Paratriathlon Gold Medalist Grace Norman Riding Into A Totally New Challenge

Grace Norman knows the meaning of the word “complacent,” but it’s certainly not part of her vocabulary.

Naturally, it would be easy for Norman to be content as a three-time Paralympian. No one would blame her if she looked at her two paratriathlon gold medals — including one from the 2024 Paris Games — and decided she had accomplished everything she set out to achieve.

That, however, would be the mindset of a typical person. Not an elite athlete. Not someone with the heart and mind of a champion. Not Grace Norman.

On the contrary, Norman is preparing for her 2025 paratriathlon season by competing in a designated Para-cycling time trial event for the first time. That’s right, the four-time Paralympic medalist and two-time gold medalist coming off three consecutive undefeated seasons in paratriathlon is turning her attention to cycling.

Clearly, Grace Norman is anything but complacent.  

“I did a lot of reflecting post-Paris,” began the 27-year-old Norman. “I’m not by any means leaving triathlon, but I’m someone who likes to constantly be pushing myself to be the best version of me.”

Cycling, of course, comprises one-third of a paratriathlon, but the U.S. Paralympics Cycling Time Trial on March 29 in Huntsville, Alabama, is strictly a cycling event. Norman hopes to do well in the event but acknowledges that she’s a bit of a wild card — and that her range of potential outcomes is anything but certain.

“It’s never comfortable looking at the possibility of defeat or not reaching expectations or just getting outside my comfort zone,” Norman said, “but that’s the only way I will grow and Para sport will grow. So knowing that it’s for a bigger purpose and continuing to push for inclusion in sport and Para sport in general, I’m trying to get more strong women athletes in every sport, so that also pushes me.”

Ultimately, though, Norman’s motivation is about challenging herself to reach her full potential as an athlete — and as a person.

“I don’t want to be complacent and take the easy road because I won’t grow and I won’t enjoy life that way,” Norman continued. “I’ve been given this amazing ability to be a great athlete, so why not use it in other ways other than triathlon? It’ll be difficult, but I’m really excited to take that opportunity and see where that goes.”

Norman noted that she’s expecting a “pretty technical” course in Huntsville, one that has required her to train extensively on her time trial bike while working on her cornering skills in preparation for the race. As far as her expectations are concerned, Norman views cycling as an opportunity where she simply has nothing to lose.

“I’m just looking for a new challenge,” said Norman, a native of Jamestown, Ohio, who spends most of her time these days in Bloomington, Indiana. “I’m just really excited to give it a shot.”

Norman acknowledges that cycling has historically been the component of triathlon that came least naturally to her. She grew up running and swimming and began cycling as she got older. Still, she clearly has reached a level of excellence on the bike where qualifying for world cups — and maybe even the Paralympics down the road — is a real possibility.

“It’s an opportunity to build my skills and grow in cycling,” Norman said. “My goal is to run the time trial as fast and efficiently as possible and have fun in it. It would be really cool to make a world cup team — I don’t know if that’s possible, because I don’t know where I’ll fall in the cards. I’m definitely not counting myself out.”

Norman’s upcoming paratriathlon schedule will depend on whether she qualifies for this spring’s cycling world cup competitions. For instance, she is currently slated to take part in the World Triathlon Championship Series in Yokohama, Japan, in May. However, if she qualifies for the cycling world cups that also take place in May, then she’ll head to Belgium and Italy to compete in those events instead.

In either case, she’ll participate in the paratriathlon national championships in Milwaukee on Aug. 10.

Even further down the road, Norman would love to qualify for the 2028 Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in both triathlon and cycling. She also pulled double duty at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, winning gold in triathlon and a bronze in track and field (more specifically, the 400-meter).

“That’s kind of the ultimate goal — to see if I can pull a double in LA in cycling and triathlon. It would be very cool to have that experience again,” Norman said. “There’s a very low risk in terms of trying. I’m going to have my work cut out for me. It’s going to be a challenge, but this is something I hope to take into the future.”

Drew Silverman is a freelance contributor to USParaCycling.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.