United States at the 2016 Summer Paralympics

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.[3]

The United States delegation included thirty veterans. The team had three active service members.[3] 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.[3]

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.[4]

The United States qualified eight archers for the Rio Games following their performance at the 2015 World Archery Para Championships. [3][5]

Men

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Score	Seed	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Rank
Jeff Fabry	Men's individual compound W1	596	11	Koo (KOR) L 126-140	Did not advance
KJ Polish	Men's individual compound open	685	2	Halldorssonn (ISL) W 143-129	Hall (GBR) L 133-139	Did not advance
Andre Shelby		669	12	Rodriguez Gonzalez (ESP) W 143-131	McQueen (GBR) W 138-133	Muniz de Castro (BRA) W 142-141	Milne (AUS) W 139-138	Simonelli (ITA) W 144-143
Matt Stutzman		684	4	Alexis (ESP) W 142-129	Muniz de Castro (BRA) L 141-142	Did not advance
Eric Bennett	Men's individual recurve open	622	7	Kostel (CZE) W 7-3	Tseng (TPE) W 6-4	Netsiri (THA) L 0-6	Did not advance
Michael Lukow		577	23	Tseng (TPE) L 0-6	Did not advance

Women

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Score	Seed	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Rank
Lia Coryell	Women's individual compound W1	535	7	N/A		Frith (GBR) L 115-134	Did not advance
Samantha Tucker	Women's individual compound open	597	17	Rubio Larrion (ESP) L 124-133	Did not advance

Teams

Athlete	Event	Ranking round		Round of 32	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Finals
		Score	Seed	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Opposition score	Rank
Jeff Fabry Lia Coryell	Team compound W1	1131	3	N/A		Spain (ESP) W 128-113	South Korea (KOR) L 125-137	Czech Republic (CZE) L 129-137	4
KJ Polish Samantha Tucker	Team compound open	1282	9	N/A	South Korea (KOR) L 146-147	Did not advance

With 62 athletes and 4 guides, the US athletics delegation is the largest in the country's history.[3] Roderick Townsend is a high jumper on the American team. He was the tallest member of the United States delegation at 200.66 centimetres (79.00 in).[3] Grace Norman and Allysa Seely competed in both athletics and paratriathlon in Rio.[3] [6]

Men's track

Athlete	Events	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Michael Brannigan	1500m T20	N/A				3:51.73
David Brown	100m T11	11.35	5 Q	11.04	1 Q	10.99 PR
	200m T11	23.45	7 Q	23.32	6	Did not advance
	400m T11	53.81	8	Did not advance
Chaz Davis	1500m T13	N/A				3:58.28	10
	5000m T13	N/A				15:15.86	8
AJ Digby	200m T44	22.14	4 Q	N/A		21.93	5
	400m T44	48.90	4 Q	N/A		47.34	4
Joshua George	400m T53	50.11	5 q	N/A		50.80	7
	800m T53	1:37.87	3 Q	N/A		1:41.23	5
	1500m T54	3:06.43	11	Did not advance
	5000m T54	10:20.36	3 Q	N/A		11:02.64	5
	Marathon T54	N/A				DNF
Lex Gillette	100m T11	11.68	=9 q	11.73	11	Did not advance
Ty Griffin	400m T20	DSQ		Did not advance
Tyson Gunter	100m T13	11.68	12	Did not advance
	400m T13	51.30	8 q	N/A		50.36	7
Jaquvis Hart	400m T47	DSQ		Did not advance
Erik Hightower	400m T54	49.19	14	Did not advance
Gianfranco Iannotta	100m T52	17.20	1 Q	N/A		17.17
	400m T52	1:00.59	3 Q	N/A		1:02.16
Desmond Jackson	100m T42	12.95	9	Did not advance
	200m T42	DSQ		Did not advance
Ayden Jent	100m T35	13.28	5 Q	N/A		13.13	5
	200m T35	28.81	8 Q	N/A		27.45	5
Raymond Martin	100m T52	17.27	2 Q	N/A		17.25
	400m T52	57.77	1 Q	N/A		58.42
	1500m T52	N/A				3:40.53
Aaron Pike	1500m T54	3:09.85	19	Did not advance
	Marathon T54	N/A				1:30:13	10
Markeith Price	100m T13	11.23 PB	10	Did not advance
	400m T13	50.20	7 q	N/A		49.96	5
David Prince	200m T44	22.42	6 Q	N/A		22.01	6
Austin Pruitt	100m T34	17.34	10	Did not advance
	800m T34	1:46.38	4 Q	N/A		1:45.55	6
John Roberts	100m T33	N/A				21.88	7
Josh Roberts	100m T52	18.41	7 q	N/A		18.39	8
	1500m T52	N/A				4:47.80	9
Nick Rogers	100m T44	11.26	8 q	N/A		11.33	8
	400m T44	49.45	5 Q	N/A		48.90	5
Daniel Romanchuk	100m T54	15.61	16	Did not advance
	400m T54	49.15	13	Did not advance
	800m T54	1:39.29	17	Did not advance
	1500m T54	3:07.93	14	Did not advance
	5000m T54	10:40.40	13	Did not advance
James Senbeta	800m T54	1:42.47	19	Did not advance
	5000m T54	10:41.65	15	Did not advance
	Marathon T54	N/A				DNF
Brian Siemann	100m T53	15.05	7 q	N/A		15.23	7
	800m T53	1:43.79	8 Q	N/A		1:41.11	4
Jerome Singleton	100m T44	11.23	=6 q	N/A		11.17	6
Roderick Townsend-Roberts	100m T47	11.07	6 Q	N/A		11.08	5
Steven Toyoji	400m T52	1:06.15	14	Did not advance
Shaquille Vance	100m T42	13.27	13	Did not advance
	200m T42	24.65	3 Q	N/A		24.86	4
Jarryd Wallace	100m T44	11.02	3 Q	N/A		11.16	5
Ahkeel Whitehead	100m T37	12.21	11	Did not advance
Hunter Woodhall	200m T44	21.50	2 Q	N/A		21.12
	400m T44	48.82	3 Q	N/A		46.70
Regas Woods	100m T42	13.06	10	Did not advance
	200m T42	25.19	4 Q	N/A		25.27	6
Jaquvis Hart Jerome Singleton Jarryd Wallace Hunter Woodhall	4x100m relay T42-47	N/A				DSQ

Men's field

Athlete	Events	Mark (m)	Points	Rank
Tobi Fawehinmi	Long jump T47	7.01	-	5
Lex Gillette	Long jump T11	6.44	-
Sam Grewe	High jump F42	1.86	-
Desmond Jackson	Long jump T42	4.91	-	7
Cody Jones	Javelin throw F38	40.53	-	8
Trenten Merrill	Long jump T44	6.84	-	4
Jerome Singleton	Long jump T44	5.56	-	13
Jeff Skiba	High jump T44	1.95	-	5
	Javelin throw F44	45.45	-	13
Nick Slade	Long jump T47	6.82	-	7
Roderick Townsend-Roberts	Long jump T47	7.41 PR	-
Ahkeel Whitehead	Long jump T37	4.83	-	12
Regas Woods	Long jump F42	5.40	-	6

Women's track

Athlete	Events	Heat		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Femita Ayanebeku	200m T44	28.58	7 q	28.81	6
Scout Bassett	100m T42	16.53	5 Q	16.66	5
Breanna Clark	400m T20	58.25	1 Q	57.79
Kym Crosby	100m T13	12.49	4 Q	12.24
	400m T13	N/A		57.26	4
Alexa Halko	100m T34	N/A		18.81
	400m T34	N/A		1:00.79
	800m T34	N/A		2:02.08
Jessica Heims	400m T44	N/A		1:09.17	7
Lacey Henderson	100m T42	18.48	10	Did not advance
April Holmes	200m T44	DSQ		Did not advance
Kelsey Lefevour	100m T53	17.28	6 Q	17.31	7
	400m T53	1:01.50	12	Did not advance
	800m T53	2:09.07	13	Did not advance
Cheri Madsen	100m T54	16.56	5 Q	16.40	5
	400m T54	54.29	2 Q	54.50
Chelsea McClammer	400m T53	55.42	=3 Q	55.13
	800m T53	1:52.96	6 Q	1:48.32	5
	1500m T54	3:22.75	2 Q	3:22.67
	5000m T54	11:49.25	2 Q	11:54.33
	Marathon T54	N/A		DNF
Hannah McFadden	100m T54	16.55	4 Q	16.34	4
	400m T54	55.98	6 q	56.20	7
Tatyana McFadden	100m T54	16.52	3 Q	16.13
	400m T54	53.17	1 Q	53.30
	800m T54	1:45.16	1 Q	1:44.73
	1500m T54	3:27.41	3 Q	3:22.50
	5000m T54	11:47.37 PR	1 Q	11:54.07
	Marathon T54	N/A		1:38:44
Amanda McGrory	800m T54	1:47.68	2 Q	1:45.23	4
	1500m T54	3:22.75	1 Q	3:22.61
	5000m T54	11:49.47	3 Q	11:54.34
	Marathon T54	N/A		1:38:45
Cassie Mitchell	100m T52	N/A		DSQ
Kerri Morgan	100m T52	N/A		19.96
	400m T52	N/A		1:08.31
Ivonne Mosquera-Schmidt	1500m T11	5:12.28	6 q	5:08.97	6
Grace Norman	400m T44	N/A		1:01.83
Shirley Reilly	400m T53	56.32	5 Q	56.10	5
	800m T53	1:49.69	4 q	1:47.77
Susannah Scaroni	800m T54	1:56.42	13	Did not advance
	Marathon T54	N/A		1:38:47	7
Allysa Seely	200m T36	32.36	7 q	32.40	6
Amy Watt	100m T47	13.66	10	Did not advance
	400m T47	1:04.56	7 q	1:04.21	6
Liz Willis	200m T44	29.67	12	Did not advance
	400m T44	N/A		1:07.62	6
Deja Young	100m T47	12.12	1 Q	12.15
	200m T47	25.58	1 Q	25.46
Cheri Madsen Chelsea McClammer Hannah McFadden Tatyana McFadden	4x400m relay T53-54	N/A		DSQ

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.[7][8]

Allison Jones went to Rio as the American with the most Paralympic Games appearance. Rio was her eighth Games.[3] 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.[3]

The country qualified to participate in the team event at the Rio Games.[9] 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.[9]

Members of Team USA warmup for their game against Brazil at the IFCPF Pre Paralympic Tournament Salou 2016, the last major preparation tournament for the Rio Paralympics.

United States national 7-a-side football team qualified for the Rio Paralympics at 2015 World Championships because of their seventh-place finish.[10][11]

The draw for the tournament was held on May 6 at the 2016 Pre Paralympic Tournament in Salou, Spain. The United States was put into Group B with Argentina, Netherlands and Russia.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14] 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.[15][16][17] Their roster for this tournament included Alex Hendricks, Sean Boyle, Keith Johnson, David Garza, Joshua Brunais, Bryce Boarman, Gavin Sibayan, Adam Ballou, Gregory Brigman, Mason Abbiate, Andrew Bremer, Sam Holmes, Kevin Hensley and Steven Bohlemann. They were coached by Stuart Sharp.[18]

Going into the Rio Games, the country was ranked eighth in the world.[19]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Iran	3	3	0	0	7	1	+6	9	Semi finals
2	Netherlands	3	1	1	1	4	4	0	4
3	Argentina	3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	3	5th–6th place match
4	United States	3	0	1	2	4	7	−3	1	7th–8th place match

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 in the men's -90 kg event. The B3 Judoka finished first in his class.[27][28] 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, Myles Porter and Sarah Chung.[6]

Paracanoer Alana Nichols had previously competed at the Paralympics in alpine skiing and wheelchair basketball.[3]

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 criteria 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.[29][30] 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.[31]

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.[32]

Jaclyn Smith is the only visually impaired competitor for the USA. She was scheduled to compete in the LTA Mix 4 event.[6]

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, Canada. Places were earned in the solo 2.4mR event and a crew also qualified for the two-person SKUD-18 class.[33]

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 criteria in the Sonar event with a sixth-place finish overall and the second country who had not qualified via the 2014 Championships.[34][35]

Dee Smith, at 64 years of age, was the oldest member of the United States delegation in Rio.[3]

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. Michael Tagliapietra earned a second spot for the USA, with this spot in the P3 – 25m Pistol Mixed SH1 event.[36][37][38]

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.[37][39]

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.[37][40]

John Joss III was one of three active service members competing at the Rio Games.[3]

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

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 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.[43][44][45] Jessica Long 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.[4]

McClain Hermes is the youngest member of the United States Paralympic team. They turned 15 in January 2016.[3] Jessica Long went to Rio as the most decorated American Paralympian at the Games. She had 17 total medals prior to Rio.[3] Elizabeth Marks was one of three active American service members competing at the Rio Games.[3] The USA team included nine visually impaired swimmers. These were Cailin Currie, Tharon Drake, Tucker Dupree, McClain Hermes, Letticia Martinez, Rebecca Meyers, Martha Reuther, Bradley Snyder and Colleen Young.[6]

Krige Schabort was a member of Team USA competing in the paratriathlon. He previously served in the South African Army.[3] Grace Norman and Allysa Seely competed in both athletics and the paratriathlon in Rio.[3]

There were four visually impaired paratriathletes on the USA team. They were Elizabeth Baker, Jillian Peterson, Particia Walsh and Jessica Jones Meyers.[6]

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.[49] The United States entered the tournament ranked number one in the world.[50]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	United States	3	3	0	0	165	142	+23	6	Semi-finals
2	Japan	3	2	0	1	163	155	+8	4
3	Sweden	3	1	0	2	145	151	−6	2	Fifth place Match
4	France	3	0	0	3	141	166	−25	0	Seventh place Match

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. The United States qualified four players in the women's single event. Emmy Kaiser and Dana Mathewson qualified via the standard qualification route. Kaitlyn Verfuerth qualified via a Bipartite Commission Invitation place.[51] Russia had qualified two player in the women's singles event, Ludmila Bubnova and Viktoriia Lvova.[52] 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 qualified via a Bipartite Commission Invitation place.[51]

• United States at the 2016 Summer Olympics