The Bank of America Chicago Marathon has announced it will be the host of the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials.
America’s top athletes will race in the event’s professional elite wheelchair field to secure one of four spots on the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team. The top two male and female American wheelchair finishers will be one step closer to earning a bid to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Paralympic games.
“We are proud to host the 2016 U.S. Paralympic Team Trials and witness America’s best athletes compete for a chance to represent Team USA in Rio,” said Carey Pinkowski, executive race director. “With the trials and the Chicago-New York Challenge, Chicago will be a focal point for disability sport this fall, and we are honored to play a role in elevating attention paid to these tremendous athletes.”
In addition to competing for a spot on Team USA, athletes will race against an international field vying for the championship of the first-ever Chicago-New York Challenge.
Headlining the American field are 2014 Chicago Marathon champions Tatyana McFadden and Josh George. McFadden and George, both from the University of Illinois wheelchair racing team, will return to defend their titles and work toward securing their position in the 2016 Paralympic Games.
George, 31, of Champaign, has taken home four Olympic medals in his career. He received a bronze medal in Athens in 2004, gold and silver medals in Beijing 2008, and a bronze medal in London 2012.
McFadden, 26, of Clarksville, Maryland, has appeared in three summer Paralympic Games and taken home three gold, four silver and three bronze medals.
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"The competition in Chicago will be even more exciting this year with the addition of the U.S. Paralympic Team Trials and the Chicago-New York Challenge," McFadden, the 2014 Chicago Marathon Champion, said in a statement. "It's an amazing opportunity to be in a position to qualify for the 2016 Paralympic Games, but to do it on what I consider my hometown course makes it all the more meaningful."
Fourteen University of Illinois athletes, including Amanda McGrory and Adam Bleakney will also compete in the trials.
For a complete roster of athletes competing in the trials click here.
