USA and Great Britain nominate Para athletics teams for Tokyo 2020

Sixty-one athletes have been nominated to compete for USA at Tokyo 2020 while Great Britain announced the first 12 names in their Para atheltics team for this August's Paralympic Games.

A mix of established USA veterans and up-and-coming stars making their first Paralympic appearance will take to the world’s biggest stage beginning August 24 with sights set on the top of the podium.

Veterans Tatyana McFadden, Lex Gillette, Cheri Madsen and Raymond Martin all have at least four Paralympic medals apiece for a combined 36.

They will make highly anticipated Paralympic returns to lead a squad that also includes Paralympic champions Roderick Townsend, Jeremy Campbell, David Blair, Michael Brannigan, David Brown on the men’s side, and Breanna Clark, Deja Young and Amanda McGrory from the women’s roster.

In the wheelchair racing category, McFadden, Madsen, McGrory and Martin are joined by teammates Daniel Romanchuk, Aaron Pike, Brian Siemann, Alexa Halko, Kelsey LeFevour, Hannah Dederick, Chelsea McClammer, Jenna Fesemyer, Eva Houston, Erik Hightower, Susannah Scaroni and Isaiah Rigo.

Romanchuk had one of the most dominant performances at the USA Paralympic Team trials, winning all five races he entered to secure his second Paralympic berth. The list also includes promising newcomers like Dederick, who went head-to-head with and beat some of the best in the world over the course of the three days to earn her spot.

Scaroni, primarily known as a marathoner, also had an impressive showing at trials in both the 5000m and 1500m T54 races, winning both events.

Track and throw events

Javelin thrower Justin Phongsavanh made a statement by setting a world record in the men’s javelin F54 and will compete alongside F64 javelin thrower Michael Gallardo, who also had an impressive trials performance en route to his Paralympic debut.

To round out the throwers, Campbell and Blair will be joined by two-time Paralympic medalist Cassie Mitchell, world champion Josh Cinnamo, up-and-coming shot putter Hagan Landry and discus thrower Jessica Heims.

All four high jumpers who competed at trials will have another chance to shine in Tokyo. Townsend, two-time Paralympic champion and the current world record holder in the T46 class, and 2016 Paralympic silver medalist Sam Grewe will be joined by newcomers Ezra Frech and Dallas Wise.

Frech is just 16 years old, and Wise is brand new to adaptive sports, having competed at his first Paralympic events this year after completing his sophomore season at Coastal Carolina University.

Gillette, past Paralympians Taleah Williams and Tobi Fawehinmi, and long jump T37 silver medallist Jaleen Roberts round out the marquee jumpers.

The women’s 200m T47 world record holder Brittni Mason and Young, the 2016 Paralympic gold medallist in the same event, headline an exceptional squad of women’s ambulatory runners.

Other veterans making the roster are Clark, past Paralympians Femita Ayanbeku and Paralympic bronze medallist Kym Crosby, who are both seeking their first coveted Paralympic golds. A septet of women’s runners will hit the Paralympic stage for the first time in their careers – Beatriz Hatz, Danielle Aravich, Sydney Barta, Taylor Talbot, Noelle Lambert, Elizabeth Corso and Erin Kerkhoff all put together strong performances at trials and punched their tickets to Tokyo.

Rounding out the roster are the men’s ambulatory runners. After setting a world record in the men’s 100m T37 at trials, former football 7-a-side star Nick Mayhugh completed his transition to the track.

Two-time Paralympic medallist Hunter Woodhall will seek his first Paralympic gold medal in the T62 class alongside 2016 Paralympian Nick Rogers. In the T64 class, Jarryd Wallace and Trenten Merrill, as well as newcomer Jonathan Gore all qualified after stellar trials showings.

Distance specialist Brannigan, Brown, 2016 Paralympian Desmond Jackson and first-time Paralympians Isaac Jean-Paul, Noah Malone, Luis Puertas, Tanner Wright, Rayven Sample and Joel Gomez round out the 2020 Paralympic team.

Twelve Team GB stars

Six reigning Paralympic champions are among the first group of 12 athletes selected to represent ParalympicsGB at Tokyo 2020.

Hollie Arnold, Jo Butterfield, Hannah Cockroft, Aled Davies, Sophie Hahn and Richard Whitehead all won gold at Rio 2016 and are part of a stellar group of athletes who are announced in the first wave of Para athletics selections this week.

Five-time Paralympic champion Cockroft, who lowered her own world records in the women’s 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m T34 in Switzerland last month, is joined by fellow T34 wheelchair racer and Rio 2016 silver and bronze medallist, Kare Adenegan, in the women’s 100m and 800m.

For Whitehead and Davies, Tokyo 2020 will be their third summer Games – both claimed gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016. Whitehead has been selected to compete in the 200m T61, while Davies will go in the shot put F63.

Arnold will be looking to defend the title she won five years ago in the women’s javelin F46, while reigning world champion Jonathan Broom-Edwards – a silver medallist at Rio 2016 – is selected in the high jump T64.

Sabrina Fortune, who won her first world title in 2019 to add to the bronze she won in Rio, will line up in the women’s shot put F20.

Reigning Paralympic, world, European and Commonwealth Games champion, Sophie Hahn will go for a tilt at her second 100m T38 Paralympic title in Japan. Meanwhile, Rio 2016 bronze medallist Andrew Small has sealed his place in the men’s 100m T33.

Scottish sprinter Maria Lyle, who won three Paralympic medals in Brazil five years ago, was in terrific form at the recent European Championships, claiming two golds to take her tally of European titles to eight since making her debut in 2014. The 21-year-old will compete in the 100m and 200m T35 in Tokyo.

Lyle’s compatriot and defending Paralympic club throw F51 champion, Jo Butterfield, completes the duo of Tokyo-bound Scots in this first wave of selected athletes.

Twenty-year-old Thomas Young makes his Paralympic debut after impressive performances on the European and world stage in recent years, including 100m T38 gold at the Bydgoszcz 2021 Euros earlier this month.

More information about the USA roster for Tokyo can be found here, while complete details about the first 12 athletes selected to represent Great Britain in Japan are available here.