Athletics 1968 M 4 0 1 7
  Swimming 2 0 0
2 Sharon Hedrick   Athletics 1980 F 3 1 0 5
  Wheelchair basketball 0 0 1

Multi-medalists at single event

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This is a list of athletes who have won at least three medals in a single event at the Summer Paralympics. Ordered categorically by medals earned, sports, then gold medals earned.

No. Athlete Sport Event Years Games Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Trischa Zorn   Swimming 100m backstroke 1980–2004 7 F 5 1 1 7
2 Jessica Long   Swimming 400m freestyle 2004–2016 4 F 3 1 0 4
3 Ross Davis   Athletics 100 metres 1992–2000 3 M 2 1 0 3
Bart Dodson   Athletics 200 metres 1992–2000 3 M 2 1 0 3
Rudy Garcia-Tolson   Swimming 200m individual medley 2004–2012 3 M 2 1 0 3
Roy Perkins   Swimming 50m butterfly 2008–2016 3 M 2 1 0 3
7 David Larson   Athletics 400 metres 1988–1996 3 M 2 0 1 3

Athletes with most appearances

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Summer Paralympics
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This is a list of athletes who have competed in four or more Summer Paralympics. Active athletes are in bold. Athletes under 15 years of age and over 40 years of age are in bold.

No. Athlete Sport Birth Year Games Years First/Last Age Gender Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 Pamela Fontaine   Table tennis
  Wheelchair basketball
1964 1984–2016 20 - 52 F 0 1 1 2
2 Trischa Zorn   Swimming 1964 1980–2004 16 - 40 F 44 9 5 55
3 Lex Gillette   Athletics 1984 2004–2016 20 - 32 M 0 4 0 4
Winter Paralympics
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Prize money

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When a US athlete wins an Olympic medal, as of 2016, the USOPC paid the winner $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver, and $10,000 for bronze.[1] The USOPC increased the payouts by 25% to $37,000 for gold, $22,500 for silver, and $15,000 for bronze beginning in 2017.[2] These numbers are significantly lower than in other countries, where Olympic gold medalists receive up to $1 million from their governments for a gold medal.[3][4] Since 2018, payouts to Paralympic athletes have been the same as to the Olympians. The International Paralympic Committee noted that "'Operation Gold Awards' for [American] Paralympic athletes [would] be increased by as much as 400 percent."[5]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Cao, Athena Cao (15 August 2016) Uncle Sam goes for gold, too: Up to $9,900 per Olympic gold medal First Coast News via USA Today
  2. ^ "USOC Increases 'Operation Gold' Payouts By 25% Beginning in 2017". Swimswam.com. December 14, 2016. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  3. ^ Many Countries Pay Big Bonuses For Olympic Medals. This One Is Shelling Out $2.7 Million.
  4. ^ Some countries pay more than six figures to athletes who bring home a medal -- but not the U.S.
  5. ^ Paralympians to earn equal payouts as Olympians in the USA