Watch These 7 Wisconsinites in the Tokyo Paralympics

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By Olivia Stern

August 18, 2021

Wisconsin communities from Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien are represented in this year’s crop of Paralympic athletes.

The Paralympic Games will take place Aug. 24-Sept. 5 in Tokyo, a few weeks after the Olympics’ closing ceremony. Wisconsin has seven Paralympians that will be representing Team USA in events like wheelchair basketball, archery, and the paratriathlon. 

RELATED: These 9 Wisconsinites Competed in the Tokyo Olympics

Here are the Wisconsin athletes making the Badger State proud in the paralympics.

John Boie left a Milton native is competing in wheelchair basketball at the Tokyo Paralympics Photo via Mark ReisTeam USA

John Boie, Wheelchair Basketball

John Boie, a Milton native, is heading to his first Paralympic games in Tokyo to compete on Team USA’s wheelchair basketball team. Boie began playing the sport when he was at a summer camp when he was 11 years old. He graduated from UW-Whitewater in 2014 and got his graduate degree from there as well in 2019. He won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2018. 

Lia Coryell a La Crosse native paralympian is competing in compound archery Photo via Team USA

Lia Coryell, Compound Archery

Lia Coryell, a 56-year-old Army veteran from La Crosse, made her Team USA debut in 2015 at the World Archery Para Championships and Parapan American Championships, and now she will compete at Tokyo with a compound bow in the W1 women’s category.

Paralympian Hailey Danisewicz poses for photos at the 2016 Team USA Media Summit Monday March 7 2016 in Beverly Hills Calif AP PhotoJae C Hong

Hailey Danz, Paratriathlon

Hailey Danz, a 2016 Paralympic silver medalist, is competing again in the paratriathlon. Danz, a Wauwatosa native, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma when she was 12 years old. After a year of chemotherapy and several surgeries, her doctors amputated her leg when she was 14 so she could continue to play the sports she loved like volleyball, basketball, and downhill skiing. 

Joe Delagrave of the United States in action during the Bronze Medal match of Mixed Wheelchair Rugby against Japan on day 11 of the London 2012 Paralympic Games at Basketball Arena on September 9 2012 in London England Photo by Mike EhrmannGetty Images

Joe Delagrave, Wheelchair Rugby

Joe Delagrave from Prairie du Chien won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games for wheelchair rugby, and he’s ready to compete again at Tokyo. He played football at Winona State University before he was in a boating accident in 2004. 

Nate Hinze, Wheelchair Basketball

Nate Hinze, 33, is the most experienced UW-Whitewater wheelchair basketball player on Team USA. He is a two-time Paralympic athlete with a bronze medal from the 2012 London Paralympic Games and a gold medal from the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games. He teaches middle school physical education at Ripon Middle School but is originally from Cedar Grove. 

Coleman native Matt Lesperance is representing Team USA in the Tokyo Paralympics Photo via Butch IrelandTeam USA

Matt Lesperance, Wheelchair Basketball

Matt Lesperance’s last Paralympic appearance was in 2008 at Beijing where he placed fourth with his wheelchair basketball team. At the World Championships in 2010 he received a bronze medal. Originally from Coleman, Lesperance has been playing wheelchair basketball since the age of 9. 

Jake Williams of the United States in action in the Mens final between Great Britain and USA during the Wheelchair Basketball World Championships at the edel opticsde Arena on August 26 2018 in Hamburg Germany Photo by Moto YoshimuraGetty Images

Jake Williams, Wheelchair Basketball

Jake Williams is a 30-year-old gold medalist originally from Milwaukee. In 2016, he placed first in Rio along with fellow UW-Whitewater graduate and teammate Hinze. When Williams was 16 years old, he was riding his bike when a car hit him, causing him to be paralyzed. He started playing wheelchair basketball four months after his accident. 

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