Twelve-time Paralympic medalist Candace Cable signs the LA 2024 Athlete Wall after being named Vice Chair of Board on March 7, 2016 in Los Angeles.
LOS ANGELES - LA 2024 today appointed Candace Cable, nine-time Paralympian and leader of the adaptive sport movement, as Vice Chair of its committee to bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games back to the United States for the first time in 28 years. Cable, who consults across the world with non-governmental organizations, government agencies, nonprofits, and sports groups on creating inclusive environments for people with disabilities, will be instrumental in ensuring that an LA Games in 2024 will provide the best possible athlete experience for both Olympians and Paralympians.
A native of Southern California, Cable has been at the forefront of the adaptive sport movement since she first became acquainted with the sport of wheelchair racing in the late 1970s and was the first American woman to win medals in both the Summer and the Winter Paralympic Games (12 medals, including 8 Gold). Cable is widely recognized as a pioneer of wheelchair racing, having participated in creating race director guidelines and fine-tuning elements of the sport such as rules and endorsements. After competing in the first-ever Olympic Wheelchair Racing event in 1984, in Los Angeles, Cable went on to compete at the 1988, 1992 and 1996 Summer Games, as well as at five editions of the Winter Paralympic Games in the Alpine and Nordic ski racing events. Cable’s remarkable athletic career also includes 84 first-place finishes at marathons across the globe.
Cable retired from competitive Paralympic sport in 2006 to be a force for cultural change. In addition to her role with the Open Doors Organization, where she instructs businesses to help make certain that all persons with disabilities have equitable consumer opportunities in the tourism and travel industries, Cable serves as a consultant on inclusive education for UNICEF. Cable also hosts webinars, writes, produces videos and attends United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities meetings for the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, a world-renowned organization working to improve the quality of life for persons living with paralysis. Cable’s extensive experience will ensure that if LA has the honor of hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it will deliver a legacy of greater inclusion, compassion, opportunities and respect for persons with disabilities in all aspects of city life.
LA 2024 Vice Chair Candace Cable said: “As an Angeleno, I couldn’t be more excited to join the team working to bring the Games back to a city that loves them. There’s no place in the world that is home to more Olympians and Paralympians than Los Angeles, and that’s no coincidence. Thanks to our gorgeous weather, world-class facilities, and a palpable love for sports wherever you go, I feel strongly that LA would be the perfect stage for the world’s greatest sports celebration to take place in 2024. I look forward to connecting the bid with my broad perspective on diversity and inclusion, not just disability, but gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, race and socioeconomic status so that the inherent inclusive design and universal values sport truly embodies will ensure that the LA Games in 2024 would be the perfect experience for all athletes.”
LA 2024 Chairman Casey Wasserman said: “Candace’s insights will be invaluable to LA 2024 as our bid progresses. Candace embodies LA 2024’s guiding principles - she’s a hard-working, hard-dreaming optimist at the cutting edge of her field. Candace is always imagining 'what’s next' in terms of the adaptive sport movement, but also more broadly in terms of how to ensure equal opportunities for people with disabilities and how to make our world more accessible. Her achievements on and off the race course are an inspiration to us all. Candace’s wealth of experience will surely bolster our efforts to provide the best possible Games for all athletes in 2024.”
LA 2024 Director of Athlete Relations and Vice Chair Janet Evans said: “I am honored to warmly welcome Candace to LA 2024 as Vice Chair of the Board and I relish the opportunity to work with her. As such a visionary and widely respected voice in the Olympic and Paralympic community and beyond, I have no doubt that Candace’s insights will take our bid to the next level. LA 2024 is putting together a new Games for a new era, and we’re prepared to raise the bar and create the ultimate Olympic and Paralympic athlete experience. Candace is going to help us do just that.”