USA Announces 227 Athletes for London

Jerome Singleton celebrates winning the men's 100m T44 at the 2011 IPC Athletics World Championships in Christchurch, New Zealand. © • Getty Images Jessica Long posing for a portrait during the 2012 Team USA Media Summit on May 13, 2012 in Dallas, Texas. © • Getty Images

Related Features

All That’s Left is Paralympic Gold for USA’s McFadden

Wallace Ready for USA’s Trials

USA Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Has High Expectations

Related Documents

USA's London 2012 Complete Team Roster

“When the 2012 London Olympic Games come to a close on Sunday, the eyes of the world will turn to the Paralympic Games and the more than 4,000 athletes competing.”

US Paralympics announced their 227-member team for the London 2012 Paralympic Games on Monday (6 August), which includes six guides for visually impaired athletes and is comprised of 133 men and 94 women.

American athletes will compete in 19 sports contested throughout the 11 days of competition in London, where they will look to better their third-place finish (99 medals) from Beijing 2008.

“When the 2012 London Olympic Games come to a close on Sunday, the eyes of the world will turn to the Paralympic Games and the more than 4,000 athletes competing,” USOC Chief Executive Officer Scott Blackmun said. “Each of the 227 Americans named to the 2012 U.S. Paralympic Team today are ready to captivate the world, on and off the field of play, just as our Olympians have,”

Among the members of the 2012 US Paralympic team are 19 athletes who won multiple medals at the last Games, including swimmer Jessica Long, who co-led the team with six medals in Beijing, and wheelchair racer Jessica Galli, who captured five medals. Long claimed four of her career seven gold medals in 2008, while Galli claimed the women’s 400-metre T53 title.

On the track, champion sprinters Jerome Singleton and April Holmes are expected to star for USA’s 58-member Athletics squad, as is first-time Paralympian Jarryd Wallace and wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden.

Holmes struck gold in the 100m T44 sprint at the Beijing 2008 Games, while Singleton is the defending world champion in the same event on the men’s side.

McFadden will be aiming for gold in five events in the T54 class, and Wallace will run the 400m T43/44 sprint and 4x100m relay after having is leg amputated just three years ago.

USA’s women’s teams will also be ones to watch in Goalball, Sitting Volleyball and Wheelchair Basketball.

The delegation also includes 20 US military veterans and active duty service members, some of whom were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. Navy Lieutenant Bradley Snyder, who lost his vision in September 2011 while serving in Afghanistan, is among the American athletes with military ties. Snyder is slated to compete in swimming on the one-year anniversary of his injury.

Aimee Mullins will serve as the Chef de Mission for the team. Mullins made a groundbreaking achievement at Georgetown University, where she competed as the first-ever amputee on an NCAA Division I track team. A member of the 1996 US Paralympic team, she set world records in the 100m, 200m and long jump during her career.