How Minnesota’s athletes fared at the Paris Paralympics

Nine Minnesotan Paralympians won medals in Paris. Some won their first, while others added to their already-stocked trophy case.

The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 9, 2024 at 10:03PM
Mallory Weggemann of Eagan won two medals at the Paris Paralympics, giving her seven in her career. (Michel Euler/The Associated Press)

Minnesota medal winners in Paris

Chuck Aoki, Minneapolis, wheelchair rugby: Aoki, 33, became the most decorated wheelchair rugby player in United States Paralympics history after winning his fourth medal, a silver. He also won silver in 2016 and 2021 along with a bronze in 2012. He scored 106 tries in the tournament, leading the U.S. Aoki said he plans to compete at the 2028 Paralympics in Los Angeles. “I don’t plan on stopping,” he said on the USA Wheelchair Rugby website. “I am going to take a little bit of time to relax, but we are going for gold in L.A.”

Josie Aslakson, Edina; Abby Bauleke, Savage; Rose Hollermann, Elysian, wheelchair basketball: Hollermann, 28, comes back from her fourth Paralympics, with a complete set of medals after leading the American team to a silver medal in Paris. She won gold in 2016 and was joined by her fellow Minnesotans Aslakson and Bauleke on the bronze-medal-winning team in Tokyo. “There’s a lot more left for us, and I think that’s a great feeling for us as a team, that we can take that and go back and get back to work,” Hollermann told reporters after the U.S. lost to the Netherlands in the gold medal game Sunday.

Skylar Dahl, Minneapolis, para rowing: Dahl, a 21-year-old graduate of Centennial High competing in her first Paralympics, won a silver medal with the U.S. mixed coxed four crew, a young group made up of current college rowers or recent college graduates. Dahl rows for the University of Virginia.

Ian Seidenfeld, Lakeville, para table tennis: Seidenfeld, 23, earned a bronze medal three years after being the Paralympic champion in Tokyo. He said he hopes to get a chance to meet Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who became a fan of the U.S. table tennis team at the Paris Games. “Getting a medal in the Paralympics is really awesome for the sport,” Seidenfeld said on teamusa.com. “Hopefully, we can gain more publicity.”

Lexi Shifflett-Patterson, Waseca, sitting volleyball: Shifflett-Patterson, 28, won her third Paralympic gold medal as the U.S. beat China 3-1 to match its performances in Tokyo and Rio.

Natalie Sims, Edina, para swimming: In her third Paralympics, Sims earned her first medal, joining Matthew Torres, Noah Jaffe and Christie Raleigh Crossley to win the bronze medal in the mixed 4x100-meter freestyle relay, the last swimming event of the Paralympics. “We did what we came here to do, which was get on that podium,” Sims said.

Mallory Weggemann, Eagan, para swimming: Weggemann, competing in her fourth Paralympic Games but her first as a mother, added two more medals to her collection, winning gold in the SM7 women’s 200-meter individual medley and silver in the 50-meter butterfly. She was won seven career Paralympics medals, but these two were special because her daughter, Charlotte, got to see her race. “I think it’s also important to show that motherhood is a comma and not a period,” Weggemann said Saturday. “And I think far too often, athletic careers seem to have this misconception that they come to an end when motherhood enters that phase of your life, and it’s just so not true.”

How the rest fared

Josh Cinnamo, Lakeville, para track and field: Cinnamo, 43, who won bronze in the men’s F46 shot put at the Tokyo Paralympics three years ago, finished fourth in Paris with a top throw of 15.66 meters.

Aaron Pike, Park Rapids, track and field: Pike competes in both the Summer and Winter Paralympics, making the Paris Games his seventh Paralympics. He finished seventh in the men’s T54 marathon. He didn’t reach the final in his other two events, finishing sixth in his heat of the T54 5,000 meters and seventh in his heat of the men’s T54 1,500 meters.

Summer Schmit, Stillwater/Gophers, para swimming: In her second Paralympics at age 21, Schmit was fifth in her heat of the women’s 100 breaststroke, ninth in heats of the women’s 400-meter freestyle and 10th in qualifying of the women’s 200-meter individual medley in her classification.

Melissa Stockwell, Eden Prairie, para triathlon: In her fourth Paralympics, Stockwell, 44, finished fifth in the women’s PTS2 triathlon, matching her finish from the Tokyo Paralympics. She won bronze in Rio in 2016.

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