SCI Superstar: Amanda McGrory

One of the most successful wheelchair athletes in US history, Amanda McGrory is royalty of the US wheelchair racing circuit. With 4 Paralympic medals, including Gold in the 5,000 meter and 20+ marathon wins overall worldwide, she’s been a professional athlete with national sponsors for years.

But adaptive sports weren’t the first thing Amanda thought of after becoming paralyzed. She went through the typical morning period before discovering her life’s passion – wheelchair racing.  Read on for her story below.

Why She’s Fearless

At the age of 5 while walking down the stairs is the moment Amanda knew something was wrong. She could no longer fully extend her legs, and within an hour she had lost the ability to walk. Later on in the hospital, Amanda was diagnosed with transverse myelitis, an inflammation of the spinal cord and she’s been paralyzed from the waist down since that day. Her entire life changed in an instant.

After her injury, Amanda became depressed. She was 5 and had no idea a full life could still be possible. It wasn’t until few years later when she went to sports camp did her entire perspective on wheelchair life change. Not only did she learn she could still be independent, she discovered wheelchair sports – specifically wheelchair basketball and wheelchair racing.

After this discovery, adaptive sports became Amanda’s life passion. At the age of 12 she began competing in wheelchair racing, and by the time she graduated from high school she was offered a full scholarship to the University of Illinois to be on their woman’s wheelchair basketball team. While there, she helped the team win 3 national championships. 

After college, she began to compete on a more national and worldwide scale. In 2006, she won her first marathon – the NYC Marathon – and two years later at the Beijing Paralympics she won a gold medal in the 5000 meter (and a silver and two bronze). And Amanda kept on truckin’ and in 2009 when she won the London Marathon. She went to the London Paralympics in 2012, but came home with no medals that year.

What’s Next?

In the following years, Amanda continued to compete. She won the New York City Marathon in 2011 and headed out west in 2013 to win the LA Marathon. Amanda competed in her last Paralympics in Tokyo 2020 (2021), and is now retired. In 2022, she made history as the first ever wheelchair racing analyst featured on a live broadcast the highlight elite wheelchair racing, which she did for the Chicago Marathon on NBC.

Outside of racing, Amanda received her Master of Library & Information Science in 2018 and is currently working as an Archivist and Collections Curator for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee. 

– Visit Amanda’s site: AmandaMcGrory.com