Olympics |

Meet the Coloradans heading to the 2024 Paris Paralympics

Editor’s note: These capsules highlight 10 Paralympians with Colorado ties who will compete in the 2024 Paralympics in Paris. In determining who counted as a Coloradan, we included athletes who attended a Colorado high school or college, as well as those who currently live or train primarily in the state. 

PARATRIATHLON

Kyle Coon

Colorado connection: Lives in Carbondale, trains in Colorado Springs.

What to know: Placed fifth in the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 and has five wins on the World Triathlon Para Series circuit. Along with his guide, triathlete Zack Goodman, Coon won the 2022 U.S. Paratriathlon national championship. Coon lost his vision at 7 due to a rare form of eye cancer. He’s an avid rock climber and downhill skier.

Competing: Sunday

Hailey Danz

Colorado connection: Member of the U.S. Paratriathlon Resident Team in Colorado Springs.

What to know: A two-time Paralympic silver medalist (Rio de Janeiro in 2016, Tokyo in 2020), Danz is a four-time world champion. She is a cancer survivor who had her leg amputated due to osteosarcoma at 14. Danz was introduced to triathlons through Dare2Tri, a nonprofit and Paratriathlon club based out of Chicago.

Competing: Sunday

Howie Sanborn

Colorado connection: Lives and trains in Denver

What to know: He’s a retired U.S. Army veteran who served for 15 years as an Airborne Ranger and a demonstrator on the U.S. Army Parachute Team, “The Golden Knights.” Began competing in triathlons as a non-disabled athlete while serving with the U.S. Army but was cycling with a friend in September 2012 when a distracted driver struck him from behind, breaking his back and paralyzing him from the waist down. Paris will be his first Paralympics.

Competing: Monday

Melissa Stockwell

Colorado connection: She attended the University of Colorado and now lives and trains in Colorado Springs, where she and her husband own and operate a prosthesis company.

What to know: Stockwell won a bronze medal in paratriathlon’s debut at the Rio de Janeiro in 2016. She’s a three-time Paratriathlon World Champion and also competed at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics in swimming. In 2004, Stockwell became the first female U.S. soldier to lose a limb in active combat in the Iraq War. She was honored with a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for her service.

Competing: Sunday afternoon

TRACK AND FIELD

Beatriz Hatz

Colorado connection: A Lakewood resident, she graduated from D’Evelyn High School in 2019.

What to know: Hatz competes in the long jump and sprinting events. She finished fifth in the long jump and sixth in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in the 2020 Tokyo Games. Hatz was named the U.S. Paralympics Track & Field High School Female Athlete of the Year in 2018. She was born without a fibula in her right leg, leading to an amputation below the knee.

PARAFENCING

Jataya Taylor

Colorado connection: Taylor lives in Aurora and competes for the Denver Fencing Center near Ruby Hill Park.

What to know: She didn’t take up fencing until 2022 but won three golds and a silver medal at this year’s Wheelchair Fencing Americas Championships. Taylor enlisted in the Marine Corps in 2005 as a military police officer. Barely a year into her enlistment, while stationed at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, she injured her knee in a training accident. She learned she had a connective tissue disorder called Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS). Taylor’s knee continued to get worse, and in 2016 her right leg was amputated.

Competing: Tuesday

PARA SWIMMING

Elizabeth Marks

Colorado connection: Stationed with the U.S. Army as a medic at Fort Carson.

What to know: Began swimming as she recovered from reconstructive hip surgery after experiencing injuries while serving as a U.S. Army combat medic in Iraq. In 2014, Marks suffered a neurological impairment that required life-saving surgery. Two years later, she won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Paralympics, setting a world record for her classification in the 100-meter breaststroke. She also took home a bronze medal in a medley relay. ESPN recognized her with the Pat Tillman Award for Service that same year.

Less than a year after winning gold in Rio, ongoing complications from her war injuries required the amputation of Marks’ left leg below the knee. She entered the Paris Games with five gold medals, including two golds. She competes in all strokes, but the backstroke is her strongest event.

Competing: Thursday

Jack O’Neil

Colorado connection: He graduated from The Village High School in Colorado Springs and now swims for the University of Wyoming.

What to know: O’Neil competes in the freestyle and backstroke events and qualified for the Paris Games after coming in first in the 100-meter backstroke at the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Swimming Team Trials in Minneapolis. He was born with birth defects in his spine, hips, and legs. O’Neil started swimming at age 7 and electively had his left leg amputated at 9. He was the first para-athlete in Colorado to qualify for the high school state championships against non-disabled peers.

Competing: Thursday

PARA SHOOTING

John Joss

Colorado connection: Has lived and trained in Colorado Springs since 2019.

What to know: Joss is competing in his third Paralympic games and he’s hunting for his first medal. He finished fifth in the 2016 Games and out of medal contention at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2020. Joss, a Texas native, is a member of the U.S. Army’s Marksmanship Unit and lost a portion of his right leg from injuries sustained in Iraq in 2007. He currently is the national record holder in the mixed 50-meter free rifle prone competition.

WHEELCHAIR RUGBY

Josh O’Neill

Colorado connection: Live and trains in Colorado Springs

What to know: He won a silver medal at the 2022 World Championships as part of the U.S. team and is competing in his first Paralympics. He comes from a long line of racecar drivers. A car accident on his 16th birthday resulted in a broken neck and halted his racing career. While in rehab, O’Neill watched the Academy Award-nominated documentary “Murderball” and fell in love with wheelchair rugby.

Competing: Tournament play begins Thursday vs. Canada

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