Marla Runyan, the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympics, broke barriers with a career that includes six Paralympic medals—five of them gold.
Susan Hagel, a six-time Paralympian, competed in wheelchair basketball, Para archery, and Para track and field between 1976 and 1996, earning four gold and two bronze medals.
Swimmer Trischa Zorn-Hudson is the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals, including 41 gold medals, over seven Paralympics.
Paralyzed from the waist down after a skiing accident, Chris Waddell went on to compete in seven Paralympic Games, winning 13 medals and becoming the most decorated male monoskier in U.S. history.
Discover Candace Cable, the first U.S. woman to medal at both the Summer and Winter Paralympics, who competed in three sports across nine Paralympic Games.
The Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games were the first Paralympic Games to attract corporate sponsorship and also the first to include Persons with an Intellectual Disability.
The Atlanta Paralympics featured athletes from 104 nations competing in 508 medal events. The United States claimed 159 medals: 47 gold, 46 silver and 66 bronze.
The Atlanta 1996 Olympic Torch included 22 aluminum reeds, one for each modern Olympic Games, and traveled more than 15,000 miles and went into space during its Torch Relay.
