From the snow to the road, these five Paralympic athletes turned in world-class performances this year and have the medals to prove it.
Brenna Huckaby, Oksana Masters, Tatyana McFadden, Shawn Morelli and Grace Norman were nominated for the title of Female Paralympic Athlete of the Year.
Which woman earns the title is up to you. Vote now at TeamUSA.org/Awards.
Winners will be announced at the Team USA Awards presented by Dow, Best of Year, which takes place on Nov. 29 in Los Angeles and will be broadcast on Dec. 23 on NBC.
Fans can vote as many times as they’d like through Oct. 30. The fan vote will account for 50 percent of the final tally, with members of the Olympic and Paralympic family accounting for the other 50 percent.
Here is a closer look at the five 2017 nominees for Female Paralympic Athlete of the Year:
Brenna Huckaby
Sport: Para snowboarding
Hometown: Salt Lake City
Age: 21
What She Did This Year: Huckaby won gold medals in both the snowboardcross and banked slalom events at the world championships in February, and she added gold in banked slalom and silver in snowboardcross at the World Cup Final and Paralympic test event in PyeongChang in March.
Why It Mattered: This was a comeback year for Huckaby, who won the world title in snowboardcross in 2015 then took a year off for the birth of her daughter in May 2016.
Fun Fact: Huckaby was a competitive gymnast when she was younger and credits the body awareness, balance and fearlessness she learned in that sport for her success in snowboarding.
What’s Next: Huckaby will look to make her Paralympic debut in March and add two very special gold medals to her growing collection.
Oksana Masters
Sport: Para Nordic skiing
Hometown: Louisville, Kentucky
Age: 28
What She Did This Year: The three-time, three-sport Paralympian became the first American to win a gold medal at the world championships. To top that feat, Masters won four golds and a bronze at worlds, in addition to her 14 world cup medals in 14 starts. She finished the season ranked first overall in cross-country and third in biathlon.
Why It Mattered: Masters has already medaled in the 12K and 5K Nordic events at the Paralympics, but the biathlon sprint world title and biathlon individual bronze were her first biathlon medals at that level.
Fun Fact: Masters is dating Paralympic Nordic skier Aaron Pike. The two met at the Paralympic Opening Ceremony in Sochi in 2014.
What’s Next: Masters won a silver and a bronze medal in her Winter Games debut in Sochi but is hoping to win gold (ideally more than one) this March in PyeongChang. She also hopes to compete in handcycling in Tokyo 2020 to make it five straight Paralympic appearances. She previously won a Paralympic bronze medal in rowing in 2012.
Tatyana McFadden
Sport: Para track and field
Hometown: Clarksville, Maryland
Age: 28
What She Did This Year: McFadden won her seventh straight Chicago Marathon in October, breaking her own course record with a time of 1:39:15. Earlier this year she swept her events at the World Para Athletics Championships, winning the 200-, 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter to bring her world title total to 16.
Why It Mattered: McFadden was hospitalized for blood clots in the spring, and two weeks after she was released she competed in the Boston Marathon, finishing fourth.
Fun Fact: McFadden was recently named Sports Illustrated’s 37th-fittest woman in sports, citing her ability to win races from the 200-meter all the way through marathons.
What’s Next: McFadden will finish out the major marathon season in New York, where she’ll look to win her fifth title in a row and record-breaking sixth win overall on Nov. 5.
Shawn Morelli
Sport: Para-cycling
Hometown: Meadville, Pennsylvania
Age: 41
What She Did This Year: Morelli defended her titles in both the time trial and road race at the road world championships and finished the season ranked No. 1 overall in her classification. She also won a pair of gold medals at the track world championships, earning victories in both the individual pursuit and time trial, and finished the season ranked third overall.
Why It Mattered: After winning Paralympic gold medals in both the road time trial and track individual pursuit and being named one of Team USA’s breakout athletes of 2016, Morelli showed no signs of slowing down.
Fun Fact: The U.S. Army veteran has said that she loves playing video games, and Halo is among her favorites.
Grace Norman
Sport: Paratriathlon
Hometown: Jamestown, Ohio
Age: 19
What She Did This Year: Norman remained unbeaten in ITU competition — a streak going back to March 2016 —and successfully defended her title at the world championships.
Why It Mattered: Norman was the first paratriathlete to win a gold medal in Paralympic Games history last year as the youngest athlete in the field and this year proved that the victory was no fluke.
Fun Fact: Norman’s luggage was lost on the way to the world championships this year, and she had to have a specially made suit shipped to the Netherlands and borrowed items from other athletes in order to compete.
What’s Next: The Cedarville University sophomore who is majoring in nursing has said she plans to compete in at least four more Paralympic Games over the next 16 years and defend her world title next year in Australia.
Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to TeamUSA.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.
