2020 Tokyo Paralympics – FasterSkier.com

After a Series of World Major Marathons, Aaron Pike Transitions to Winter

Rachel PerkinsNovember 23, 2021

While no one would choose the circumstances, pandemic induced cancellations presented marathoners with a unique calendar of events this fall. All six of the iconic World Marathon Majors — Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo (held virtually, in-person event postponed to 2022), and New York — took place within a span of 42 days. (In a typical season, Tokyo, Boston, and London are run in the spring.) While Shalane Flanagan has been in the limelight for...

Feature Olympics Para Nordic Racing

Kendall Gretsch Makes History With Gold Medal in Paratriathlon

Rachel PerkinsOctober 7, 2021

If you didn’t catch the ending of the triathlon during the Tokyo Paralympics, prepare for the chills. Spoiler alert: in an all out, last gas effort in the final meters, dual-season athlete Kendall Gretsch edged out Australia’s Lauren Parker by one second for a Gold Medal victory. This is Gretsch’s third Olympic gold, alongside the two she earned during the 2018 PyeongChang Paralympic Games, first in the 6-kilometer biathlon sitting sprint and again in the...

Interviews Para Nordic

Masters and Gretsch Prepare for Two Paralympic Cycles After Postponement of Tokyo Games

Rachel PerkinsMay 5, 2020

Of the members of the U.S. Para Nordic team, more than half compete at the highest level in both summer and winter sports. Instead of quadrennial, their training is designed for biennial Paralympic cycles, oscillating between sports each year with an overall focus shift toward whichever Games is approaching fastest. And the goal is not simply to compete in both rounds of the Games, it is to bring home medals. Illinois based Oksana Masters is...

General Interviews Para Nordic Racing

Former Swimmer Kendall Gretsch on Unexpected Paralympic Golds, Hunger for More

Gabby NaranjaSeptember 11, 2018

As a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Kendall Gretsch stumbled across an article that would change her life. It was the spring of 2012, just a few months before the Summer Paralympics in London. Gretsch had been reading the local news when she came across a story about a St. Louis college student who hoped to attend the London Games as part of the U.S. Paralympics Swimming team. Born with spina...