PC athlete Scott Rigsby became the first double
leg
amputee to complete a Half Ironman on two
prosthetic legs in 2006.
USA Triathlon was the first National Governing Body to fully integrate the disabled into their organizational, regulatory and competitive structures. Triathlon is the only sport – anywhere – in which disabled athletes compete side-by-side with the able-bodied at local, national and international levels. USAT has many of the greatest elite PC triathletes the world has ever seen. PC triathletes are great role models, particularly to children.
By way of background, the PC Commission started out as a sub-committee of the Age Group Commission in 2000. In the two years since the Board of Directors created the PC Commission as an independent entity, the group have made great strides in reaching several ambitious goals:
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Recruitment: Increase USAT/PC membership by 45% in 2007.
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Education: Inform and instruct everyone about all aspects of the increasing PC membership.
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Paralympic Development: A Paralympic Triathlon by 2012.
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For the second year, we’ve created a Paralympic Development Team and PC Race Series for 2006.
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We have even higher hopes for the future and are constantly revising our expectations upward due to the all the support we have received from USAT and all of its athletes.
In 2005, the PC Commission was made up of four members:
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Co-chair
Brian Leske. A five-time ITU ‘Above-Knee’ World Champion, two-time Hawaii IRONMAN Finisher and former Assistant U.S. Attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice, Brian lives in Boston.
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Co-Chair
Jon Beeson. He was ITU ‘Below Elbow’ World Champ in ’01 and ’02 and manages property in Santa Barbara, CA.
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Tabi King. Formerly Program Director of the Challenged Athletes Foundation, Tabi is now with one of the largest prosthetics companies, Ossur. She lives in San Diego.
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David Curnow. David is a former TriFed vice-president and was recently named an Honorary Member of ITU at its Congress in Vancouver. A Quadriplegic since 1988, he is an Assistant U.S. attorney from San Diego.
Just like the rest of USAT, we have PC triathletes of all levels within our ranks: beginners, competitive racers and elite athletes. Although PC athletes have a few additional needs and a different set of rules that govern the athletes, they seek no extraordinary waivers or undue assistance that would set them apart from the field of triathletes in general. In fact, it is the ability of the athletes to compete at virtually every USAT race that shows that they are really no different from the rest of the USAT family.
Updated Rules Modifications for Physically Challenged Athletes (posted May 2, 2007)
Selection Criteria for USAT PC Natonal Team
Application for 2008 USAT PC National Team