Penn State Alum Shawn Morelli Earns USA’s First Paralympic Medal In Tokyo
Penn State alumna Shawn Morelli made history for Team USA Wednesday by earning the nation’s first medal at this year’s Paralympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
Morelli showed off impressive speed by snatching a silver medal in the women’s C4 3000-meter individual pursuit. She finished behind Australia’s Emily Petricola and ahead of Canada’s Keely Shaw.
The first medal for Team USA of the #Tokyo2020 Paralympics belongs to Shawn Morelli!
— U.S. Paralympics Cycling (@usparacycling) August 25, 2021@GoRideURBike takes silver in the Individual Pursuit WC4.
#ShowTheWorld pic.twitter.com/CWRtOZ8mzi
The victory secured Morelli her third career Paralympics medal.
A United States Army veteran, Morelli launched an impressive cycling career following a 2007 deployment in Afghanistan in which she was seriously injured from an IED. She claimed two gold medals in the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games for Team USA and broke her own world record in track cycling’s 3000-meter pursuit during the qualifying round.
Morelli took up cycling in 2010 before medically retiring from the armed forces two years later.
Morelli graduated from Penn State Behrend in 1998 with a degree in history.
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