Kendall Gretsch

Started: She took up Para triathlon at university. (teamusa.org, 09 Jul 2021) Reason: "I got my start in Para triathlon after my sophomore year of college. I stopped doing sports when I went to college. I swam all through high school and then I took a little break from exercising at all. I wanted to get back to sports. I went to a swim practice, and the person that was leading the swim practice said, 'Hey, we have track practice after this'. At that point, I had not done any adaptive sport, just swam with my high school team, so I didn't know that much about it. She then said, 'You can come race in your wheelchair, we started a Para triathlon club and we have practice on these days'. This was the Dare2tri Para triathlon club based out of Chicago, and that's how I got started in the sport." (teamusa.org, 09 Jul 2021) Ambition: To compete at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (paralympic.org, 05 Feb 2022) Milestones: She became the first female athlete representing the United States of America to win a gold medal in biathlon at the Paralympic Winter Games by claiming victory in the 6km sitting event at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. (SportsDeskOnline, 05 Dec 2018; pyeongchang2018.com, 10 Mar 2018) Awards: In 2015 and 2018 she was shortlisted in the Best Female Athlete with Disability category at the Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly [ESPY] Awards in the United States of America. (fasterskier.com, 11 Sep 2018; paralympic.org, 22 Jun 2018) She was named the 2014 Female Para Triathlete of the Year by USA Triathlon. (fasterskier.com, 11 Sep 2018) Additional Info: MULTI-SPORT ATHLETE She started looking for a new sport after discovering that her triathlon category would not be part of the programme at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. She took up Para Nordic skiing during the 2015/16 season, and went on to win gold in both biathlon and cross-country skiing at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. "I wanted to find another sport where I would have the chance to go to the Paralympics. I think this one [skiing] has been the tougher sport for me to pick up. I think triathlon came a little bit more naturally to me. It's a tough sport and I loved it just being outside and being able to ski. I think that's one thing that I like between the two sports is that you are travelling around the world and you get to race in beautiful venues." (teamusa.org, 09 Jul 2021; paralympic.org, 07 Feb 2019, 13 Jul 2018) TRIATHLON She was the first triathlete to win gold in the women's wheelchair category at the Paralympic Games when the event made its debut at the 2020 Games in Tokyo. "I'd been racing triathlons for nine years by that point. I was not so sure where I was going to be with triathlon after Tokyo. I think at this point, I still love the training so much and can't see myself stopping after Tokyo. The plan is to keep training and competing in triathlon while I still love it. If that ever changes, then maybe it's a decision of not continuing. I think it would be great to be able to share the Summer Games experience with my family especially, who weren't able to be in Tokyo [due to the COVID-19 pandemic]. That is the one missing piece for me." (source.wustl.edu, 14 Feb 2022; triathlete.com, 28 Aug 2021; teamusa.org, 28 Aug 2021, 09 Jul 2021) OTHER ACTIVITIES She has worked as a technical support agent for a company that provides healthcare software to hospitals and other medical facilities. In 2022 she established The Kendall Gretsch Fund for Adaptive Athletes, a fund to promote sports to children and adults with spina bifida. "When establishing this fund, our goal was to help increase access to sports for Illinois residents with spina bifida. The hope was that everyone would have the opportunity to find a passion for sport, which has played such a crucial role in my life." (i-sba.org, 12 Sep 2023, 29 Sep 2022; LinkedIn profile, 31 Mar 2022; teamusa.org, 24 Aug 2018)