(ATR) The 2020 Paralympics will be the first for Andrew Parsons since becoming International Paralympic Committee president in 2017. He has plenty of experience as a leader of the Paralympics in the Americas, including a major role in the staging of the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Since 2018 he’s been a member of the IOC and will lend his expertise to the cocomms for Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028.
Among the possible stars in Tokyo are two U.S. athletes. Tatyana McFadden won two gold medals in Rio as a wheelchair racer and could repeat in Tokyo.
Oksana Masters has won medals in the winter Paralympics in skiing and in rowing at the summer Paralympics. In Tokyo she will try cycling. An orphan from Ukraine with birth defects, Masters is poised for the spotlight in Tokyo for her athletic prowess and the powerful back story of her life.
Marcel Hug of Switzerland is the defending wheelchair marathon gold medalist from Rio 2016 and should be a favorite for Tokyo.
Brazilian swimmer Daniel Dias has already won 14 gold medals at the Paralympics since 2008. He’s qualified for Tokyo. This month he was named to the National Athletes Commission.
Markus Rehm from Germany is a legend in the long jump. Using a blade prosthetic on his right leg, he holds the Paralympics record. He’s also pushed to be included in events sanctioned by World Athletics, but has not been successful.
Candace Cable, retired from her career as a wheelchair marathoner for the U.S., is now working with Los Angeles 2028.
Reported by Ed Hula.
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