U.S. Selects Team For 2019 World Para Athletics Championships

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – U.S. Paralympics Track & Field today named the 63 athletes, including 43 Paralympians, who will compete for Team USA at the 2019 World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from Nov. 7-15. The team is comprised of 40 men and 23 women, three guides and includes 14 defending world champions.

“The world championships in Dubai will be our athletes’ final major competition in 2019 that will test their preparation ahead of the Paralympic Games in Tokyo next summer,” said Joaquim Cruz, U.S. Paralympics Track & Field resident coach. “This group of athletes will showcase the talent and the depth of our program. It will be exciting to see how the team performs in the world stage less than one year until Tokyo.”

Highlighting the roster are 14 Paralympic champions, including Deja Young (Mesquite, Texas), David Brown (St. Louis, Missouri) and guide Jerome Avery (Lemoore, California), Mikey Brannigan (East Northport, New York), and Roderick Townsend (Stockton, California). Other athletes to watch are Daniel Romanchuk (Mt. Airy, Maryland) and Noah Malone (Fishers, Indiana), who are also poised to compete for the top of the world championships podium. Romanchuk captured his first world title in the marathon earlier this year in April.

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Jaleen Roberts (Kent, Washington) leads a group of 38 athletes who come off competing at August’s Parapan American Games in Lima, Peru. Roberts was the most decorated U.S. track and field athlete with four gold medals. Five athletes also competed at the World Para Athletics Junior Championships in Nottwil, Switzerland, in early August including Hannah Dederick (Liberty Lake, Washington), Ezra Frech (Los Angeles, California) and Joel Gomez (Encinitas, California).

At the last edition of the world championships in 2017, U.S. athletes won a historic 59 medals (20 golds, 19 silvers, 20 bronzes) to lead Team USA to its most successful world championships performance. Fourteen reigning champions are seeking to defend their world titles in Dubai, including Breanna Clark (Los Angeles, California), Isaac Jean-Paul (Grayslake, Illinois) and Tobi Fawehinmi (Arlington, Texas).

The U.S. team includes one athlete allocated direct invitation by name from World Para Athletics. Competition will take place from Nov. 7-15 at the Dubai Club for People of Determination. With more than 1,300 athletes from over 100 nations expected to compete, the event will be the last major opportunity for athletes to gain slots for their National Paralympic Committees for the 2020 Paralympic Games.

2019 U.S. Paralympics Track & Field World Championships Team

* Denotes U.S. Paralympian

# Denotes defending world champion