Mary Hodge has coached four Paralympic Games. When she first started, she was the only female para coach in the U.S. at the time. She first got involved in sports for people with disabilities in 1988 when she started a local team for athletes with Cerebral Palsy. As the High-Performance Manager at US Para Powerlifting, headquartered at Logan University, her main goal within the organization is to help athletes earn medals and achieve their dreams of representing Team USA.

Desmond Jackson is considered the fastest above knee amputee in the United States, currently holding the national record in the 100m dash. Throughout his life, Dez has been blazing trails. In middle school, he became the first amputee to compete in track and field in the state of North Carolina. At the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio he turned 16 years old and was the youngest African American male to make the U.S. Track & Field Paralympic Team that year. He hopes to continue to break records and blaze trails at the Tokyo Games this summer.

Sports have been a huge part of Navy Veteran Jared Lenahan's life. As he gets older, he continues to find himself more involved in sports. It was while he was climbing in Italy that Jared fell to the ground, sustaining significant injuries. But that hasn’t stopped him. Nor has it altered his love and passion for climbing. In fact, Jared is currently ranked the 7th best para climber in the world in his division and he hopes to open his own adaptive climbing gym in the future.

Ellen Geddes was actively competing in the equestrian sport of dressage when a car accident left her paralyzed at 22 years old. While she rehabilitating at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, she was introduced to different adaptive sports. But there was one that caught her attention. Now she is a member of Team USA and is aiming to compete at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in parafencing.

After suffering injuries from a roadside bomb in Iraq, retired Army Specialist Kyle Moxley tried different sports. Each new sport led him to figure how his true abilities and narrow down what he wanted to do. Moxley settled on skiing because it freed his mind from what happened in the past or all the bad things. He trains with the National Sports Center for the Disabled (NSCD) and is currently ranked sixth in the nation in alpine skiing.

Growing up, sports was difficult for Sophia Herzog as she felt it was not really a level playing field for individuals like her. But now the Paralympic Silver Medalist, who is an athlete ambassador for the Women’s Sports Foundation and served as a guest speaker for National Girls and Women in Sports Day this year, is inspiring the next generation to find their passion and have confidence to know that they can do whatever they put their mind to.

Lera Doederlein was 14 when she underwent amputation of her legs to ultimately help improve her mobility and gain some independence. Within six months, she would give sled hockey a try. She now plays for the San Diego Ducks as well as the National Women’s Sled Hockey Team. But recently, multi-sport Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters also encouraged her to give Nordic skiing a try. She now finds herself also training and competing with the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Ski Team.

Kelli Ann Stallkamp has played sled hockey for the Columbus Blue Jackets Sled Hockey Team and the USA Women's National Sled Hockey Team. She started lifting weights as part of her cross training and fell in love with that sport. She now has a goal of representing Team USA and USA Para Powerlifting at the Paralympic Games

Byron Branch was an elite able-bodied foil fencer. While on duty as a police officer, he was struck by a car along Interstate 75 in Ohio just before the holidays in 2016. After that accident, Branch had his right leg amputated. Less than 2 years later, he would win gold in his first-ever wheelchair fencing competition and is now aiming to represent Team USA at the upcoming Tokyo Paralympic Games.

Army Veteran Tony Drees would survive the deadliest missile attack of the Gulf War. But in February 2018, the Purple Heart recipient’s right leg was amputated at the hip due to complications from his wounds. That year, he would learn how to ski as an amputee. Now, skiing is his jam. Drees uses his love for skiing and adaptive sports as a way to engage others.