TAMPA, Fla. — The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games have officially started, and more than 4,000 athletes from around the world are competing in 549 medal events. A handful of those athletes are from the Sunshine State, with a couple of competitors representing the Tampa Bay area.
The Paralympics will take place until Sunday and will showcase more than 22 sports, including both individual and team sports.
Tampa Bay-area Paralympic athletes
- Tracy Otto
- Hometown: Plant City, FL
- Sport: Para Archery
- Education: University of Tampa
- Jensen Van Emburgh
- Hometown: Bellair Beach, FL
- Sport: Para Table Tennis
- Education: Seminole High School
RELATED: Five years after brutal attack severed her spine, Tracy Otto proudly calls herself a Paralympian
Florida Paralympic athletes
- Morgan Ray
- Hometown: St. Augustine, FL
- Sport: Para Swimming
- Education: University of North Florida
- Gemma Wollenschlager
- Hometown: St. Augustine Beach, FL
- Sport: Para-Rowing
- Education: Temple University
- Emma Meyers
- Hometown: Pensacola, FL
- Sport: Paralympic Triathlon
- Education: Colorado Mesa University
- Nicky Nieves
- Hometown: Kissimmee, FL
- Sport: Sitting Volleyball
- Education: Valencia College ‘19, Sociology
- Abbas Karimi
- Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, FL
- Sport: Para Swimming
Paralympians who went to Florida schools
- Christie Raleigh Crossley
- Hometown: Toms River, NJ
- Sport: Para Swimming
- Education: Florida State University
- Lee Fredette
- Hometown: East Moriches, NY
- Sport: Wheelchair Rugby
- Education: University of Miami
- Kyle Coon
- Hometown: Carbondale, CO
- Sport: Paralympic Triathlon
- Education: Paxon School for Advanced Studies (Jacksonville, Fla.) University of Central Florida '13, Communication