Wednesday is the first day of the Paralympic Games in Paris. More than 4,000 athletes from across the world will compete in 22 different sports.
The Games include everything from para swimming and equestrian events to wheelchair racing.
Daniel Romanchuk, a Paralympian in short- and long-distance cycling, was born with spina bifida, a birth defect that affects the spine. He’s been in a wheelchair since he was 5 years old, a decision he made after trying to walk with braces.
“I basically told my parents I’m done with walking. I want to use a wheelchair. It allowed me to get where I wanted to go quickly and easily. So, you know, really the wheelchair was freedom for me,” he said in an interview with “CBS Mornings” at his training facility in Champaign, Illinois, ahead of the Games.
Journey to Paralympics
Romanchuk switched to a wheelchair with the help of Bennett Blazers, an adaptive sports program in Baltimore, where he grew up. The program helps kids set a goal and reach it, emphasizing your journey may be different from others and that’s OK.
For him, that perspective was a guidepost his entire life. It led him to the Rio Paralympics in 2016 and to his first gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games. He also won a bronze medal in Tokyo.
“One thing I learned at Bennett is just push all the way through the line. The race is not over until you’re across the line,” he said.
The thrill of racing and competing is something the 26-year-old has been chasing his whole life.
He trains six days a week starting with a 5-mile warmup before hill drills where he and his chair hit speeds around 40 mph.
“I’ve always enjoyed just pushing myself and seeing how far can I go? How fast can I go?” Romanchuk said.
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Family impact
Romanchuck and his two siblings were homeschooled growing up, and he remembers spending a lot of time playing outside in their backyard.
“I’m the youngest of three … and so the other two were playing sports. So really, there was no question I would too,” he said.
Today, Romanchuck and his mom, Kim, are a team. They’ve traveled around the world together, competing and winning dozens of marathons and races in the last 10 years.
Beyond the Paralympics
While Romanchuck has his eyes set on another gold at this year’s Paralympics in Paris, he has another goal close to his heart.
“We want to give as many other people the same opportunities that I’ve had,” he said.
A few weeks before heading off to Paris to compete, Romanchuck went home to help at a basketball camp with the Bennett Blazers.
He also started “Wheels for Change,” a nonprofit dedicated to changing the perception of disabilities through wheelchair racing.
“Just growing up in that ‘I can’ atmosphere, and really never, never having the excuse of, ‘Oh, my legs don’t work, so I can’t do that,'” he said. “I never, as a kid, internalized that thought because I never really saw it. All I saw were all of the capabilities that were out there.”
