Brandon Lyons (born June 8, 1990) is an American Para-cyclist. He will represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Born | June 8, 1990[1] Langhorne, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Pennsylvania State University | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Para-cycling | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Disability class | H3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Career
editIn 2017, Lyons became the first handcyclist resident athlete at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado.[2]
Lyons made his international debut for the United States at the 2019 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships and won a silver medal in the mixed team relay H1–5 event.[3]
Lyons was training to compete at the 2020 Summer Paralympics, however, an infection in his leg that progressed to the early stages of sepsis ended his chances of competing at the Paralympics.[4][5]
In August 2023, he represented the United States at the 2023 UCI Para-cycling Road World Championships and won a bronze medal in the mixed team relay H1–5 event.[6][7] In November 2023, he represented the United States at the 2023 Parapan American Games and won a silver medal in the road time trial H1–5 event and a bronze medal in the road race H3–5 event.[8]
On July 8, 2024, Lyons qualified to represent the United States at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.[9][10]
Personal life
editOn May 24, 2014, during a vacation in Ocean City, Maryland, Lyons dove from a pier into shallow water breaking his T5/T6 vertebrae which left him paralyzed from the chest down.[11] In 2015, he underwent a surgery where they opened his spinal cord and injected 1.2 million stem cells at his injury location, as part of a stem cell clinical trial.[12]
References
edit- ^ "Brandon Lyons". Paris 2024 Paralympics. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ "Brandon Lyons". teamusa.com. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Bowker, Paul D. (July 27, 2023). "Cody Wills Races Toward World Championships Debut Alongside Pennsylvania Friend Brandon Lyons". usparacycling.org. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Crawford, Heather (February 24, 2020). "'If you really put your mind to it, you can actually achieve anything:' Paralyzed athlete inspires First Coast fans". First Coast News. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Wilson, David; Miller Degnan, Susan (January 29, 2023). "The inspiring stories of the Miami Marathon, from Paralympic hopeful to Ukrainian refugee". Miami Herald. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Gowdy, Kristen (June 26, 2023). "Twenty-two road cyclists set to represent U.S. at 2023 Para-Cycling World Championships". usparacycling.org. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Blanco, Annemarie (August 13, 2023). "Dana, Gaertner and Lyons Secure Bronze in Grand Relay Finale". usparacycling.org. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Ledermann, Heidi (November 26, 2023). "Team USA closes out the Parapan American Games with podium sweep and five additional medals". usparacycling.org. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Crawford, Heather (July 8, 2024). "St. Johns County handcyclist to compete in 2024 Paralympics for Team USA". First Coast News. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Ye, Ryan (August 12, 2024). "Mechanicsburg native's recovery journey leads to first Paralympics appearance". Fox43.com. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Orso, Anna (May 29, 2014). "Friends fundraising for Cumberland Valley graduate who was paralyzed over the weekend". The Patriot-News. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
- ^ Baillargeon, Ryan (April 27, 2017). "Former Cumberland Valley athlete paralyzed on vacation to train for 2020 Paralympics". The Patriot-News. Retrieved August 27, 2024.