Moments To Remember From U.S. Cyclists At The Paris Paralympics

Eight is the magic number for the U.S. Para-cycling team.

American cyclists won eight medals at the Paralympic Games Paris 2024, matching the total they won three years ago in the Tokyo Games.

And for the second Games in a row, seven of those medals were won in road competition.

One change, however, was in the gold-medal tally as the U.S. won four in Paris after taking home three in Tokyo.

Here’s a look at some of the unforgettable moments from U.S. cyclists in Paris.

Triple Gold

On the first day of the road competition in Paris, three U.S. riders won time trial gold medals, two of them for the first time.

Oksana Masters, a 19-time Paralympic medalist in multiple sports, won the WH4-5 event for the second consecutive games.

“I’m speechless,” said Masters, who has won 14 of her Paralympic medals as a Nordic skier. “I had no confidence in myself. I knew this course had one aspect that was my strength, which was that last climb, and everything else were my weaknesses. I just trusted my coach and trusted my plan and it feels so good, and I would not have done this without the support of Team USA behind me the whole way through.”

Two days later, she also won gold in the women’s road race WH5, again for the second consecutive Paralympics.

Samantha Bosco, a two-time bronze medalist in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, won her first gold medal in the women’s time trial WC4. And Kate Brim, who burst onto the global Para-cycling stage two years ago, won a gold medal in the women’s time trial WH1-3 in her Paralympic debut.

Bosco’s 8-Year Journey

Samantha Bosco, a 23-time world championships medalist in both road and track cycling, missed the Tokyo Games due to a training crash shortly before the Games were held in 2021.

Her path toward Paris turned into a determined mission with countless world cup wins and four world titled between 2022 and 2023.

“Just being here was a win,” Bosco said. “For me, this gold medal is something I can put on the wall and remember that journey and remember the people that went into it. There are so many people here and back home, so many people up above, including my little dog, who are in that medal. I will see them when I look at that.”

Bosco, of Claremont, California, also finished fourth in the road race WC4 and was fourth in the women’s 3,000-meter individual pursuit WC4 on the track.

Golden Debut

Kate Brim, who won her first world titles in 2022, fought off a recent illness to win a gold medal in her Paralympic debut. She defeated Australia’s Lauren Parker by nearly 10 seconds in the time trial WH1-3.

“It felt so amazing,” said Brim, of Lowell, Michigan. “I’m just happy to have been able to make it to the start line and be amongst a bunch of other athletes where every single one of us have come here to give it a hundred percent, and that’s exactly what we all did.”

Learn more about Brim’s journey to Paris here.

A Magical First

Elouan Gardon, an 18-year-old from Acme, Washington, grabbed an American flag and wrapped it around his back after winning his first Paralympic medal.

It was also the first cycling medal for Team USA in Paris.

Gardon nearly broke world and Paralympic records in the men’s 4,000-meter individual pursuit MC5, finishing third to win a bronze medal at the velodrome in Saint Quentin-en-Yvelines.

“It feels pretty surreal,” Gardon said. “I am so incredibly happy, and happy to get the first medal for Para-cycling in the Paralympic Games.”

And to think, he’s only been involved in Para-cycling for a year.

Record Ride

Bryan Larsen, who also made his Paralympic debut in Paris and who helped Gardon find U.S. Para-cycling’s talent identification camp this past June, broke his own national record in the men’s 4,000-meter individual pursuit MC4 while finishing sixth.

“It was almost numbing to a certain degree; it was almost better,” Larsen, of Windsor, California, said. “Because it was so loud, it almost drowned my own thoughts, which sometimes negative thoughts can creep in. I was really, really happy to be able to subconsciously stick to my habits.”

Marine Silver

Bursting ahead on his tricycle, former U.S. Marine Dennis Connors highlighted his Paralympic debut by winning a silver medal in the men’s road race MT1-2.

A powerful sprint sent Connors out of a pack of riders and into second place.

“Bike races are really fun and it’s really hard,” said Connors, of Beaverton, Oregon. “I think it’s the hardest sport in the Games. It’s so painful and so many things can happen.”

He finished the day with a message for kids and military veterans.

“To all the kids with disabilities who don’t think they can do it, all the veterans who have given up hope, you can do it,” he said.

Connors, who sustained multiple brain injuries during military service in Iraq, found Para-cycling through another veteran, three-time Paralympian Shawn Morelli, who served in the U.S. Army.

Cheering for Clara

In the women’s road cace WC1-3, Clara Brown worked with three-time Paralympian Jamie Whitmore to win her first Paralympic medal, a bronze.

“It was relief. I was overjoyed and it felt so special to have my family here,” said Brown, who resides in Falmouth, Maine. “They were cheering and I could hear them.”

Whitmore, a three-time Paralympian from Somerset, California, finished fifth for her top result in Paris.

Team Bronze

Kate Brim teamed up with Travis Gaertner and Matt Tingley to finish third and win a bronze medal in the mixed relay H1-5. They had won a gold medal in a world cup relay race earlier this year in Maniago, Italy.

“It’s truly, truly amazing,” Brim said. “We see these podiums evolve every single time they’re here. It feels truly incredible to be the only female, but to be amongst these two is the only reason it was possible.”

For Gaertner, the performance marked his third Paralympic medal, but his first for Team USA and his first in cycling. He earned a pair of gold medals in wheelchair basketball while competing for Canada in 2000 and 2004, but joined Team USA after attending the University of Illinois. He now lives in Burien, Washington.

Terrific Tandem

Tandem riders Hannah Chadwick and pilot Skyler Espinoza broke a pair of personal records in their Paralympic debut. They reached the final round of the women’s 1,000-meter time trial B and bested their winning time at the 2023 Parapan American Games in the 3,000-meter individual pursuit B. They finished sixth in both events.

“We’re going to be friends forever, for life. That will never change,” Espinoza, of Menlo Park, California, said. “A lot of people think that the Paralympic or Olympic experience is only about medals, but I think we’ve been on such a cool journey to get here. Making the team is a huge accomplishment.”

Chadwick, of El Cerrito, California, joined up with Espinoza prior to their double-gold performance at the 2023 Parapan Ams.

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