PARIS, France — The 2024 Paralympic Games are set to begin on Wednesday in Paris, and Georgia is once again well-represented on Team USA.
Perhaps the biggest star among the Peach State contingent headed to Paris is McKenzie Coan, a native of Clarkesville who has four gold medals between the last two Paralympics in Tokyo and Rio.
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Here's a rundown of who else is competing with Georgia ties at the 2024 Paralympics.
Paralympic athletes with Georgia ties
McKenzie Coan, swimming
- Georgia tie: Hometown of Clarkesville
Coan, 28, is a gilded para-swimmer with four Paralympic golds, two Paralympic silvers, and nine World Championships gold to her name. She won gold in 2016 in each of the 50m freestyle S7, 100m freestyle S7 and 400m freestyle S7. That last distance she repeated for gold in Tokyo.
“Believe it or not, my disease, something a lot of people see as a burden, is my strength," she told 11Alive's Cheryl Preheim last year.
A disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta brought her to the pool. O.I. is a genetic disorder that prevents the body from building strong bones. That’s why it’s also called brittle bone disease. She was diagnosed with it as a newborn.
"In a lot of ways, the water saved me," she said. "It gave me confidence and helped me believe anything is possible.”
Gia Pergolini, swimming
- Georgia tie: Hometown of Atlanta, St. Francis High in Alpharetta alum
The 20-year-old won gold in the 100m backstroke S13 at the Tokyo Paralympics. She won gold in the same event at the 2022 World Championships and added a gold then in the 100m freestyle S13 as well.
Her 100m backstroke time of 1:04.64 in the final at the Tokyo Games set -- and still stands -- as a world record.
Pergolini began focusing on her swimming when she was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a degenerative muscular condition of the eyes that "typically causes vision loss during childhood or adolescence," according to the National Eye Institute. It's estimated to occur in about 1 in 8-10,000 people, according to the NEI.
"It's so surreal, I've been dreaming about this moment the last five years and seeing my dream come true... it's just crazy seeing it all play out and seeing all the hard work that you've done pay off," Pergolini said after her gold medal, world record swim in 2021.
Cassie Mitchell, track and field and boccia
- Georgia tie: Went to Georgia Tech, has worked for both Tech and Emory as a professor and researcher
Mitchell is headed to her fourth Paralympic Games. She is out to win her first gold medal after she won two silvers in Tokyo and a bronze in Rio.
She competes in both the club throw and discus and will also now compete in the sport of boccia.
Mitchell developed Devic's Neuromyelitis Optica at 18, leaving her as a quadriplegic with visual impairments. She is planning to complete against classes in Paris with more function of their limbs, Georgia Tech's website said.
“When you start to mix classes, a paraplegic is going to throw farther than a quadriplegic. I can train to the ends of the Earth, and there’s only a certain amount I’m going to be able to overcome based upon the degree of paralysis in my upper body,” Mitchell told the Tech website. “I’m doing my best to find what that limit is.”
Jarryd Wallace, track and field
- Georgia tie: Hometown of Athens, went to the University of Georgia
Wallace, a sprinter, is bound for his fourth Paralympic Games. He captured his first medal in Tokyo, a bronze in the 200m T64.
Wallace began his running career as an able-bodied athlete, but during his junior year at UGA, he was diagnosed with compartment syndrome after feeling pain in his right shin. Surgery complications resulted in the amputation of his leg below the knee.
He's won gold three times at the World Championships and has won bronze twice.
Ryan Medrano, track and field
- Georgia tie: Hometown of Savannah
These are his first Paralympics. His Team USA bio said he only took up para track and field while competing on the Survivor reality TV show.
Since then, he has thrived in the sport, winning a silver medal in the 400m T38 at the 2024 World Championships. He was born with cerebral palsy.
Susannah Scaroni, Track and Field
- Georgia tie: Scaroni won the AJC Peachtree Road Race wheelchair division race for a fourth time in 2024.
Susannah Scaroni is in the T54 classification for track and field in the Paralympics. She is 33 and is from Tekoa, Washington. Scaroni qualified for the Paralympic Games Paris 2024 from the 2023 New York City Marathon, according to her Team USA biography.
Scaroni is a three-time Paralympian and 2-time Paralympic medalist. She won gold in women’s 5000m T54 in Tokyo in 2020. She also won bronze in women’s 800m T54 in 2020.
Her first Paralympic Games was in London in 2012, where she placed 8th in women’s T54 marathon. She also competed in Rio in 2016, where she placed 7th in the women’s T54 marathon and 13th in women’s T54 800m.
Daniel Romanchuk, Track and Field
- Georgia tie: Romanchuk won his seventh AJC Peachtree Road Race in 2024.
Romanchuk is in the T54 classification for track and field in the Paralympics. He is 26-years-old and is from Mount Airy, Maryland. He qualified for the Paris Games by earning a silver medal at the 2023 New York City Marathon.
He is a two-time Paralympian and medalist. In Tokyo in 2020, he won gold in the men’s 400m T54 and bronze in the men’s T54 marathon. His first Games were in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, where he placed 13th in the men's 400m T54, 15th for the 5000m T54, 16th for 100m T54 and the 1500m and 17th for the 800m T54.
Tatyana McFadden, Track and Field
- Georgia tie: McFadden won her 8th AJC Peachtree Road Race in 2021.
McFadden is in the T54 classification for track and field. She is also in the LW10-12 sitting classification for nordic skiing, according to her Team USA biography. She is 35 and is from Baltimore, Maryland.
She is a 6-time Paralympian, where she first competed in Athens in 2004. She is also a 20-time Paralympic medalist and has won a medal at every single Paralympic Games she has competed in. She has won 8 gold medals, 8 silver medals and 4 bronze medals.
Bailey Moody, wheelchair basketball
- Georgia tie: Hometown of Atlanta
Bailey Moody is a member of the United States women's national wheelchair basketball team. Moody is making her second Paralympics appearance after she represented Team USA at the 2020 Summer Paralympics.
At the young age of 10, Moody was diagnosed with stage four osteosarcoma. Because of that, she underwent a rotationplasty, which resulted in her right leg needing to be amputated in order to help save her chance of having an active life, despite the fact she still had eight months of chemotherapy left.
Originally from Atlanta, Moody went to Providence Christian Academy in Lilburn before going to college at the University of Alabama.
Matt Simpson, goalball
- Georgia tie: Hometown of Atlanta
Matt Simpson is a member of the United States goalball team and will represent Team USA for the second time at the Paralympics in 2024.
Back in 2016, Simpson won a silver medal with the Team USA goalball team.
When Simpson was just a year old, he started moving his eyes in unusual ways. Despite doctors believing he would grow out of it, his parents noticed there was a more serious issue when he was 4. Simpson was later diagnosed with a degenerative retinal condition that would cause him to go blind.
Simpson wanted to play goalball in Atlanta, but at the time, there was no goalball program around. His father started a program up with the help of the Georgia Blind Sports Association.
Simpson can be seen in the post below: