What to Watch at the Para Track Cycling World Championships

The chase for Paris 2024 begins this month for 16 U.S. Para track cyclists.

Five U.S. Paralympians are among those competing in the UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships, March 20-24, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including four-time Paralympic medalists Joe Berenyi and Shawn Morelli. The competition will play a large factor in the determination of U.S. roster spots for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

The five-day competition marks the return to Rio for Morelli, who won a pair of gold medals in her Paralympic debut in 2016, and 21-time world medalist Samanatha Bosco, who won a pair of bronze medals in her Paralympic 2016 debut.

Among those making their world championships debuts in cycling are the tandem teams of Amy Dixon and pilot Laurel Rathbun, and Branden Walton with pilot Spencer Seggebruch.

“It’s an incredible opportunity. I’ve always dreamed that I would make a world championship team in two sports,” said Dixon, a 2020 Paralympian in triathlon.

The U.S. team, which was determined by competition in the U.S. Paralympics Track Cycling Open held last month in Carson, California, features eight individual riders and four tandem teams.

The Paralympic Games, which begin Aug. 28 in Paris, will consist of nine men’s medal events, seven women’s events and a mixed team sprint.

Here are five athletes to follow in Rio:

Samantha Bosco

Since recovering from a training crash in 2021 that kept her out of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo that year, Bosco has become one of the top WC4 riders in the world. She has won double world titles the last two years in road cycling and became the most decorated U.S. track cyclist (Olympic or Paralympic) when she won three world medals in track last August in Glasgow, Scotland.

Bosco is among a number of Americans looking to make the 2024 Paralympic team in both track and road cycling.

Bosco won a silver medal in the women’s omnium, and bronze medals in the 3-kilometer pursuit and scratch race in the 2023 world championships. Victories in the road time trial and road race brought her medal total to five and increased her career world medal count to 21.

In her last competition of 2023, Bosco won two races at the Parapan American Games in November, including the 3,000-meter individual pursuit WC4-5 on the track.

Shawn Morelli

Morelli, a two-time Paralympian and 16-time world championships medalist, teams up with Bosco to stack up the U.S. lineup in WC4.

Like Bosco, Morelli is hoping to compete in both track and road at the Paralympic Games. She medaled in both disciplines in both Rio and Tokyo, including a gold medal in the 3-kilometer pursuit on the track in 2016.

She finished sixth in the pursuit at last year’s world championships and was seventh in the scratch race and omnium.

Clara Brown

After skipping a year in track to focus on road cycling, Brown, an 11-time world medalist in WC3, is back on the track for the U.S.

She won three bronze medals at the 2022 track world championships, in the scratch race, omnium and individual pursuit, and is a strong medal contender this year.

Brown is a three-time world champion and finished fourth in the individual pursuit during her Paralympic debut in Tokyo three years ago.

She hopes to make the 2024 Paralympics in both road and track.

Aaron Keith

Since making his world championships debut in 2013, Keith has won 13 medals and become one of the most veteran members of the team, along with three-time Paralympian and 16-time world medalist Joe Berenyi.

Keith, who won a silver medal in his Paralympic debut three years ago in Tokyo, competes in the MC2 class.

He won five silver medals in the 2022 world championships, including three on the track in individual pursuit, scratch race and omnium. He followed that up with two bronze medals in the 2023 world championships.

Tandem Eight

Four tandem teams (two women’s pairings and two men’s pairings) will compete in Rio, tying a Team USA record for the most tandem entrants in a world championships.

Hannah Chadwick and pilot Skyler Espinoza, who won a bronze medal in the sprint during their world championship debut last August in Glasgow, return to the global stage after winning a pair of gold medals at the Parapan American Games.

Joining them on the women’s side are Amy Dixon, a former paratriathlete and national champion, and pilot Laurel Rathbun, a former professional cyclist. They’ll be making their world championships debut together after teaming up just six months ago.

Michael Stephens and pilot Joe Christiansen, who also won a gold medal at the Parapan American Games, are back for their second consecutive world championships. Joining them in their world championship debut are Branden Walton, a junior world champion in Para track and field, and pilot Spencer Seggebruch, another former pro cyclist.

Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is also a freelance contributor to USSpeedskating.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.